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In 2018, the 11th Edition of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) defined a diagnostic code list for standard traditional medicine (TM) conditions. The codes improve patient safety by providing more comprehensive and accurate medical records for hospitals in the Western Pacific Region. In these facilities, TM is often a standard of care for those populations. In several mainstream media sources, writers are circumventing evidence-based peer-reviewed medical literature by unduly influencing public opinion and, in this case, against the new ICD-11 codes. The dangers imposed by the transgression of popular writing onto the discipline of peer-reviewed works are present since best practices in medical record-keeping will fail without the inclusion of TM in the ICD-11 codes. Such failures directly affect the health of the patients and policymakers in regions where TM and conventional medicine are combined. This article investigates the boundaries between substantial evidence and popular opinion. In this era where media is used to manipulate evidence, the reader's use of sound judgment and critical thought are thwarted. This article also challenges three controversial themes in pop literature, including the threat to endangered species, increased patient risk, and contaminants in the TM. These themes are made without evidence and are, in fact, of flawed logic. There is no reason to assume that improved medical record-keeping and knowledge of patient cases increase risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: It was the aim of this study to determine whether (1) Parkinson's disease (PD) patients can be divided into different traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) constitutions based on the 44-item Traditional Chinese Medical Constitutional Scale and Classification (TCM-CSC, Chinese version, 中醫體質及分型量表), (2) whether levodopa usage correlates with the TCM classification type, and (3) whether there is a difference in the mean daily intake of levodopa between males and females in any of the constitutional types. Methods: PD patients who had visited the TCM clinic of the Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) or who had attended the PD public talks organized by HKBU and the Association of Parkinson's Disease in Hong Kong were invited for interviews with TCM assessors. The TCM-CSC (Chinese version) was used in the assessment to divide patients into four different constitutions: the balanced constitution (type A), the yang-deficiency constitution (type B), the yin-deficiency constitution (type C) and the stasis constitution (type D). Results: Sixty-three patients (29 males, 34 females; mean age 63.65 ± 8.116 years; mean PD duration 5.49 ± 4.544 years) participated in the study. Sixteen PD patients (26%) had only one type of TCM constitution, while 47 PD patients (74%) had more than one type of TCM constitution. Type D patients showed the lowest intake of daily levodopa. There was no significant difference in the mean daily intake of levodopa between males and females in any of the constitutional types. Conclusions: (1)PD patients cannot be divided into different constitutional types based on the TCM-CSC effectively. (2) In general, levodopa usage does not correlate with the constitutional type; however, patients with the stasis constitution (type D) showed the lowest levodopa intake compared to the other constitutions. (3) There was no significant difference in the mean daily intake of levodopa between males and females. Further research on the treatment pattern of different TCM constitutions, using large samples, is warranted. © 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]