Biochemistry Week 11 - Definitions

Biochemistry is a department in the school of medicine.

I feel that biochemistry is a great place to start if one is going to study medicine in the Western perspective. Biology is the study of life and chemistry is the study of the composition, structure and properties of matter. Chemistry is essentially the basis of all sciences because it deals with atoms, molecules, elements - the smallest units of matter which make up the world around us. Biochemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. To heal ourselves, cure, and prevent diseases, it is imperative to understand the substances in which we are made of and what we are dealing with. However, before the invention of the microscope, humans and other living organisms lived without an understanding of molecular properties. Traditional Chinese medicine was a school of medicine that began without the study of biochemical properties and still exists today. I think biochemistry supports TCM and allows for better understanding through standardized and scientific methods and it is an excellent foundation for the study of medicine, however, historically, it doesn't seem to be fundamental in medicine - the treatment and prevention of disease. This is realization I'm becoming more familiar with as I deepen my studies in TCM.

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