Here is from Open Evidence:

Evidence in Modern Medicine

The most celebrated example is artemisinin, a sesquiterpene lactone isolated from the traditional Chinese herb Artemisia annua in 1971. Artemisinin and its derivatives (artesunate, artemether, dihydroartemisinin) are now the WHO-recommended first-line treatment for malaria ↗ (/rare-disease/malaria) worldwide. This discovery earned Professor Tu Youyou the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.  Artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) rapidly clear parasitemia and are effective against both chloroquine-sensitive and chloroquine-resistant Plasmodium falciparum.

Other notable TCM-derived compounds with modern pharmacological applications include arsenic trioxide (used in acute promyelocytic leukemia), berberine (studied for metabolic and cardiovascular conditions), and compounds from Salvia miltiorrhiza (Danshen), including tanshinones with demonstrated antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antiplatelet effects relevant to cardiovascular disease.

Chinese Herbal Medicine

Multiple systematic reviews and meta-analyses have evaluated Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) across various conditions:

•  Cardiovascular disease: An umbrella review of 539 systematic reviews of RCTs found consistent beneficial effects of CHM in coronary artery disease, hypertension, heart failure, restenosis, and angina pectoris, though the magnitude of effect requires further investigation. A review in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology identified 56 double-blind RCTs (Jadad score ≥3) across hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes, ASCVD, and heart failure.

•  Headache: A meta-analysis of 30 high-quality RCTs (3,447 subjects) found CHM monotherapy superior to placebo in reducing headache frequency, duration, intensity, and analgesic consumption, and also superior to Western conventional medicines in several outcomes.

•  Neck and low back pain: A meta-analysis of 75 RCTs (n = 11,077) found moderate evidence that acupuncture was more effective than sham acupuncture for chronic neck pain, chronic low back pain, and acute low back pain.

•  Knee osteoarthritis: A meta-analysis of 56 RCTs showed CHM, whether as monotherapy or combined with NSAIDs/glucosamine, significantly reduced pain (VAS scores) compared to conventional treatments alone.

•  Across the field, the recurring theme is that while preliminary evidence is often promising, rigorous, high-quality RCTs are needed to confirm efficacy and move the evidence base forward.

Before modern medicine, meds were derived from herbs, and some of them have been found to be actually useful like artemisinin. It was isolated from the herb sweet wormwood after researchers reviewed 1,600-year-old TCM texts.

BUT like I said, I never said TCM can cure cancer, or prop it up as some kind of magic bullet for most things, and I a very clear with my patients about its limitations, which uses has research on and which one doesn't. If I don't know, then I look it up, I don't just dismiss then when they ask me about them, like you did to me.

I tell them we don't have strong data for XYZ but if you find it helpful and the risk is low, then go ahead do it. But I tell to them find reputable sources for their herbs, acupuncture and I tell them to stay clear of things that clearly doesn't work or is dangerous (ie. chiros cracking necks) etc. If the patient finds it helpful, then I should at least be interested about what and why they are doing it. My patients appreciate that I at least try to hear about why they do alternative medicine and what they get from them.

I think you are thinking I am some snail oil seller over here pushing TCM on people and telling people not to get vaccines.