Statistical validation of traditional chinese medicine theories.

The theories of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) originated from experiences doctors had with patients in ancient times. We ask the question whether aspects of TCM theories can be reconstructed through data analysis. To answer the question, we have developed a data analysis method called latent tree models and have used it to analyze several TCM data sets. This paper reports the results we obtained on one of the data sets and explains how they provide statistical validation to the relevant TCM theories.