Article from WeChat public account:Southern Observer (ID: naradainsights), author: late public away, Zhang Lin Luo storage, title figure from: Oriental IC
Modern medicine is based more on empirical science. Once the empirical science was backward, the experience of traditional Chinese medicine has not been tested by any experiment. Therefore, Chinese medicine has more to “summarize” the medical experience of effective use of diseases on a macro level. There are few findings about microscopic mechanisms, and some harmful treatments have not been examined and corrected. From this point of view, is the “Chinese medicine and Western medicine” that we usually discuss as an acceptable classification? Still, is it synonymous with traditional medicine and modern medicine?
On November 17th, “China’s 8 Chinese Medicine University was cited by the World Medical School Directory (WDMS)Delisting” news attracted public attention The problem of Chinese medicine has once again been pushed to the wave of public opinion.
Every discussion about Chinese medicine will point to a very important question – whether Chinese medicine is scientific. Some people think that Chinese medicine is a pseudoscience, even a superstition. Lu Xun, who has received modern medical education, wrote in “Scream”: “Chinese medicine is just a deliberate or unintentional liar.” Others believe that both Chinese medicine and Western medicine aim to enhance humanity. Both Chinese and Western medicine should be respected and encouraged by their level of health and their ability to resist disease. The discovery of artemisinin, the first Nobel Prize in medicine in China, has also said: “The discovery of artemisinin is a gift from Chinese traditional medicine to humans.”
In the public opinion field of Chinese medicine problems, various “station-team”-style arguments are constantly emerging. If these arguments are put on hold for a while, is it true that Chinese medicine is scientific from the perspective of modern medical science?
Chinese medicine vs. Western medicine, misclassified classification
When the debate on “Chinese medicine” is abolished, it often falls into a problem, opposes “Chinese medicine” and “Western medicine”, and uses such a classification to treat the dialectic of medical means. However, looking back at the history of medical development, we may be able to reflect on whether such a binary opposition is properly classified.
In the early days of human history, medicine appeared in philosophical form. On the basis of understanding of one’s own body, human beings have proposed various medical theories. Ancient Greek medicine believed that the disease was caused by a disorder inside the body, not because of pathogen microbial invasion. At that time, it was also believed that the various parts of the body were interconnected, and the body was filled with various liquids. The balance of the liquid was the basic condition for the body to survive. As to whether the liquid is balanced, it is reflected in the color, temperament and temperament. Compared with the traditional Chinese yin and yang theory and the five elements theory, it is not difficult to draw a conclusion that Chinese and Western medicine are no different at the source.
However, since the Renaissance, the development of Western medicine has actually gradually deviated from its own tradition, and ancient Greek medicine has been modernized by (Western) The medical profession abandoned. In the seventeenth century, the “body fluid” theory was severely criticized because it was a hollow theory without any material basis. Since then, Western medicine has embarked on a path that is completely different from its own source and has established its own development on the basis of science and experimentation.
In the West, the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates believed that the disease was caused by the imbalance of body fluids. Bloodletting, sweating, and vomiting are all ways to balance body fluids. On the basis of this, the ancient Roman doctor Galen established a complex bloodletting therapy, which has far-reaching effects, so that in the Middle Ages, bloodletting has become a routine treatment for all diseases and health care in the European continent. The picture shows an illustration of the 17th century. The patient is bleeding and loses blood from the sheep. © Ioannis Sculteti
More and moreEvidence shows that nature has its own laws of motion and cannot be explained by people’s wishes or conjectures. Therefore, traditional medical models and methods are re-thinked and used after being tested by science, or abandoned.
Because of the non-experimental clinical experience, clinical data, and understanding of the basics of the disease to diagnose patients, some effective therapies are abandoned, and ineffective or harmful therapies are widely used, so the medical community On the basis of clinical epidemiology, evidence-based medicine has been developed that combines clinical evidence, personal experience and the actual condition and willingness of patients.
Modern medicine is based more on empirical science. The experience of traditional Chinese medicine has not been tested by any experiment because of the backwardness of empirical science. Therefore, Chinese medicine is more to “summary” the medical experience of effective use of the disease, there are few findings about the microscopic mechanism, and some harmful treatments have not been examined and corrected. So, is the “Chinese medicine and Western medicine” that we usually discuss as an acceptable classification? Still, is it synonymous with traditional medicine and modern medicine?
What kind of medicine is scientific?
To answer this question, first define what science is. Karl Popper’s definition of science in Conjecture and Rebuttal is falsifying
Published in the Proceedings of the 26th Test and Fault Diagnosis Technology Symposium, “A New Approach to Aviation Engine Fault Diagnosis Based on TCM Diagnosis and Treatment Theory”, It writes: “The five internal organs are based on the overall view of ‘Heaven and Man’, and the energy flow is transmitted and the perspective of the action. The engine can be regarded as the mechanical structure, the oil circuit, the gas path, the fuel line, and the control system. The unity of the center.” The authors correspond to the above-mentioned system with five organs of spleen, liver, lung, heart and kidney, and discuss the core system of the engine of “the combination of heaven and man” with the theory of traditional Chinese medicine. © Computer Measurement and Control
In addition, traditional Chinese medicine theory often thinks that strange medicines have miraculous effects, such as snow lotus on the cliff, Polygonum multiflorum that looks like human figure, hair dish in the desert hinterland, pussy of “spiritual cat”, brain of monkey, and so on. Some Chinese herbal medicines are regarded as “fine medicines” because of their peculiarities. However, the pharmacological and medicinal value of the medicinal material does not differ because it grows on a cliff or on a flat surface.
If Popper’s definition of scientific falsifiability is used, traditional Chinese medicine is unscientific, or traditional Chinese medicine has no scientific thinking and attitude. Because falsification contains at least two meanings – anything can be wrong; everything waits for a better update and a more comprehensive explanation. The traditional Chinese medicine vague theory can both evade testing and explain everything.
What medicine is reliable?
The reason many people defend Chinese medicine is that I have taken Chinese medicine and the disease has indeed been cured. But saying that Chinese medicine is not scientific does not mean that it must be invalid.Efficiency does not mean science and reliability. Before the modern medical system was established, there were also medical treatments similar to traditional Chinese medicine in Western countries. For example, some Western herbal medicines would also have effects on certain symptoms. After the establishment of the modern medical system, most of the Western herbal medicines were abandoned because the current medicine has a clear and reliable principle relationship, but herbal medicine does not.
What is reliable? Is traditional Chinese medicine reliable? The answer is no.
By borrowing the answer from an answering person who is engaged in medical examination: “Reliable” is a must-have in the drug registration. It consists of two levels: First, it is necessary to know the medication as much as possible. The consequence, second, is that what happens in one is the same for any batch of drugs, and this probability distribution does not change with the drug batch. Knowing the two, we can make a reasonable statistical inference on the prognosis of patients’ medications, both of which are indispensable. Among them, one relies mainly on clinical trials, and the other mainly relies on drug analysis.
The State Food and Drug Administration has the same regulations in the Drug Registration Management Measures. Before the drug varieties are approved, they need to have clinical trial validity data and drug analysis safety data. Clinical trials are divided into four phases. The first three trials are mainly to evaluate the tolerance, efficacy and safety of new drugs, while the fourth phase is the efficacy, indications, adverse reactions to new drugs after the new drugs are marketed. The treatment plan and the like continue to be investigated.
But China’s management of traditional Chinese medicines and organic chemicals is treated differently. If organic chemicals are listed in China, they must provide data on the effectiveness of clinical trials and safety of drug analysis. This means that the machine chemicals on the market will clearly indicate the effects, doses, side effects, toxicology, contraindications, drug interactions, and use of special populations. The effects of human consumption of drugs and the possible adverse reactions are supported by a large number of experimental tests and data.
The listing of Chinese medicines does not need to be so troublesome. Article 7 of the Supplementary Regulations on Chinese Medicine Registration Management clearly states that qualified Chinese medicine compound preparations can only directly report production if they provide non-clinical safety research data. . The given conditions are very simple, as long as they conform to the ancient records.
This is why there are detailed adverse reactions and side effects in the organic chemical specification, and these two items in the Chinese medicine description are often “not yet clear”. Not only that, but if there is a lack of clinical safety research data, how to ensure the effectiveness and safety of the drug, how to control the production process, how to determine the side effects, how the toxicity of the drug, and how much impact on the organ… these are not clear .
Even if the three places are “not yet clear”, they can’t block the enthusiasm of some friends. Someone explained: “It is not clear, meaning that there has never been a past. Something happened.” © Health Shanghai
And there is evidence that certain Chinese medicines do cause harm to the body and some injuries are irreversible. For example, the aristolochic acid mentioned by Taiwanese scholars is extremely carcinogenic and nephrotoxic, and is found in many Chinese herbal medicines. Many of the Chinese patent medicines and preparations made from these Chinese herbal medicines are commonly used drugs, including the “gun dan diarrhea liver pills” for removing gunpowder, “Xiaoer Kechuan granules” for treating cold and cough, and “Houttuynia Oral Liquid”.
Chinese medicine injection is notorious in the pharmaceutical industry. According to the national drug adverse reaction monitoring report over the years, from 2010 to 2016, Chinese medicine injections occupied the first place in the adverse reactions/incidents of traditional Chinese medicines, and the number of reports and serious reports accounted for The ratio has also increased year by year. Among the reports of all serious adverse reactions received by the monitoring network in 2012, the top 20 Chinese patent medicines were traditional Chinese medicine injections. According to the industry insiders, if modern chemical injection drugs have such an adverse event rate, they have already withdrawn from the market.
There are too many Chinese medicine enthusiasts in China. Every time there is a problem with Chinese medicine or Chinese medicine, there will always be a bunch of Chinese medicine enthusiasts standing up: Are you not Chinese? Why are you Chinese people who want to be black Chinese medicine? Eating Chinese medicine is a good disease? Do you know how much traditional Chinese medicine has contributed to China since ancient times?
But in fact, many people do not have black Chinese medicine. They just explain whether traditional Chinese medicine is scientific and reliable. It is strange that traditional Chinese medicine cannot withstand the test of modern medical science. To say how much contribution it has made, it is only necessary to look at the data related to the national health level of “child mortality” and “average life” in the traditional Chinese medicine era. If traditional Chinese medicine really contributes, it is not without it. It contributes cultural confidence to Chinese medicine lovers.
Article from WeChat public account: Southern observers (ID: naradainsights) , author: late public away Zhang Luo Chulin