The article analyzed the contemporary study of pattern recognition of tongue images in traditional Chinese medicine by computer technology from its key sectors. It regards that the methods of orthogonal design and evaluation of image quality should be introduced to get a high-quality and practicable condition. In the field of tongue image segmentation, multiple methods used together are expected to improve the effect of segmentation. A scientific and canonical standard of tongue diagnosis based on comprehensive experts' experience with Delphi evaluation method and multi-center experts diagnosis on internet are also very essential. The study of pattern recognition on tongue image is still concentrated on the color. Further study should be extended to achieve quantification. And a comprehensive diagnosis on pattern recognition of tongue image is the aim that should be focused on later.

Acupuncture is widely used as an alternative therapy with few side effects because of its simple manipulation and low cost. However, accidents may occur if the practitioner uses it improperly. Early in the Qin dynastuy, the Canon of Medicine mentioned that improper use of acupuncture could cause injury to the body and even death, and it systematically described the occurrence and prevention of acupuncture accidents. Physicians in the successive dynasties frequently reported it, and nealized that the manipulation skills were significantly important in preventing the occurrence of acupuncture accidents.Since the 1950s, acupuncture accidents had been effectively prevented because of the improving of acupuncture instruments, enhancing of the quality of the practitioners, popularizing of sterilization and disseminating of anatomic knowledge. Nevertherless, with the renovating of acupuncture techniques, new accidents may occur constantly. The prevention of acupuncture accidents still should be an arduors task for acupuncturists. Nowadays, acupuncture therapy is being used in more than 140 countries, and acupuncture accidents due to improper application are incrcasing. Prevention of acupuncture accidents has become a global issue deserving of great attention.

Fructus Xanthii is commonly used in rhinology, especially used in treatment of chronic rhinitis and sinusitis. But Fructus Xanthii is toxicant, and it maybe result in poisoning when used excessively, without preparation or in inappropriate preparation. This article reviewed all poisoning cases from 1960 to 2000, its toxicology and methods for detoxification.

Our ancestor found that some of the Chinese herbal drugs were toxic during their clinical practice. They graded the toxicity of Chinese herbal drugs into three degrees and thought that the term "toxicity of the Chinese herbal drugs" could be used in a broad and a narrow sense. In modern times, toxic components of the Chinese herbal drugs and their toxic mechanisms, especially the toxicity on the kidney, were further revealed. The factors that affect the toxicity of the Chinese herbal drugs include the species, preparation, dose and environment. To prevent the toxicity of the Chinese herbal drugs, we must strengthen the management of the Chinese herbal drugs. On the other hand, doctors' recognition of the toxicity of Chinese herbal drugs should be enhanced. At the same time, patients should be told to decoct and take Chinese herbal drugs correctly.

The concept of "three-yin and three-yang" in Shanghan Lun (Treatise on Cold Pathogenic Diseases), a classic written by Zhang Zhongjing in Han Dynasty, has been always the focus of dispute in successive dynasties. The essence of "three-yin and three-yang" has not been fully revealed up till now. Through studying the six divisions of day and night, the six diseases, the combination of syndromes, the complicated diseases, the complete recovery time and the space division of "three-yin and three-yang", the authors draw a conclusion that the "three-yin and three-yang" in Shanghan Lun is a concept of time-sequence, which is associated with the location of disease in space. So it is suggested that the "six diseases" in Shanghan Lun is a categorization for exogenous febrile diseases, and this categorization reveals a sort of inner relationship between the emergence, development, transformation of the febrile diseases and the time.

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), an important component of complementary and alternative medicine, has evolved over thousands of years with its own unique system of theories, diagnostics and therapies. TCM has been increasingly used in the last decades and become well known for its significant role in preventing and treating cancer. We believe that TCM possesses advantages over Western medicine in specific aspects at a certain stage of cancer treatment. Here we summarize the advantages of TCM from three aspects: preventing tumorigenesis; attenuating toxicity and enhancing the treatment effect; and reducing tumor recurrence and metastasis.

The theory of formulas corresponding to syndromes is one of the characteristics of Treatise on Cold Damage and Miscellaneous Diseases (Shanghan Zabing Lun) and one of the main principles in applying classic prescriptions. It is important to take effect by following the principle of formulas corresponding to syndromes. However, some medical practitioners always feel that the actual clinical effect is far less than expected. Six errors in the use of classic prescriptions as well as the theory of formulas corresponding to syndromes are the most important causes to be considered, i.e. paying attention only to the local syndromes while neglecting the whole, paying attention only to formulas corresponding to syndromes while neglecting the pathogenesis, paying attention only to syndromes while neglecting the pulse diagnosis, paying attention only to unilateral prescription but neglecting the combined prescriptions, paying attention only to classic prescriptions while neglecting the modern formulas, and paying attention only to the formulas but neglecting the drug dosage. Therefore, not only the patients’ clinical syndromes, but also the combination of main syndrome and pathogenesis simultaneously is necessary in the clinical applications of classic prescriptions and the theory of prescription corresponding to syndrome. In addition, comprehensive syndrome differentiation, modern formulas, current prescriptions, combined prescriptions, and drug dosage all contribute to avoid clinical errors and improve clinical effects.

The scientificalness of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is often doubted and criticized for the record in Huangdi Neijing that the liver is located in the left of the human body. The most popular explanation of this criticism is that the conception of zang-fu viscera in TCM is quite different from which defined in Western medicine. It means that the zang-fu viscera in TCM are not exactly the corresponding anatomical organs in modern human anatomy but reflect the functions of some systems in human body. According to the classical theories of TCM in Huangdi Neijing, we consider that the record of liver located in the left of the human body is based on the Ba Gua (Eight Diagrams) of traditional Chinese philosophy, not the human anatomy. In brief, the conception of zang-fu viscera is initially a gross anatomical conception, and in a sense the anatomic sites and functions of which are mostly similar to those described in Western medicine.

Pulmonary-fibrosis (PF) is the result of interstitial lung disease which has different causes and it is one of the most intractable diseases in respiratory system. The PF is characterized by progressive difficulty of breath and dying of respiratory failure, seriously threatening the health of people. Immunosuppressive drugs and glucocorticoids have been widely adopted as the main methods in treatment, but the results are not satisfactory and the side effects are obvious. Many specialists have tried traditional Chinese medicine in recent years with satisfactory effect, indicating that the prospect of using traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment of PF is optimistic. This article outlines the researches about using traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment of PF.

Traditional Chinese medicine has accumlated rich experience in treating dysfunction of gastrointestinal peristalsis. In recent years, a large number of studies have been made on the mechanism and effects of traditional Chinese medicines on the gastrointestinal peristalsis, and the concept of "gastrointestinal promoting Chinese medicine" has been advocated. These traditional Chinese medicines can be divided into three types: promoting the gastrointestinal peristalsis, inhibiting the gastrointestinal peristalsis, and bi-directional modulating. The in vivo and/or in vitro experiments showed that some of the traditional Chinese medicines for activating blood or regulating qi could promote the stomach peristalsis, and the traditional Chinese medicines for moistening intestines to relieve constipation or invigorating spleen to promote digestion could accelerate the intestinal peristalsis. The mechanism lies in the neuroregulation and gut-peptide regulation. Further research on multi-regulation and of multi-target should be done, for the mechanism of the traditional Chinese medicines in regulating the gastrointestinal peristalsis is far more complicated.

Effect of clinical intervention on human body is multistage and multifaceted, involving physiology, psychology, social function and the surrounding resources, etc. Therefore, the range of clinical outcome assessment includes patient, his or her family and care giver. The evaluation of clinical intervention mainly focuses on its effectiveness, safety and health economics. Effects of clinical interventions are measured by comparisons of the outcome of intervention and control groups. Different effect measures come from different comparisons.

Diabetes is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the world. There is currently an active search for antidiabetic drugs with greater effectiveness with fewer and less adverse side effects. Although numerous individual herbs have been experimentally or clinically reported to possess antidiabetic effects, considerably less research has been conducted on polyherbal compounds. It is believed that herbal compounds containing multiple plant products have synergistic antidiabetic effects and could enhance the desired actions. Several polyherbal formulations have been studied as therapeutic agents in diabetes management. To describe the current state of research on polyherbal compounds in the treatment of diabetes, an extensive review of literature was undertaken on several major databases. This paper presents what is known about the efficacy of these polyherbal formulations and compare their antidiabetic effects with those of current oral hypoglycemic drugs as reference. The percent decrease in blood glucose, lipids and other biochemical parameters achieved by each product in diabetic animals and patients is reported. Also, the possible mechanisms responsible for hypoglycemic action of polyherbal formulations are discussed.

Objective

To investigate analgesic, antidiarrhoeal and cytotoxic activities of the ethanol extract of Passiflora foetida L. (Passifloraceae) by three experimental methods. 

Methods

Analgesic activity of the ethanol extract of Passiflora foetida L. (EEPF) was carried out using acetic acid-induced writhing inhibition in mice. The method of castor oil-induced diarrhoea in mice was utilized to evaluate antidiarrhoeal activity. The cytotoxic activity of EEPF was explored with a brine shrimp lethality bioassay. 

Results

The extract showed 68.75% and 30.00% inhibition of writhe at the doses of 500 and 250 mg/kg body weight, respectively. The extract increased the mean latent period prior to diarrhoeal onset to about 1.55 h and 1.17 h, and decreased the mean number of stools to 4.4 and 5.6 at the doses of 500 and 250 mg/kg body weight. The extract also demonstrated cytotoxic activity in the brine shrimp lethality assay, and the median lethal concentration for brine shrimp nauplii was 80 μg/mL. 

Conclusion

The results suggest that the plant extract has analgesic and antidiarrhoeal activities, supporting its uses in traditional medicine. The results also demonstrate that the plant extract possesses cytotoxic activities.

The usage of Swietenia mahagoni, a popular medicinal plant in India and some African countries, dates back to ancient times for its curative properties in diseases like malaria, diabetes, and diarrhea. It is also used as an anti-pyretic, bitter tonic and astringent. Its pharmacological activities are being widely explored. Although many important groups of phytochemicals have been identified and isolated from various parts of the plant, most of these researches have been focused on seeds. Toxicological studies have established the safety of many of these plant extracts, and found insignificant side effects. Here we present a comprehensive review of all the pharmacological effects and constituent phytochemicals of the plant.

There exists close relationship between the damp-heat and the occurrence, development, treatment and prognosis of kidney diseases. The occurrence of damp-heat is based on water and wetness, which may come from outside or may be caused by internal damage. The water and wetness can change into heat if they are stored in the body for a long period, and the combination of water and wetness and heat may cause damp-heat syndrome. The function of spleen and stomach plays the most important role in the water metabolism of sanjiao. Kidney diseases are mainly caused by damp-heat of spleen and stomach resulted from internal damage of spleen and stomach, and symptoms of damp-heat of middle-jiao are commonly seen in most patients of chronic kidney diseases. During the development from renal function damage to renal failure, the remaining of damp-heat in san-jiao can affect the function of spleen and stomach for transportation, transformation and digestion, resulting in the symptoms of dysfunction of spleen and stomach. Regulating the function of spleen and stomach is one of the most important therapeutic methods for kidney diseases.

Natural products, either as pure compounds or as standardized plant extracts, provide extensive opportunities for new drug leads because of the unmatched availability of chemical diversity. In contrast to modern medicines, herbal medicines are frequently used to treat chronic diseases. Standardization guarantees the content of one or more active constituents and marker compounds. The plant environment and genetic factors could significantly affect the biochemical components of the plant extract, in which plants are still the most abundant and cost-effective resource for drug innovation. Production of botanical drugs requires genetically uniform monocultures of the source plant in fully standardized conditions, to assure the biochemical consistency and to optimize the safety and efficacy of every crop. The present review article illustrates about the methods for standardization of herbal medicine and how the goal of preparing herbal medicines of consistent quality and effects can be achieved.

Objective: To observe the effects of kidney-tonifying Chinese herbal medicine on the synthesis and secretion of gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) and the related neurotransmitters and neuropeptides, and to explore the mechanism of the regulative effect of Chinese herbal medicine on the hypothalamic-pituitary gonadotrophic function. Methods: Female Sprague-Dawley rats during the period of normal adolescent initiation (160-180 g, 1.5 monthes) were randomly divided into three groups. The control group was fed with normal saline and the two experimental groups were fed with Chinese herbal medicine for nourishing yin to reduce fire (Zi Yin Xie Huo, ZYXH) or nourishing kidney to replenish essence (Yi Shen Tian Jing, YSTJ) respectively. The dosage was 5 ml/d for 30 days by gastric gavage. Integrated optic densities of the GnRH and neuropeptide Y (NPY) in medial preoptic area (MPOA), arcuate nucleus (ARC) and median eminence (ME) of hypothalamus were determined by immunohistochemistry method and image processing. The content of GnRH in homogenate of hypothalamus preoptic area was determined by radioimmunoassay (RIA). The releasing amount of monoamine neurotransmitters from medial basal hypothalamus (MBH) was determined by brain slices incubation and high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). The releasing amount of GnRH and NPY from POA was determined by push-pull perfusion and RIA, and the releasing amount of monoamine neurotransmitters from this site was determined by HPLC.Results: ZYXH could inhibit the synthesis and secretion of GnRH from periodic and tonic secretory centers of GnRH, while YSTJ could stimulate the synthesis and secretion of GnRH from the both secretory centers of GnRH. ZYXH could inhibit the activity of GnRH neurons via diminishing the releasing of norepinephrine (NE) from tonic secretory center of GnRH, increasing the releasing of dopamine (DA) in periodic secretory center of GnRH and increasing the synthesis and releasing of NPY from the both secretory centers of GnRH, it hence inhibited the hypothalamic-pituitary gonadotrophic function. YSTJ could stimulate the activity of GnRH neurons via diminishing the synthesis and releasing of NPY from tonic secretory center of GnRH, it hence promoted the hypothalamic-pituitary gonadotrophic function.Conclusion: Chinese herbal medicine for tonifying the kidney could modulate hypothalamic-pituitary gonadotrophic function via regulating the synthesis and secretion of GnRH and the related neurotransmitters (NE, DA) and neuropeptides (NPY).

Objective

To evaluate the correlations between clinical symptoms and treatment efficacy in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods

Four hundred and thirteen patients were included in the clinical trial from 9 clinical centers. They were randomly divided into Western medicine-treated group with 204 cases and Chinese herbal drug-treated group with 209 cases. Eighteen clinical symptoms were evaluated before and after treatment. The Western medicine therapy included voltaren extended release tablets, methotrexate and sulfasalazine. The Chinese herbal drug therapy included glucosidorum Tripterygii totorum tablets and Yishen Juanbi Tablets combined with treatment based on syndrome differentiation. The American college of rheumatology 20 (ACR20) was used as efficacy evaluation criteria.

Results

In the Chinese herbal drug-treated group, clinical symptoms such as arthralgia and tenderness of joints were positively correlated with the efficacy after 12-week treatment, while frequent urination at night was negatively correlated. In the same group, tenderness of joints and fever were positively correlated with the efficacy after 24-week treatment, while deep-colored and turbid urine was negatively correlated. In the Western medicine-treated group, tenderness of joints and thirst were positively correlated with the efficacy after 12-week treatment, while vertigo was negatively correlated. And in the same group, tenderness of joints was positively correlated with the efficacy after 24-week treatment, while heaviness of limbs was negatively correlated to the efficacy. The statistical results showed that the treatment efficacy was improved when the correlated symptoms were included in the indications.

Conclusion

The treatment efficacy of RA is correlated with some symptoms, so further studies should proceed on these correlations in order to achieve better treatment outcome.

International League Against Epilepsy announced the new International Classification of Epilepsy in 2001. One of the main objectives of the project is to adopt standard terms to describe seizure phenomena according to the terminological database. The project may profit academic communication and resource integration, and provide evidence for the individual treatment for epilepsy. Treatment based on syndrome differentiation is one of the characteristics of the treatment for epilepsy in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). As far as the individuation on diagnosis and treatment is concerned, TCM and Western medicine present to reach the same goal by different routes gradually for the treatment of epilepsy. But for TCM, the diagnosis and treatment criteria for epilepsy are imperfect and the experts, opinions are not unified, so that the treatment based on syndrome differentiation becomes confused, hence the credit of treatment based on TCM is restricted accordingly. It is necessary to formulate advanced diagnosis and treatment criteria for syndromes of epilepsy in TCM.

World Health Organization aims to develop safe, effective and practical traditional medicine. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and other complementary and alternative medicine are being recognized in the whole world nowadays. However, the definite effect of Chinese medicine is still in need of scientific research proof. Placebo control is of equal importance to active control and blank control in clinical trial of TCM. This article briefly reviewed the importance of placebo control and commented on its present situation in clinical trial of TCM. This article also brought up the preliminary proposals of placebo application in TCM clinical trial. We should emphasize scientific placebo preparation and good design of placebo-controlled trial, which are directed by International Conference on Harmonization of Technical Requirements for Registration of Pharmaceuticals for Human Use. A good clinical trial project will avoid unnecessary wastes and provide safe and effective treatment for people.

Pathology and pathophysiology are sciences studying the laws and mechanisms of the occurrence and developmont of diseases,linking up the preclinical and clinical medicine.Owing to the different perspectives and ways of thinking,the western medicine and the traditional Chinese medicine developed respectively their independent theoretical,diagnostic and therapeutic systems.Integrative medicine,combining the theories and treatments of both western medicine and traditional Chinese medicine,has become the developing trend of medicine along with the social development.For this reason,pathological and pathophysiological research in integrated traditional Chinese and western medicine is highly significant for revealing the internal relations between the clinical manifestation and the pathological changes,for expounding the causes,conditions.mechanisms and laws of the occurrence and development of diseases.In doing related research,we should combine the disease and the syndrome,combine the macro-level and the micro-level,combine the part and the whole.We should manage to systematize the clinical research,to establish animal models of the syndromes,and to integrate the animal models of syndromes with the clinical characteristics of disesses.We should apply the theories of traditional Chinese medicine to the pathological and pathophysiological research of modern medicine.

Spinal disease is the injury caused by congenital malformation, degeneration, inflammation and trauma. These injuries lead to structural lesion of spinal itself, intervertebral discs, spinal cord, nerve root and the attachment, and can cause spinal and associated diseases. Spinal diseases include some frequently encountered diseases, as well as some stubborn and serious diseases. These diseases may cause pain of head and neck, shoulder and arm, waist and leg when they are mild, and partial or thorough paralysis when they are serious. In this article, the history, development, foundations and research progress of non-surgical operation of spinal diseases and the developing tendency of modern spinology are introduced.

Acupuncture therapy is one of the original innovations in traditional Chinese medicine. The study of acupuncture has gradually advanced towards the world since 1970s. In these years the most important events might be the influence of acupuncture anesthesia, the attention of the World Health Organization, the establishment and development of the World Federation of Acupuncture and Moxibustion Societies, and the consensus development conference on acupuncture held by the National Institutes of Health in America, and so on. The reasons why acupuncture is accepted by the world are both the convinced curative effects and the scientific foundations, due to the great efforts of medical stuff in China guided by the principle of integration of traditional Chinese and western medicine. This article poses several proposals about further extending the influence of acupuncture. In brief, acupuncture research is one of the few fields that authentically impact the western scientific technology. It is of very important responsibility in the new century to impulse the acupuncture study to further progress and expand the international influence of acupuncture.

Currently, the model of the research evaluation system of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is set up through imitating that of western medicine. The application of quantitative research to TCM does promote the advance of modernization of TCM, which explore the part of TCM that can be measured in quantitative method. However, TCM has a background of profound philosophy and culture. The priority of TCM can not be expressed through quantitative research alone. On the contrary, qualitative research is more suitable to most research area of TCM. In TCM clinical research, the priority of TCM should be fully explored. It is very significant to set up the effectiveness evaluation system of TCM, especially by applying qualitative research to the diagnosis and the evaluation of treatment results and combining quantitative research.

In July 2002, the Women's Heath Initiative (WHI) clinical trial, designed to clarify the risks and benefits of combination hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to the postmenopausal women declared that interim safety review after an average follow-up of 5.2 years found that a combination of estrogen and progestin frequently prescribed to postmenopausal women in USA increased the risk of invasive breast cancer, heart disease, stroke, and pulmonary embolism while reduced bone fractures and colorectal cancer. The overall risks of HRT outweigh the benefits, which provides an opportunity for traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) going abroad. A variety of clinical and experimental evidences have showed that TCM exerts quite satisfactory effect on relieving postmenopausal symptoms with little adverse effect, hence a potential role to replace or to improve HRT or to reduce the side effect induced by HRT.