“Chinese herbal medicine: how effective is it?” asks Kate Wighton in today’s Times. The answer is: not effective at all, judging by the minuscule amount of reputable research into its extravagant claims. But that’s not Wighton’s conclusion (nor, I suspect, one that the paper’s Sinophile proprietor would be very happy reading).
The reported effectiveness of an (unnamed) Chinese herb in boosting brain cell growth becomes the peg for an article that reads like an advertorial for Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Dr Stephen Minger of King’s College London is to head a “two-year project aimed at strengthening links between UK and Chinese scientists … probing the ancient cures of Chinese medicine, often referred to as TCM, to see if they can be converted into modern treatments”. The British Government has asked him to do this, apparently.
“I think there are clearly active ingredients in some of these plant extracts which have potent biological effects,” says Dr Minger. “It’s not that surprising when you look at the fact that Taxol, a cancer treatment, originally came from yew, and aspirin from willow. Assuming that this project works, TCM could represent a whole new class of drugs that no one has had access to before.”
That seems an odd comment, given that the Chinese government is pumping untold sums into promoting TCM worldwide and Chinese medicine centres are springing up in every shopping mall. Backed, of course, by the most rigorous research. Almost rigorous as the Times’s cut-out-’n'-keep guide to Chinese healing drugs:
If you enjoyed this post, why not subscribe to our RSS feed or follow us on Twitter? You might also consider making a donation to the Counterknowledge.com fighting fund.Chinese healing Drugs based on traditional medicine can help these conditions
Malaria The antimalarial drug artesunate, derived from sweet wormwood plant, is used worldwide.
Cancer Researchers from the University of Texas are testing toad venom to see whether it can treat cancer.
Healthy heart Hawthorn, a remedy traditionally used to treat nausea, may help patients with chronic heart failure.
Diabetes Animal studies have indicated that the herb angelica can help.
Stroke A treatment based on red sage is under trial in Singapore.
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3 responses
The lesson of homeopathy is that a vast pseudo-medical industry can be build on absolutely nothing. Homeopathy has a huge repertoire of pills, thousands of practitioners, its university courses, professional bodies and high level patronage. And none of it works.
TCM displays a similar breadth of scope and yet we are to believe that this ‘knowledge’ has been arrived at ‘traditionally’ rather than through careful scientific enquiry.
A far better starting point would be to assume that none of it works, that no TCM remedy is effective and then legislate and act accordingly. If, through subsequent research, a TCM herb shows promise in some condition, then it can join the arsenal of medical treatments. Until then, it will be prudent to assume that TCM is just one more form of quackery ready to take money from the gullible.
“Cancer Researchers from the University of Texas are testing toad venom to see whether it can treat cancer.”
Is there anything they’re not testing?
Zhang Gongyao’s criticisms of TCM have met with official hostility in China - http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China_Business/HJ20Cb01.html