Study reveals Chinese medicines contain Viagra, rat poison and endangered animals

[HuckleB]

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2015/12/11/study-reveals-chinese-medicines-contain-viagra-rat-poison-and-endangered-animals

"A study of 26 widely-available traditional Chinese medicines has found 90 per cent were not safe for human consumption because of undeclared illegal and dangerous substances.

Australian researchers at Curtin University, Murdoch University and the University of Adelaide used DNA sequencing, toxicology and heavy metal testing to screen the composition of 26 traditional Chinese medicines sold as flu and general wellness treatments, purchased from the Adelaide Markets.

The brands of medicines were not disclosed, but researchers said those tested were easily found in markets and retailers around Australia.

The results, published in the journal Nature Scientific Reports, found 92 per cent of the medicines tested contained at least one or more substances not listed on the label. Sixty per cent of the medicines contained more than one undeclared substance.

..."

[Rex]

1. Rat poison? Okay the viagra and rhino horn we all hear about time to time.

However...rat poison? I wonder if it is from fumigating the warehouses that store these drugs?

[LiberalArkie]

2. Probably strychnine. It used to be mixed with LSD and other drugs way back.

[Rex]

3. That explains why people trip balls on LSD.

Yikes.

[StrayKat]

4. Or Warfarin

Or Warfarin, which is both a common blood thinner in humans and a rat poison.

[Kaleva]

5. And the problem with this is...?

[GOLGO 13]

6. Who in their right mind would willingly ingest anything made in China?

Phones, tv's, Nike sure.

Food, medicine or skin products? Your out of your fucking mind.

[elias49]

9. Heh! I wonder how many Chinese would make MacDonalds a staple?

They'd be out of their f'n minds!

(You know, don't you, that China has modern stuff like cities and cars and TVs, right?)

[GOLGO 13]

15. If those McDonalds food items were made in the USA it'd be WAY safer to eat

than any food items made in China by a HUGE percentage.

[elias49]

7. Sensational.

The Chinese were practicing medicine long before the West. And it mostly works, just like Western medicine mostly works.

[HuckleB]

8. Umm.

https://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/what-is-traditional-chinese-medicine/

[elias49]

10. I'll look...bookmarked.

then there's this:

http://www.mindfulnesscds.com/pages/bill-moyers-special

[Archae]

11. Much of what was "Traditional Chinese Medicine" was promoted by Mao.

Mao Zedong promoted TCM as "alternatives" to the medicine of the "decadent West" even if the stuff being promoted was worthless at best and dangerous at most.

https://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/retconning-traditional-chinese-medicine/

[elias49]

13. I'll keep that in mind while I watch TV drug ads tonight

on US television.

"May be fatal in rare cases"

"Normal side effects of the latest "biologic" (IE, ridiculously expensive) " may include bloating, diarrhea, headache and painful urination. Kidey failure, though rare, my leasd to death"...

I don't need to go on.

[GOLGO 13]

16. LOL! I know it's hilarious that the side affects sound worse than the medical condition.

The penis-pills are particular hilarious....seek medical attention for an erection lasting 4hrs or more

I think the wife would call that pill a exciting success.

[GOLGO 13]

12. Yes the Chinese were practicing medicine before the West. However,

traditional Chinese medicine originated during a pre-scientific & a superstition based culture. There is a very, very good reason why no traditional Chinese medicine is used in modern Western medicine.

[elias49]

14. 'pre-scientific' societies have much to offer..

witness drugs from the Amazon zones and Africa that have been part of a pharmacopeia for centuries. Western medicine may name these things, and in fairness improve and refine them from time to time but the 'knowledge' of their effectiveness predates the Renaissance in the west. By a lot.

[GOLGO 13]

17. Absolutely. Your quite right.

As long as those items/products can be rigorously tested & duplicated to Western standards/scrutiny they will be used & sought after forever...or until the next better thing comes along.

[Major Nikon]

18. Some of the remedies do have proven efficacy

However, most of it is just woo. When I was in China I took a tour of a traditional Chinese medicine facility. They put more emphasis on prevention rather than actual healing, which isn't altogether a bad idea, but most of their remedies rely heavily on the placebo effect which is to say they are banking on the ignorance of their consumers. Many of the better educated Chinese people know most of it is nonsense, but without any real western style medicine available to the masses they have little choice.