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  1. #21
    Quote Originally Posted by Kujako View Post
    And no FDA, so we're gona try it on all these poor people!
    That's misleading. They did all sorts of weird experimental medicine on the nobles in ye olden days. Shit, those same ancient Chinese texts recommended consuming mercury, and only the nobility could afford it.

  2. #22
    The Insane Kujako's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Nadiru View Post
    That's misleading. They did all sorts of weird experimental medicine on the nobles in ye olden days. Shit, those same ancient Chinese texts recommended consuming mercury, and only the nobility could afford it.
    Hey... wasn't saying it was a BAD thing. Just that is expedites research. Still compared to European scientific rigger it's impressive. Unless you think drinking mercury really does cure kidney stones.
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  3. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by Vegas82 View Post
    It does cure kidney stones in a way. You die, rot and the kidney stones are no longer in your kidneys. Problem solved.
    To be fair, she used the part of Chinese medicine that involves using herbs to treat illness.

    Lots of our modern medications are based on natural compounds, so herbalism is certainly a lot less questionable than other parts of Chinese medicine.

  4. #24
    Quote Originally Posted by Xarim View Post
    I don't put my views in OPs but here it is:

    I think this is a great story, not because of the use of Chinese medicine or because she's a woman, or because it's in China over half a century ago.

    I think this is a great story because it says you don't need advanced degrees, you don't need wealth or advantages, etc - to achieve great and good things in the world.

    You just need to want to do something important for society and to pursue it with real dedication and grit.

    The world moves forward because of people who do.
    Sure, you don't need advanced degrees. You could learn it all yourself. But who is seriously going to give you the opportunity, especially in the field of medicine absent a degree? Would you attempt to be an outlier based on something someone did half a century ago?
    Last edited by anntheman; 2015-10-08 at 04:49 PM.

  5. #25
    Fluffy Kitten Yvaelle's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Xarim View Post
    To be fair, she used the part of Chinese medicine that involves using herbs to treat illness.

    Lots of our modern medications are based on natural compounds, so herbalism is certainly a lot less questionable than other parts of Chinese medicine.
    Plus, unlike curing a headache with a special touch, or curing erectical disfunction with some magical rhino horn powder - curing Malaria is a lot less likely to be unrelated to the herbs you eat.

    Malaria doesn't go away accidentally. So if an ancient text says, "Joe got malaria again today, but then we gave him sweet wormwood and he was better in time for the game this afternoon" - either you are mis-translating the word Malaria, or there is a pretty high likelihood that the wormwood treatment is curing it. That's the sort of thing that should set off alarm bells in your mind.

    Further, lots of modern drugs come from traditional cures - it's very common to test naturopathic claims for their validity and accept/disregard them based on the findings. ex. Morphine was used by the ancient Sumerians and Egyptians - it's one of the oldest medicines on the planet. Ephedrine - found in most cough and cold medicine - is a ~4000 year old Chinese recipe too. Cortisone was traditionally extracted in Mexico from treating a local Yam variant - it's used in many modern joint and muscle pain treatments. Aspirin is Acetylsalicylic Acid - extracted from willow tree bark for at least 3000 years as a headache treatment.

    So Herbalism is very valuable to modern medicine - the issue is when science explores a traditional remedy, dissects every compound from the substance and rigorously tests to confirm it has no effect - then 'traditional medicine' keeps making claims for substances that provably has no measurable effect.
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  6. #26
    Quote Originally Posted by Mikesglory View Post
    She successfully created a cure for malaria (kills 600,000 per year) that had been lost since 400AD from what I can see.

    That sure does deserve a Nobel prize.
    If you look at it that way, then yes. The discovery itself (of artmemisinin), is an achievement. I think the OP's concern is the legitemacy of the award and for that one should consider that committee that awarded the prize. Personally, I have no qualms with a scientist not having degrees as long as his/her methods/track record is solid. But yeah, Nobel Prize commitee has awarded some arguable less credible people before. Much less credible then Youyou Tu.

  7. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by anntheman View Post
    Sure, you don't need advanced degrees. You could learn it all yourself. But who is seriously going to give you the opportunity, especially in the field of medicine absent a degree? Would you attempt to be an outlier based on something someone did half a century ago?
    All great success is an outlier.

    I have worked hard in my own field and done pretty well, and I consider myself an outlier. My work has really nothing to do with my degree, and I run my own firm.

    So yes, "attempting to be an outlier" is what it's all about.

    That's a good way of putting it actually.

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