Traditional Chinese Medicine

Last Updated: September 28, 2022

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is a collection of herbs, fungi, or berries that have historical usage as medicine in mainland China and sometimes nearby areas.

Although their effects are normally based on anecdotes, they are slowly being scientifically validated for their claims.

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Traditional Chinese Medicine is most often used for

Summary

Traditional Chinese Medicine, at least as far as Examine.com is concerned, is a collection of nutraceuticals and plants that have traditionally been used for treating diseases or otherwise enhancing quality of life in China and surrounding regions.

In the ages before HPLC-MS analysis and identifying active components, looking at enzymatic interactions with xenobiotics, and assigning these pharmaceutical sounding terms to everything there was still nutraceutical research. This page is devoted to validating the effects of Chinese Medicine using western (peer-reviewed) science and categorizing the herbal combinations that have been traditionally used.

If primary sources are not given for claims, but the claims have been made via traditional practitioners of Chinese Medicine, it is sort of a grey area as far as Examine.com is concerned.

What else is Traditional Chinese Medicine known as?
Note that Traditional Chinese Medicine is also known as:
  • TCM
  • Chinese Medicine
  • 中医
  • 中醫
  • zhōng yī
Traditional Chinese Medicine should not be confused with:
  • Kampo (Japanese Adaption of Chinese Medicine)
  • Ayurveda (Traditional Indian Medicine)

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