"My quarrel with TCM is that it is unscientific and the body of knowledge upon which it rests is outdated and flawed. We now have a very good understanding of the operation of our human body — not complete but fairly accurate — yet TCM still seeks to describe the anatomy and physiology of our body with unrevised knowledge from our scientifically ignorant past. It's not just bad science, it's not even science. TCM needs to be brought up to 21st Century scientific standards — shed all the voodoo, put it to vigorous tests and evaluate the results. I too, subscribe to the truism not to throw the baby out with the bath water — but let's find out if there is a baby in there! When the ginseng root and the quintessential female herb dong-quai were studied scientifically for their alleged cancer-curing power, they were found not only to be ineffective but in fact encouraged the growth of some cancer cells. It is quite possible that TCM herbs may be effective for many illnesses and may have something to offer modern pharmacology, but the active ingredients present vary in concentration depending on the soil and climate conditions under which they are grown. This makes the dosage unreliable and even dangerous when prepared by primitive home brewing. Until a pharmacological process is applied to preparation of Chinese herbs in the form of extracting the active ingredients and calibrating dosage, herbal treatment cannot be admitted into the realm of 21st century medical "science." Yau-Man Chan, Skepticblog (November 2008)