To some, Traditional Chinese Medicine may look like the stuff of Fear Factor: pickled worm stew, rotten plant roots, a dead animal covered with mold, and other strange substances. The medical system, whose philosophy was shaped by the decrees of Chinese Taoists long ago, is now entering Canadian medical practices and legislature.
In the second instalment of The Varsity’s investigation into pseudosciences, we look at the popular practice of Chinese medicine, which is often discredited in Western society as mere philosophy, not science. However, its philosophical framework should not distract from the proven effectiveness of some of its herbal remedies. Some herbs used in TCM have the same active ingredients as Western pharmaceuticals. Artemisinin, a chemical used to treat multi-drug resistant strains of malaria, was discovered in Chinese wormwood, long used in TCM.
“TCM helped over a quarter of the world’s population,” said Dr. Mary Xiumei Wu, a medical doctor and the president of the Toronto School of Traditional Chinese Medicine. “[TCM has] 5,000 years of history.”
The earliest TCM text, Huang Di Nei Jing (Emperor Huang’s Classic of Internal Medicine), was compiled around 2598 BC. As Chinese dynasties rose and fell, TCM matured into the practice standardized by Mao Zedong in the 1960s.
As in Western medicine, TCM starts with a diagnosis. Mainly, this involves questioning the patient, observing their body and tongue, listening to their voice, and feeling their pulse. After diagnosis, the patient is given one or more of three major treatments: acupuncture, herbal medicine and “tui na,” a massage to balance bodily energy or ease its flow.
According to Wu, every disease is treatable with TCM. Each treatment prescribed, however, will feature a different mix of herbs based on the individual’s condition. One or two main herbs will target the illness, with other herbs added to reduce the side-effects, remove the toxins in the other herbs, and amplify specific properties.
The remedies use many parts of a number of plants and animals, as well as several minerals. Some examples of the “fundamental herbs” include giant hyssop, from the mint family, and cornaceae, the dogwood family of trees.
“There are many herbs, each with different effects,” said Wu, but when asked to give specific examples, she warned that disclosing that information “will give people the wrong idea.”
A common misconception about TCM is that treatments always come in the form of a black stew. Wu added that they can be also be taken in pills.
“[Pills were] developed a long time ago,” said Wu. “They used to be produced [exclusively] by doctors but now they are also patented and produced in factories.”
Canada’s proposed Traditional Chinese Medicine Act (Bill 50), now in the final stages of approval, would regulate Chinese medicine and acupuncture.
“Integration of TCM into our health care would complement the Western medical system. It will reduce wait lists and provide safe and better health care for more people,” said Wu.
If put into effect, the bill will regulate which TCM practitioners can use the title of “doctor,” and create a self-governing regulatory college with the authority to set standards and requirements for TCM. The bill, which will make Ontario the second province in Canada to regulate TCM, after British Columbia, will improve the current medical system by providing more medical choices.
While many TCM practitioners worry that the bill will destroy their status in the industry, some are confident the new regulations will not change the practice drastically.
“If they meet the standard, they will get [the license],” said Wu. “They will not need the training but will have to [become licensed.]”
