Editing Traditional Chinese medicine (section)

==Critique==
The study of traditional medicine in China is an academic field within the [[history of science]], with its own scholarly associations, journals, graduate programs, and debates with each other.{{sfnb|Sivin|1988}} Many distinguish traditional medicine in historical China from the more recent traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), which took elements from traditional texts and practices to construct a systematic body. Paul Unschuld, for instance, sees a "departure of TCM from its historical origins."{{Sfnb|Unschuld|2018|p=xi}} What is called "Traditional Chinese Medicine" and practiced today in China and the West is not thousands of years old, but recently constructed using selected traditional terms, some of which have been taken out of context, some badly misunderstood. He has criticized Chinese and Western popular books for [[Cherry picking|selective use of evidence]], choosing only those works or parts of historical works that seem to lead to modern medicine, ignoring those elements that do not now seem to be effective.{{sfnb|Unschuld|1988|p=647}}

Critics say that TCM theory and practice have no basis in [[scientific knowledge|modern science]], and TCM practitioners do not agree on what diagnosis and treatments should be used for any given person.<ref name="Quackwatch" /> A 2007 editorial in the journal ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'' wrote that TCM "remains poorly researched and supported, and most of its treatments have no logical [[mechanism of action]]."<ref name="swallow" /><ref name="Shang-2007" /> It also described TCM as "fraught with [[pseudoscience]]".<ref name="swallow" />  A review of the literature in 2008 found that scientists are "still unable to find a shred of evidence" according to standards of [[science-based medicine]] for traditional Chinese concepts such as ''qi'', meridians, and acupuncture points,<ref name="bIPgX">{{harvnb|Singh & Ernst|2008|page = 72}}</ref> and that the traditional principles of acupuncture are deeply flawed.<ref name="FJS08">{{harvnb|Singh & Ernst|2008|page = 107}}</ref> "Acupuncture points and meridians are not a reality", the review continued, but "merely the product of an ancient Chinese philosophy".<ref name="5y6YH">{{harvnb|Singh & Ernst|2008|page= 387}}</ref> In June 2019, the [[World Health Organization]] included traditional Chinese medicine in a global diagnostic compendium, but a spokesman said this was "not an endorsement of the scientific validity of any Traditional Medicine practice or the efficacy of any Traditional Medicine intervention."<ref>{{cite journal |title=The World Health Organization's decision about traditional Chinese medicine could backfire |journal=Nature |date=5 June 2019 |volume=570 |issue=7759 |pages=5 |doi=10.1038/d41586-019-01726-1 |pmid=31165792 |bibcode=2019Natur.570Q...5. |s2cid=174809790 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-world-health-organization-gives-the-nod-to-traditional-chinese-medicine-bad-idea/ |title=The World Health Organization Gives the Nod to Traditional Chinese Medicine. Bad Idea - Scientific American |website=[[Scientific American]] |date=April 2019 |access-date=9 January 2022 |archive-date=6 April 2020 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200406145913/https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-world-health-organization-gives-the-nod-to-traditional-chinese-medicine-bad-idea/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Hunt |first1=Katie |title=Chinese medicine gains WHO acceptance but it has many critics |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2019/05/24/health/traditional-chinese-medicine-who-controversy-intl/index.html |access-date=21 April 2022 |work=[[CNN]] |date=26 May 2019 |archive-date=26 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220326003901/https://edition.cnn.com/2019/05/24/health/traditional-chinese-medicine-who-controversy-intl/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

A 2012 review of [[cost-effectiveness]] research for TCM found that studies had low [[levels of evidence]], with no beneficial outcomes.<ref name="Zhang2012" /> Pharmaceutical research on the potential for creating new drugs from traditional remedies has few successful results.<ref name="swallow" /> Proponents suggest that research has so far missed key features of the art of TCM, such as unknown interactions between various ingredients and complex interactive biological systems.<ref name="swallow" /> One of the basic tenets of TCM is that the body's ''[[qi]]'' (sometimes translated as [[vital energy]]) is circulating through channels called [[Meridian (Chinese medicine)|meridians]] having branches connected to bodily organs and functions.<ref name="Quackwatch" /> The concept of vital energy is pseudoscientific. Concepts of the body and of disease used in TCM reflect its ancient origins and its emphasis on dynamic processes over material structure, similar to [[Classical antiquity|Classical]] [[humoral theory]].<ref name="Novella2012" />

TCM has also been controversial within China. In 2006, the Chinese philosopher [[Zhang Gongyao]] triggered a national debate with an article entitled "Farewell to Traditional Chinese Medicine", arguing that TCM was a pseudoscience that should be abolished in public healthcare and academia. The Chinese government took the stance that TCM is a science and continued to encourage its development.<ref name="qiu">{{cite journal | vauthors = Qiu J | title = China plans to modernize traditional medicine | journal = Nature | volume = 446 | issue = 7136 | pages = 590–1 | date = April 2007 | pmid = 17410143 | doi = 10.1038/446590a | quote = Zhang argued that TCM is a pseudoscience and should not be part of public healthcare and research | doi-access = free | bibcode = 2007Natur.446..590Q }}</ref>

There are concerns over a number of potentially toxic plants, animal parts, and mineral Chinese compounds,<ref name="Shaw-2012" /> as well as the facilitation of disease. Trafficked and farm-raised animals used in TCM are a source of several fatal [[Zoonosis|zoonotic diseases]].<ref name="ZVvJo">{{cite journal|vauthors=Liu Q, Cao L, Zhu XQ|date=August 2014|title=Major emerging and re-emerging zoonoses in China: a matter of global health and socioeconomic development for 1.3 billion|journal=International Journal of Infectious Diseases|volume=25|pages=65–72|doi=10.1016/j.ijid.2014.04.003|pmc=7110807|pmid=24858904|doi-access=free}}</ref> There are additional concerns over the illegal trade and transport of endangered species including rhinoceroses and tigers, and the welfare of specially farmed animals, including bears.<ref name="pHc8M">{{cite encyclopedia|title=Traditional Chinese Medicine and Endangered Animals|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|url=http://advocacy.britannica.com/blog/advocacy/2007/10/traditional-chinese-medicine-and-endangered-animals/|access-date=1 October 2016|date=22 October 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005052622/http://advocacy.britannica.com/blog/advocacy/2007/10/traditional-chinese-medicine-and-endangered-animals/|archive-date=5 October 2013|url-status=live}}</ref>