In all complex health issues, there is more than one way to define the problem.
It is easy to accept that issues in the economy, international politics, ecology — and any other complex system — can be perceived through multiple lenses and engender multiple approaches.
However, this same acceptance is often lost when it comes to illnesses and the body. I believe that chronic health problems can be seen through multiple logics, specifically because they are complex.
You may be interested in more than conventional pharmaceuticals. Should you look for herbs that can take the place of antibiotics, acid blockers, laxatives, anti-inflammatories, pain relievers, antispasmodics, and antidepressants?
While this sounds like a reasonable starting point, it is not the only logic available. There is a deeper perspective that is far more compelling and fascinating, and — I would argue — useful.
When you seek herbs that have an equivalent function to modern drugs, you also set limits. What you get are more tools that follow the exact same logic as standard medicine. However, what if it wasn’t the drugs that limited progress with your health? What if it was the logic of the medical system itself?
There are categories of Chinese herbs that do not even exist as modern drugs. This is because the frameworks that support their use see the problems of health and illness differently from modern medicine. How we see a problem sometimes changes what solutions are reasonable or even possible.
You can gather some of this through the chart below, comparing the logic and approach of modern medicine and traditional chinese medicine (TCM).
There are good reasons to seriously consider the differences in logic between these two medical systems. It goes beyond just swapping herbs for drugs. Clinicians have an excellent understanding of modern medicine in Japan, China, Taiwan, and Korea — and practice it daily. It is also used in parallel or in combination with their traditional medicine. Including one does not mean discarding the other. Where we might see contradiction, they often perceive opportunity. In the West, we know almost nothing about this approach, and it really is to our detriment.
The focus of the chart below is on treating through prescription drugs (Modern medicine) and traditional medicinals (Chinese herbs) and not acupuncture.
| — | Modern medicine | East Asian medicine |
|---|---|---|
| Method | Mostly based on isolating parts and mechanisms | Mostly based on observing whole patterns |
| Focus | Mostly seeks internal causes | Mostly organizes external presentations |
| Assessment | Diagnoses diseases and syndromes | Identifies patterns of disharmony, while incorporating disease diagnoses |
| Approach | Treats according to standards of care | Treats according to the individual pattern of symptoms and signs |
| Knowledge Base | Tries to base treatment on modern research, when available | Draws from centuries of clinical development and incorporates modern research when useful |
| Ideal | Seeks the best treatment for each diagnosis | Patients with the same diagnosis receive different treatments; patients receiving the same treatment, have different diagnoses |
| Flexibility | Often has a limited set of treatments for each condition | Has many possible treatment strategies for each presentation |
| Levels of Organization | Prioritizes tests, imaging, and lower-level biological data | Prioritizes clinical observation at the level of the whole person: symptoms, signs, pulse, and tongue |
| Pharmacy | Mostly treats with isolated or synthesized compounds | Mostly treats with processed whole medicinals, each containing many active constituents |
| Complexity | Drug effects are usually considered separately; combinations are based mainly on indication, safety, and common use | Medicinals are combined to enhance effects, moderate side effects, guide actions, and shape the whole formula |
| Speed | Drug effects range from very fast to gradual | Medicinal effects range from somewhat fast to very slow |
| Side Effects | Often manages side effects as trade-offs | Often reads side effects as signs the treatment needs adjustment |
| Medicine and Therapy | Prescriptions often remain stable once an effective drug is found | Prescriptions are adjusted as the patient’s pattern changes |
| Specialization | Organized around specialists and body systems | Organized around one clinician reading the whole presentation |
| Patient Encounters | Visits are often shorter and less frequent | Visits are often longer and more frequent, especially during active treatment |
| Advantage | Especially strong in emergencies, acute disease, surgery, and clearly defined pathology | Especially useful in chronic, complex, functional, or shifting patterns |
| Prognosis | Identifies risk factors, based on population research | Identifies health trajectories based on deviations from functional balance |
| Length of treatment (chronic cases) | Chronic treatment is often long-term or indefinite | Treatment aims to resolve or shift the pattern, then reduce or stop when possible |
| Goal | Stabilization, symptom control, risk reduction | Symptom relief, functional balance, and resolution when possible |
| Responsibility | Outcomes are often framed through standards, evidence, and available options | Outcomes depend heavily on the clinician’s diagnostic and prescribing skill |
| Disease and Health | Rich theories of disease; thinner theories of health | Rich theories of both disease and health |
| Wellness | Few medicines are intended to build health directly | Many medicinals nourish, enrich, boost, warm, move, clear, consolidate, regulate, and more |
| Psyche and Soma | Often separates mental and physical care | Often treats mental and physical signs as one connected presentation |
| Safety | Powerful treatments can carry significant risks, especially when misapplied or used long-term | Usually gentler, but still requires skilled prescribing |
| Purpose of Research | To discover, test, and revise knowledge | To refine, test, and deepen clinical understanding |
| Maturity | Rapidly developing, with major gaps in chronic care | Mature as a clinical system, with treatment strategies for a wide range of illness experiences |
When people hear the word “traditional” they assume that it means “antiquated.” Actually, traditional medicine is a vibrant part of medicine, just not in Western nations. For example, as of spring 2026 a search on PubMed shows that there are 120,000 research papers published on East Asian herbal medicine, in English.
Hospitals and clinics practicing TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) treat more than 1.3 billion people annually. About 90% of general hospitals in China have traditional medicine departments, where they treat the full spectrum of chronic illnesses and diseases.
Many who are struggling with chronic digestive disorders are already taking a critical look at regular medicine. The point here is that East Asian medicine is very different from what most in the West have come to know as “medicine.” It is especially valuable to incorporate this other logic in the care of chronic health problems.
It is well known that some approaches will help some people, while other approaches will help others, and everyone is trying to find their own way through the morass. If this works for you, then there is no problem. However, if you are stuck, there is this other way…