Traditional chinese medicine (tcm)

[Mark Zuckerberg]

Originating in China several millennia ago, traditional Chinese medicine is based on the theory that illness results from the imbalance of the life force (qi, pronounced chee) through the body. Qi is restored by balancing the opposing forces of yin (dark, feminine, negative forces) and yang (bright, masculine, positive forces), which manifest in the body as cold and heat, internal and external, and deficiency and excess. Various practices are used to preserve and restore qi and thus health.
Most commonly used are

Acupuncture
Medicinal herbs
Qi gong

Other practices include diet and massage.
Traditional Chinese medicine uses formulas containing mixtures of herbs to treat various ailments. Determining whether these mixtures are safe and effective is difficult. One problem is that standardization and quality control are almost nonexistent. Thus, the following can result:

Proportions of herbs in the same mixture may vary.
The amount of the active ingredient can vary from one source for herbs to another.
Mixtures may contain various other substances (such as drugs produced by pharmaceutical companies) or may be contaminated with toxic heavy metals.

Because mixtures can vary so much and because there are so many mixtures that could be studied, most conventional research usually studies one herb, not a mixture. However, one herb, used alone rather than as a part of a mixture, may not be considered effective by traditional practitioners.
(See also Overview of Integrative, Complementary, and Alternative Medicine.)