My View on TCM

Posted by Yuka as Other

TCM has a long history of 5 thousand years and it is a summary of chinese people over centries of struggle against disease. It has contributed greatly to the grouth and prosperity of China.

Drug therapy and non-drug therapy are two ways that TCM cures diease. Drug therapy is that patients have to take drug made from herbs, mineral and parts from animals such as bile of bear, bone of tiger. As for non-drug therapy, there are acupuncture, massage, cupping and so on.

Yesterday morning I gave a presentation about TCM for my oral English exam in a classroom of teaching building 12. Though I tried my best to express my own idea as much as possible, some views are not my real opinion.

In fact it is a complicated question beyond the reach of my mind. Some Traditional Chinese Medicines do work when treating patients. For example, My elder brother got colonitis. He suffered a lot from it and firstly took lots of western medicine, but it never help him get rid of the diease completely. The illness bursted again and again, thus contributing to his determinate mind to consult TCM. After taking acupuncture performed by a traditional Chinese doctor and some traditional Mongolian medicine, he finally got well. In my opinion, it is extreme that some people take it nothing but superstition and maintain that TCM should be banned.

However, I will never take TCM as science if it’s unique theory and system known as Yin and Yang, the five elements, JingLuo and so on, is not supported scientifically, which is much different from the view held in my presentation. First of all, TCM posits idea such as Yin and Yang, the five elements and JingLuo, which have no basis in reality, although the fact that it isn’t based on germ theory which modern medicine is based on is not exclusive with the western medical system. Secondly, Considering the diagnosis methods of TCM such as detecting the subtle variation of pulse, watching the patient’s eyes and tongue and even smelling the patient, we can conclude that the system of TCM is so empirical and surface that it never gain the mechanism of diease successfully, so I can not simply hold that TCM is science becasue of it’s lack of strict reasoning and logic. To be addition, it is ridiculous to claim that the efficacy of TCM far exceeds that of western medicine. In old times when western medicine was not introduced into China, the average life span of Chinese people is only about 40 years. And I never agree to the idea that the treatment of TCM is without any side-effects for some herb may contain toxic ingredients and some kinds of mineral used by TCM contain poisonous mental.

Generally speaking, TCM is our culture, but if you are ill, highly effective modern drug is your first chocie.

By:tyjk