Pros And Cons Of Traditional Chinese Medicine

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Is Traditional Chinese Medicine scientific? Do you believe in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM)? In ancient time, daifu (the doctors who are the specialists in traditional Chinese medicine) used to check patient’s pulse to tell if someone was pregnant or how was someone’s health condition. TCM includes herbal medicines and body practices, such as acupuncture, which are used for treating diseases and improving health conditions. Also, it just like a chronic process to help you get healed. However, as traditional Chinese medicine is becoming increasingly popular all over the world, some concerns are raised by scientists, even the doctors in China. For instance, “Dr. Ning Fanggang is offering 100,000 renminbi ($16,300) to anyone who resolves…show more content…
There have been reports of Chinese herbal products contaminated with drugs, toxins, or heavy metals, which, by and large, have serious side effects or some safety issues for people with certain medical conditions. It cannot be widely used unless it is based on enough pharmacoepidemiological studies and toxicological experiments, which are not undertaken in most countries. If this action is not done by doctors and scientists, toxicological risks will exist. For instance, Ma Huang is a useful herbal medicine for treating asthma, cough and wheezing since it contains a special component, called ephedrine alkaloids (Shaw). However, this effect depends on the careful prescription and monitoring. Inappropriate doses or prolonged duration of use can lead to adverse effects, including excitability, insomnia, nausea, increased blood pressure, cardiac arrhythmia and convulsions (Shaw). Here is another example in the USA. Ma Huang was used as a stimulant and diet pills by athletes and women relatively. However, this herb was misused, which resulted in thousands of reports of adverse effects, including gastrointestinal, psychiatric and autonomic adverse effects as well as sudden cardiac death (Shaw). After that, the USA government took some actions by banning Ma Huang from dietary supplements in 2004. “The…show more content…
There are fatal drawbacks of TCM, including inaccuracy, toxicity and ineffectiveness. The fact is, TCM is not based on current science and technology, yet it cannot be eliminated completely because it symbolizes the history of China, and still many people are relying on it. As far as I am concerned, the only thing we can do now is to let more children and adults realize the importance of using TCM carefully. I think the government should invest more on the education and promotion of TCM, such as making some advertisements and films related to it, which, in one way or another, helps to raise the public awareness. Also, I wish in the near future, the scientists will discover some techniques that make TCM effective and useful, and use them more stringent for treating

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