[Rethinking on application of "syndrome differentiation through formula effect assessment"]

By summarizing the state of application of "syndrome differentiation through formula effect assessment", it was pointed out that several problems exist in this kind of study, mainly the irrational setting of experimental control group, over simplified pharmacodynamic indexes, and negligence of study on "correspondence between drug and disease", etc. The authors proposed accordingly the thinking methods and strategy in the study on "syndrome differentiation through formula effect assessment" should be setting control properly, taken "correspondence between disease and syndrome" as the key point, and to define clearly the criteria for evaluating the efficacy of formula as the premise.