1-2
1. empiricism
our primary knowledge about herbs is based on empirical evidence, that is knowledge we can verify with our five senses
medical claims its to vulnerable to the placebo effect - because of this, animal testing & double-blind methodology is scientifically preferred.
double-blind studies require:
1 - tested substance to one group of participants
2- a similar looking placebo to a control group
statistical evidence:
a more effective method for evaluating traditional herbal medicine
example: in China, hundreds or thousands are given a traditional medicine & a statistical curve (based on the rate of cure), improvement or no improvement, is noted.
thousands of quality studies (using this method) have been conducted in China & other Asian countries, but...
because they are not double-blind, western researchers have disqualified their validity until recently