Beginners Guide to Chinese Traditional Medicine

Chinese Traditional Medicine is often derided as at best an ineffectual placebo and at worst medieval cookery. The truth is that studies have shown that real Chinese Traditional Medicine, also know as TCM, performed by a qualified practitioner can help with certain diseases and ailments. Unfortunately, Chinese traditional medicine has long remained somewhat of a mystery. Academic and medical research into the potential benefits and shortcomings of the system has been few and fare between, at least in the West. But times are changing. While in the past TCM was a skill and education passed down through families, along with secret recipes for medicines, in recent years it has become more mainstream and frankly more modernized. This had been accompanied by tighter regulation, in some countries, dedicated TCM university courses and accreditation systems and, perhaps most importantly more research and information about TCM. It's important to note that TCM is not a replacement for standard, modern healthcare, nor should it be advocated as such. In Hong Kong, the centre for Chinese traditional medicine research, TCM exists as a complimentary medicine to modern healthcare --- it's never a substitute.