> their mechanics/drugs/techniques can be as effective as western versions This may be true of some indigenous medicines, discovered by trial-and-error and ca

> their mechanics/drugs/techniques can be as effective as western versions This may be true of some indigenous medicines, discovered by trial-and-error and careful observation over multiple generations. These are disappearing fast, and remain largely unsystematised. But treatments from the major medievalist 'systems' are different - their very strong derivation from fictional rubrics has resulted in their use being insulated from disconfirming observation (as was medieval 'Western' medicine). I'm not a specialist, but results I've seen from contemporary studies of Indian and Chinese treatments seem to show they don't work. And then there's the more impressionistic evidence from history. The populations of premodern India & China were horrifically unhealthy from all accounts I've read. Their medical systems did nothing for them.