The Neglected Allies Of Modern Medicine

Is the enduring attraction of traditional medicine a good thing or a paradox? Zaria Gorvett investigates.

Traditional medicines around the world

For millions of people without access to evidence-based medicine, traditional healers are the only medical authority available. In China, despite the affordability and easy access to Western medicine, public expenditure on traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) has been increasing.

Asia is unquestionably the global epicenter of alternative medicine, based on thousands of years of study. With such a long history, and assimilation with other aspects of Chinese culture such as Confucianism, the doctrines of TCM are now thoroughly entrenched.

In ancient Greece, the physician Hippocrates developed an intellectual school that would persist for the next 1800 years. For all its merits, this medical system revolved around the theory of Humorism, in which temperament and health are perceived to be dependent on the balance of four fluids in the body, black bile, yellow bile, phlegm, and blood.

Greek medical wisdom was later merged with folk medicine, witchcraft, and alchemy to form the basis of medieval medicine in Western Europe. This blend of traditions threw up some excruciating and absurd treatments, such as ‘bloodletting,’ a technique aimed at restoring the balance of humors by withdrawing blood with leeches or a scalpel.

But in Christian Europe, widespread accusations of witchcraft led to the marginalization of herbal and folk medical practitioners, who were at risk of severe punishment. This marginalization was compounded by the scientific enlightenment, when scientific authority began to displace traditional philosophies.

Conversely, TCM, which began as a paradigm of medical treatment for emperors and their ministers, has benefited from continuing institutional endorsement. Even today, the Chinese government invests heavily in traditional medicine; in 2011 the budget for TCM projects and research was US$1 billion.


Can we learn from traditional treatments?

While there are large gaps in the evidence for the efficacy of many TCMs, many pharmaceuticals have roots in traditional remedies.

An ancient Chinese recipe for tea made from the leaves of the plant Artemisia annua is the source of the powerful modern anti-malarial drug, artemisinin. However, while many plants used in TCM do contain active ingredients, there is often a mismatch between these chemicals and the diseases that they are believed to treat. Artemisinin extracts were recommended for fever (but not specifically malarial fever), in addition to inflammation, headaches, colds, diarrhea, and bleeding – diseases against which artemisinin is not effective.

It is also worth noting that as many as 1,000 plant species are used in TCM, and yet there are only 31,000 species native to China. Considering this inclusiveness, and the pharmaceutical companies’ focus on screening traditional herbs for bioactive compounds before the 1970’s, it is relatively unsurprising that traditional treatments have yielded some useful compounds.

Also, even if the effectiveness of many traditional preparations and practices is dubious by modern standards, the large global following of TCM and other archaic knowledge systems hint at the merits of some aspects of their approach.

For example, technologies such as diagnostic machinery and computer software are transforming modern healthcare. The result: increasingly brief encounters between medical personnel and recipients.

Physical examinations are not only beneficial to patients psychologically, but enable the exploitation of the abundance of information available to physicians before they so much as reach for their stethoscope. From the subtle, such as a diagnostic gait, to the glaringly evident, such as a rash or swelling, many diseases have signature characteristics which can be identified visually.

Meticulous physical inspection is fundamental to the approach of TCM. The superficial appearance of skin, hair, eyes, teeth, gums, and physique are observed, and the tongue is examined for swelling, color, and texture. This system certainly has scientific validity.

The achievements of Western medicine in countering illness and mortality are unparalleled. However, increasing public interest in traditional medicine is suggestive of shortcomings.

Although the dogma of traditional medicine is antiquated, a future in which healthcare is a swift match of symptoms with cure would be overly simplistic. Just as with other systems, modern medicine must adapt, or perish.

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Copyright: Asian Scientist Magazine; Photo: bennylin0724/Flickr/CC.
Disclaimer: This article does not necessarily reflect the views of AsianScientist or its staff.

Zaria Gorvett is a freelance science writer based in the UK. She graduated with a bachelors degree in biological science from the University of Exeter, UK and a masters degree in medical microbiology from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK.

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