1. Is TCM Pseudoscience? JMK CHEM 51 Research project 1 3/12/07 Professor: Dr. Paul Shin

2. Abstract To examine if TCM (traditional Chinese medicine) should include in pseudoscience or not. According to NIH consensus statement in 1997, they support TCM. There are sufficient amount of evidences of acupuncture is a valuable to expand its uses into conventional medicine. In contrast, there are many debates on TCM because it cannot be proved by scientific methods.

3. Introduction * In United States, acupuncture was approved with FDA. * Health insurance covers TCM * There’s argument that TCM is Pseudoscience because it was not tested for true science

4. Definition of Pseudoscience Is any body of knowledge, methodology, belief, or practice that claims to be scientific but does not follow the scientific method.

5. TCM: Traditional Chinese Medicine This practice includes herbal medicine, acupuncture, and massage. Acupuncture is most popular TCM treatment in United States. TCM is a form of oriental medicine, which includes other traditional East Asian medical systems such as traditional Japanese and Korean medicine.

6. Background TCM theory is based on Eastern philosophy such as Yin-Yang’s the five elements, the human body meridian system and Zang fu’s organ theory. In East Asia, TCM is recognized as major medical treatment especially, herbal medicine and acupuncture.

7. TCM vs. Western medicine TCM  Patient will given very different herbal prescription by same type of infection, because the different symptoms reported by the patient would indicate different type of imbalance in a traditional diagnostic system. Western medicine  Western medicine treats infections by targeting the microorganisms directly, whether preventively, with antibiotics, or making uses of the immune system through vaccines.

8. Pros NIH consensus statement in 1997  The research was conducted to see the effectiveness of acupuncture for variety of conditions. Conclusion  Acupuncture as a therapeutic intervention is widely practiced in the united states.  They found acupuncture will be useful as an adjunct treatment or an acceptable alternative or be included in a comprehensive management program.

9. Cons : Identifying Pseudoscience using definition of science SciencePseudoscience (TCM) Workers in the field commonly seek out counterexamples or findings that appear to be inconsistent with accepted theories Challenge to TCM theory is hardly accepted since TCM based on old theory New finding is usually ignored Observations or data that are not consistent with current scientific understanding, once shown to be credible, generate intense interest among scientists and stimulate additional studies Major principle is based on philosophy which its principle cannot be tested TCM is based on overall observation of human symptoms rather than micro level laboratory tests Scientific ideas and concepts must stand or fail on their own merits, based on existing knowledge and on evidence Merit is not available because original theory said each person has a different human balance. Therefore, they must treated individually

10. Conclusion By the definition of pseudoscience, TCM is not a science because TCM does not have enough scientific explanation yet. However more and more medical schools are including classes on alternative medicine in their curriculum. Also, in China, Europe and other countries have combined hospital where provide both western and TCM medical service. Since TCM costs much cheaper than Western method I suggest to use TCM as great alternative medicine.

11. References National institutes of Health (NIH) Consensus Development Conference Statement. November 3 rd to 5 th, 1997 Http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditional_chinese_medicine Oxford American Dictionary, published by the Oxford English Dictionary. www.chem1.com/acad/sci/pseudosci.html Kaptchuk, Ted. Chinese Medicine: The Web That Has No Weaver, 2 nd.