What is Sanfu Tie?

We all know that there is mathematics, physics and chemistry in this world, but there is no Chinese mathematics, Chinese physics and Chinese chemistry. However, when it comes to disease treatment, many Chinese people firmly believe that we have a different set of methods. The treatment methods and efficacy evaluation standards of the so-called Western medicine (actually a fallacy of modern medicine), such as "Sanfu Tie" which can be used to treat winter diseases and summer diseases, are typical examples of this.

Image source: Beijing News 2006-07-21: Tens of thousands of citizens in Beijing flocked to the hospital to apply plasters. The photographer was: Han Meng. Hehe, the news and pictures from seven years ago still have no sense of time and space confusion when viewed today. Maybe we are making progress, but this progress is too slow. If you want to observe visible changes, you should observe it in a century. Seven years is too short a cycle. Seven years... what changes can we feel in seven years? itch?

The weather is hot every year, and now it is raining again. There are countless people in traditional Chinese medicine hospitals. Some traditional Chinese medicine hospitals that originally had a small outpatient volume suddenly saw ten times the number of patients during this season. In the words of a reporter from a certain newspaper, "This prosperous scene shows that Chinese medicine is still very popular" - the reporter probably forgot that when Qigong was popular, the ignorant people who flocked to it were many times more lively than this scene. A certain cult The followers of leader Li are even more spectacular, but can this change its nature as a cult? The reporter's logical error is that the standard for judging whether a treatment method is effective cannot simply be based on whether it is recognized by many people. In many cases, the so-called "personal experience" cannot be used as medical scientific evidence.

Because the treatment of winter diseases and summer diseases involves many areas, it would be too foolish to analyze them one by one by an exhaustive method. We only need one scoop to drink. We might as well just use the more widely used ones. "Cough patch" is an example. Let's take a look at what kind of medicine is sold in this so-called gourd to treat winter diseases and summer diseases.

The principle of the post says:

"Based on the theory of internal and external treatment of diseases and the principle of meridian conduction treatment in traditional medicine of the motherland, combined with far-infrared light wave technology and moderate magnetic field strength and other physical factors , a successfully developed external patch. Chinese medicine believes that the human body is a harmonious organic unity, and the meridians are the pathways that move Qi and blood to regulate the functions of the organs. This product uses far-infrared materials, magnetic powder, medical glue and non-woven matrix. It is mainly composed of radiating far-infrared light waves with a wavelength of 3-15 microns and the residual magnetic induction intensity generated by magnetic powder, which acts on the human body, and is transmitted through the human body's "vibration absorption" of this wavelength and the stimulation of the magnetic field energy. It activates cell tissues, increases local blood flow, improves blood circulation, and improves metabolic function to achieve the purpose of treatment and health care."

This combination of earth and foreign rhetoric is really effective. What scares laymen is actually neither Chinese nor Western. Anyone with at least medical training and scientific knowledge will sneer at this "principle", which is nothing more than "witchcraft" in the new era.

Looking at the "Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Chronic Cough in Children" jointly formulated by the Respiratory Group of the Pediatric Branch of the Chinese Medical Association and the "Chinese Journal of Pediatrics" editorial board ***, there is no such "cough patch" in the treatment section. There is no trace of it, even the part of traditional Chinese medicine. If the method of treating winter diseases and summer diseases is as "remarkable in efficacy" as some so-called experts say, why is it not even mentioned in this authoritative guideline for chronic cough in children? None?

So why do some parents think it is effective? This involves factors such as the natural outcome of the disease and the placebo effect. First, the symptom of cough itself is self-limiting in some cases and may be cured without treatment. This self-healing process takes a period of time. If a certain method happens to be applied during this period, the patient will be in serious trouble. The self-healing (or just improvement) of cough may be attributed to the magic of Sanfu Tie; secondly, the pathogenesis of many diseases is related to psychological factors. Studies have found that even if a placebo is used for such patients, it has no actual effect. , its "curative effect" can also reach 10-30%. Some doctors who are highly trusted by patients can even achieve 50-80% curative effect using placebo - this also partly explains why before the emergence of modern medicine, There are so-called famous medical gurus who are highly respected.

In order to shield this placebo effect, scientists have adopted a control group method, that is, using placebos as controls in clinical trials of new drugs. This has become a basic rule that must be observed in clinical trials of new drugs in various countries around the world. in principle. In a carefully designed clinical trial protocol, patients are divided into several groups and begin treatment at the same time. Patients in each group should have the same disease and similar severity, stage of development, and physical condition. Similarly, in order to eliminate human experimental error, except for the data analysts, neither the doctors nor the patients in the trial knew whether they were taking the new drug or a placebo. After such rigorous testing, a large number of experimental drugs have been eliminated before entering official clinical use, while truly effective drugs will stand out and help doctors treat patients. As the saying goes, "True gold is not afraid of fire." To define any medicine or treatment method that refuses this testing process as a "liar" is not to slander them.

Drugs are a special kind of "consumer goods". The lack of professional knowledge makes patients unable to choose drugs. Compared with various consumer groups, patients who are direct "consumers" of drugs obviously At a disadvantage.

Although the cough patch mentioned earlier has a legal batch number in China, its therapeutic effect has not been recognized by the mainstream medical community. Some hospitals use the card of treating winter diseases in the summer, which is nothing more than taking advantage of the ignorance of the majority of the people and domestic policies. It's just protection. I would like to ask, any method of treating winter diseases and summer diseases, including cough patches, can any of them pass strict evidence-based medical testing?

Finally, let us experience the magic and mystery of this cough patch: "The "Sanfu patch" is used to treat winter diseases and summer diseases. It is the first, second and third days of the "Three Dog Days" of the lunar calendar every year; The "three-nine stickers" for preventing winter diseases are the "19th, 29th, and 39th" of the "three-nine days" of the lunar calendar every year - can it be said that no matter the height of the northern and southern hemispheres, no matter what the actual local climate conditions are, they must be on the same day. Date post? After a few days, if you try to post again, you won’t be successful? Do you still have to look at the almanac to choose an auspicious day when applying plaster? I’ve heard of people who choose hospitals and specialists when seeing a doctor. How can this farce of choosing a day for the sake of treatment effect come from? If the purpose is to improve the disease-resistant function of the entire human body, such as basic measures such as regular diet and exercise, there is no need to choose spring, summer, autumn and winter!

This reminds me of Lu Xun’s article. The Chinese medicine doctor who treated his father asked him to find the crickets of his original partner. There are also some legends that the cutting of certain medicinal materials must be done on the full moon of a certain month. At night, people collecting medicine need to wrap the soles of their shoes with cotton cloth to prevent the sound of their footsteps from disturbing the properties of the medicine. They also need to cut it with a very fast knife, otherwise the medicine will not be effective... All these kinds of mysteries with obvious witchcraft characteristics are nothing more than It is to enhance the effect of the patient's psychological suggestion. For many ignorant Chinese people, the more magical it is, the more effective it is. It is precisely for this reason that this kind of intentional or unintentional scam is still going on today. I think next year's dog days will be the same. There won't be any change. If you don't believe it, we might as well keep this and wait and see. See you in the dog days of next year.