Should China abandon Chinese medicine?

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http://www.saukvalley.com/articles/2006/11/14/features/health_and_medical/292809835983434.txt#blogcomments Scholar tries to move China forward on medicine Wire Services SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE BEIJING - In the space of a few weeks, Zhang Gongyao has gone from a little-known scholar of medical history to one of China's most notorious intellectuals.Once accustomed to a low-key life at a provincial university in southern China, he now feels he must avoid the news media and is

nervous even about walking the streets in case he is recognized.It's all because he dared to question one of his country's most cherished beliefs: Chinese traditional medicine.Zhang's comments have provoked a storm of protests and a national debate. He has been cursed on Web sites, denounced as a traitor and subjected to scornful attacks by the Chinese government.This is a country where traditional medicine has become a patriotic symbol. It is enshrined in the country's constitution, taught in universities and protected by government agencies. It has become a $10-billion industry - representing a quarter of the entire medical system - with an estimated 300 million customers every year Read entire article at link above: The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the

view of saukvalley.com. Jagannath Chatterjee wrote on November 16, 2006 2:13 AM:"I am from India. While the Chinese are debating shifting from Chinese medicine to Western medicine, we Indians are seriously contemplating shifting from Western medicine to our own herbo-mineral mix, ayurveda. Never in history has India been so besotted with health problems as it is now under almost eight decades of largely Western medicine. Chemical drugs, antibiotics, vaccines, chemotherapy, radiation, ART drugs are playing havoc and there is rarely a person left untouched. Diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular problems, lung disease, asthma, eczema etc have taken epidemic proportions. Children are falling prey to autism, ADHD,

PDDs, infantile diabetes, cancers and are the sickest in known memory. I would caution the Chinese to think twice before abandoning their ancestral medicine chest. Science is good for machines but bad for man and nature as the whole world is waking up to today." "I am, and have been for years a confirmed anti-vaccinationist. I have not the least doubt in my mind that vaccination is a filthy process that is harmful in the end" - Mahatma Gandhi (Koren Publications Inc.)

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