Why China’s Traditional Medicine Boom Is Dangerous

August 31, 2017

(The Economist) – But evidence that TCM works is scanty. Clinical trials in scientific journals have reported some examples of effective TCM treatments, for example against migraines and obesity. They have found some cases where TCM works well in combination with Western medicine, for example, in treating schizophrenia. However, the overall record is poor. America’s National Institutes of Health looked at 70 systematic reviews of TCM treatments. In 41 of them, the trials were too small or badly designed to be of use. In 29, the studies showed possible benefits but problems with sample sizes and other flaws meant the results were inconclusive.