Sunday 16 February 2014

Traditional Chinese Medicine & 'Evidence-based' medicine

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) & 'Evidence-based' medicine. More on Tradition -  vs so called 'western' -  Acupuncture
 
Of course - no problem with 'evidenced based' approach, and modern TCM has incorporated this for some time, since government sponsorship and funding from the 1950s. OK , I'm not so sure about 5 element acupuncture in the UK or USA.
 
In China there is good integration of TCM and modern Western biomedical science.
This makes the term 'western acupucnture' here in NZ seem ridiculous! As if TCM were unscientific or unmedical. In China (Korean, etc) acupuncturists train as medical doctors in 5 year full time degrees. They have a thorough grounding in western boimedical science, pharmacology, etc.
The former chair of the Osteopathic Council here in NZ - in his original draft proposal document for so called 'western' acupucture was both arrogant and entirely wrong to think of TCM as 'folk medicine'. Quite an offensive and derrogatory term - showing only prejudice, narrow-mindedness and a complete lack of any desire to understand the conceptual models and paradigms of TCM.
Just shows his ignorance - of making judgements on something he has not studied.
As Isaac Newton (astronomer, matematician, and father of physics) replied when questioned about astrology: ' Sir ... I have studied it. You have not!'









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