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.

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.

Functional dyspepsia (FD), characterized by persistent or recurrent dyspeptic symptoms without identifiable organic, systemic or metabolic causes, is an increasingly recognized global health issue. The objective of this guideline is to equip clinicians and nursing professionals with evidence-based strategies for the management and treatment of adult patients with FD using traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). The Guideline Development Group consulted existing TCM consensus documents on FD and convened a panel of 35 clinicians to generate initial clinical queries. To address these queries, a systematic literature search was conducted across PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), VIP Database, China Biology Medicine (SinoMed) Database, Wanfang Database, Traditional Medicine Research Data Expanded (TMRDE), and the Traditional Chinese Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System (TCMLARS). The evidence from the literature was critically appraised using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) approach. The strength of the recommendations was ascertained through a consensus-building process involving TCM and allopathic medicine experts, methodologists, pharmacologists, nursing specialists, and health economists, leveraging their collective expertise and empirical knowledge. The guideline comprises a total of 43 evidence-informed recommendations that span a range of clinical aspects, including the pathogenesis according to TCM, diagnostic approaches, therapeutic interventions, efficacy assessments, and prognostic considerations.

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 (TCM) is commonly used in treating liver diseases worldwide, especially in China. The advantages of using TCM for treatment of liver diseases include: protecting hepatocytes, inhibiting hepatic inflammation and antifibrosis in the liver. In this article, we introduce TCM herbal preparations from the Chinese materia medica (such as Fuzheng Huayu) that are typically used for the treatment of liver diseases. Literature surrounding the mechanisms of TCM therapy for treatment of liver diseases is presented and discussed. We propose that side effects of herbal compounds are often under-appreciated, and that more care should be taken in the prescription of potentially hepatotoxic medicines. Further, to deepen the understanding of TCM mechanisms, new techniques and methodologies must be developed. Future studies will lead to the enhancement of clinical outcomes of TCM. As complementary and alternative therapies, TCMs will play an expanding role in the future of liver disease treatment.

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.

Objective: To study the general law of typing of bronchiectasis according to syndrome differentiation.Methods: We collected the symptoms, conditions of tongue and pulse in patients of bronchiectasis, using frequencies procedure, discriminant analysis and K-means cluster analysis in SPSS statistical software as research medium.Results: Five hundred and sixty-three patients with bronchiectasis were studied. It suggested that accumulation of phlegm-heat in the lungs (45.65%), liver-fire attacking the lungs (24.51%), asthenia of pulmonosplenic qi (22.38%), asthenia of both qi and yin(7.46%) were the main types.Conclusion: Clinical epidemiology provided scientific basis for further studying of the typing of bronchiectasis according to syndrome differentiation. Building up differentiation of syndromes through differentiation and analysis of main symptoms can be used in clinical diagnosis.

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.

Evidence of the pharmacological activity of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) provides the basis for clinical prescription. Study of the classification of Chinese medicines according to these activities is key to understanding the general active tendencies of medicinal prescriptions, exploring their material basis, investigating their properties and searching for their alternatives. Taking the herbal classic Shennong's Materia Medica Classic (Shennong Bencao Jing) for the data source, this paper studied the classification of Chinese medicines based on semi-supervised incremental clustering algorithm using "micro-cluster" concept in order to investigate the complex similarity among Chinese medicines. The results showed that 253 Chinese medicines were reasonably classified into 14 types, such as invigoration, clearing heat, diuresis, dredging blockages in the channels, treating gynecological conditions and treating strange diseases caused by ghosts. The results also showed that the other 112 Chinese medicines were classified into 112 individual types and the same high similarity to different known types was the main reason for this. The semi-supervised incremental clustering algorithm employed in the study had a high quality and a good development for clustering which is suitable for classification of Chinese medicines. This study illustrated the diversity of Chinese medicines and their complex similarities, thus aiming to provide innovative ideas and methods for related research.

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.

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.

On the basis of medical literature review and clinical research experience, the authors analyzed the reasons for low recognition rate of depression and poor progress of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) differentiation of depression in this paper and put forward that depressive episode symptoms and the corresponding common terminology classification of Chinese and Western medicine should be the breakthrough points. Through symptom stratification and combination, as well as distinguishing between primary and secondary symptoms, the comprehensive integrative medicine clinical assessment of depression was explored so as to further obtain expert consensus and provide a methodology reference for the TCM differentiation of depression and the research of etiology and pathogenesis.

Objective

The present study is a summary of syndrome types of gastric cancer in order of priority based on clinical practical situations, routine clinical syndrome differentiation and a large-sample clinical survey in 767 patients with gastric cancer.
Methods

Based on the six-type classification of gastric cancer in a previous study, a bedside syndrome differentiation diagnosis was made simultaneously by two attending doctors of traditional Chinese medicine ( TCM) to avoid possible diagnostic bias. A clinical differentiation survey form designed under the direction of epidemiologists was filled out by patients with gastric cancer in multiple centers, and the results were digitally valued and statistically analyzed.
Results

The symptoms and signs in each syndrome type of gastric cancer were ranked in order of priority as follows: distended pain, stringy pulse, eructation, mood-related pain, susceptibility to anger, acid regurgitation, hiccup, fullness sensation or distension after eating just a little, dizziness, thin pulse, abdominal enlargement, obstruction sensation after eating, moving pain, and uneven pulse in disharmony between liver and stomach; dark red tongue with little fur or a smooth surface, burning pain, rapid pulse, associated burning heat in anus, dry mouth, fissured tongue, thin pulse, tidal fever in the afternoon, nausea and vomiting, and night sweating in impairment of yin due to stomach heat; slender tongue fur, obstruction after eating, slow pulse, moderate pulse, rapid and irregular pulse, normal mood, abdominal pain, diarrhea, cold extremities, lower-extremity edema, cold intolerance, pale complexion, dizziness, emaciation, hiccup, silence, nausea, uneven pulse, acid regurgitation, fullness sensation or distension after eating just a little, vomiting, and constipation in deficiency-cold in spleen and stomach; uneven pulse, stabbing pain, tortuous sublingual vein, blue or purplish tongue, fixed pain, tarry stool or dark red stool, vomiting of dark red fluid, pale complexion, dry mouth without desire to drink, stringy pulse, white tongue fur, nausea, thin tongue fur, colic pain, hiccup, dizziness, acid regurgitation, bitter taste in mouth, slow pulse, rapid and irregular pulse, thin pulse, and pain relief by pressing in interior retention of toxin stagnation; slippery pulse, greasy and thick tongue fur, dry mouth without desire to drink, vomiting of bilious fluid, nausea, bitter taste in mouth, fullness sensation or distension after eating just a little, colic pain, and hiccup in stagnation of phlegm-dampness; abdominal pain relief by pressing, map-like tongue, thin pulse, weakness, yellowish complexion, dizziness, spontaneous sweating, fissured tongue, epigastric discomfort, night sweating, emaciation, cold intolerance, constipation, nausea, and dry tongue in deficiency of both qi and blood.
Conclusion

The summarized syndrome types of gastric cancer from this study are consistent with the clinical situations and would prove to be more referential for TCM syndrome differentiation diagnosis and treatment of gastric cancer.

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.

Index Medicus / MEDLINE / PubMed published by U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM) is the most important and commonly used biomedical literature retrieval system in the world. According to the "List of Journals Indexed in Index Medicus (2004)", 4 098 journals are indexed for Index Medicus, including 70 journals from mainland China and Hong Kong and 9 journals from Taiwan. Journal of Chinese Integrative Medicine established in May, 2003 is indexed in Index Medicus in 2004. This article outlines the critical elements of journal selection for Index Medicus/MEDLINE and the journal selection process for indexing at NLM, and introduces some measures for the Journal of Chinese Integrative Medicine being indexed in Index Medicus / MEDLINE.

The incidence of breast cancer increased rapidly in recent years. Breast cancer has become the most frequent malignant tumor of female especially in the developed regions. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is effective in treating breast cancer, but its theories appear hysteretic, restricting the progress in clinical practice, teaching and research of TCM in the treatment of breast cancer. This article described the significance and urgency to work out the standardization of syndrome differentiation based on stages for breast cancer and put it into practice. It also analyzed the foundations, ideas and approaches of the research of standardization of syndrome differentiation based on stages for breast cancer in light of the changes of spectrum of diseases, the weaknesses of modern medicine in treating breast cancer, and the existed problems in the update clinical practice.

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.

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.

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.

Objective: There exists a close relationship between drying of a fresh herb and its preservation and extraction of efficient components. In order to investigate the influences of different drying methods on extraction and separation of ginsenosides, three drying processes, such as drying in the sun, drying in oven and microwave drying, were used to dry fresh ginsengs .Methods: The ginsenosides of the dry ginsengs were extracted by poaching and microwave heating, and were separated by foam separation.The concentrations of ginsenosides were measured.Results: Microwave drying saved both time and labour, and was favorable for release of ginsenosides. The ginsenosides could be extracted from the dry ginsengs in a shorter time by microwave heating than poaching. The ginsenosides Rb₁, Rb₂, Rd could be observably concentrated by foam separation.Conclusion: Microwave drying and microwave assisted extraction are efficient and economic methods with a high recovery yield of ginsenosides.

The suggestion of microcosmic syndrome differentiation is to meet the needs of clinical diagnosis and treatment of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), the needs of evidence based medicine and the needs of the development of syndrome differentiation in TCM. The possibility of microcosmic syndrome differentiation might be the development of integration of traditional Chinese and Western medicine as well as modern science and technology. Microcosmic syndrome differentiation has its superiority and limitation. There are some problems in developing microcosmic syndrome differentiation, such as lack of standard for syndrome differentiation, contradiction between single microcosmic index and the entirety, non-specificity of the relationship between microcosmic indexes and syndromes, and the influence of disease on microcosmic syndrome differentiation, discrepancy between the essence study of TCM syndromes and the clinical practice. It is suggested that the concept of TCM syndrome is a certain pathological process during the onset and development of disease, composed of some subjective and objective indexes. The objective indexes include the macrocosmic and the microcosmic indexes, the entirety and the part.

Study of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndromes is a key to the research of TCM modernization, and the core is the classification and diagnostic criteria of syndromes. The purpose of this article is to review the usage of classification algorithms of data mining in TCM syndrome researches, and comprehensively analyze the main features of algorithms and their applications. The appropriate classification algorithm should be chosen according to different research purposes. Rough sets and cluster analysis are suitable for exploratory research without requiring a prior knowledge. Fuzzy sets theory, neural networks and decision tree are suitable for syndrome diagnostic criteria research when the classification goal is clear, because they require a prior knowledge. Among them, fuzzy sets theory could be used in combination with other classification algorithms. Thus, some new methods such as fuzzy clustering, fuzzy rough sets or fuzzy decision tree might be more suitable for TCM algorithm classification research. It is suggested that some novel classification algorithms need to be developed to fit the condition of TCM syndrome, based on the interdisciplinary theories and technologies.

Objective: To select the proper experimental animal model for research on prevention and treatment of hyperlipidemia.Methods: Hyperlipidemia models of mouse, rat, golden hamster, guinea pig, rabbit, pigeon and quail often used in the last ten years were compared.Results: Golden hamster and guinea pig models are similar to human beings in lipid metabolism and have unique superiority in experimental study, while the models of rat, mouse, pigeon and quail have significant difference as compared with human beings. Rabbit is one of the best animal models in studying new drugs for regulating lipid and treating arteriosclerosis.Conclusion: Factors such as the required time, indexes, the duration of making models, and the cost and feeding of animals should be considered in selecting animal models according with the experimental requirements.

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.

According to TCM theory of the wholistic concept and the principles of sydrome differentiation and treatment, the characteristics of the pathogenesis of aplastic anemia (AA) were summarized and corresponding treatment was put forward on the basis of clinical observation and the study of literature. In the pathogenesis of AA, the deficiency of spleen and kidney is the primary aspect, fire attacking blood vessels is the secondary aspect and there is change because of blood stasis. In treatment,the method of invigorating spleen and tonifying kidney is adopted in order to get at the root, and releasing fire to stop bleeding is adopted in order to bring about a temporary solution, and activating blood circulation to dissipate blood stasis is adopted in order to produce blood. The outline should be caught hold of that consumption is primary aspect and fire is secondary aspect and there is change because of blood stasis in order to obtain satisfactory curative effect.

Pain is one of the common symptoms of cancer which seriously affects the quality of life of the patients. Cancer pain is mainly treated with the three-step method, biological therapy or nerve block therapy based on antitumor therapy. However, up to 50 percent of patients with cancer-related pain do not receive adequate pain relief, affecting their physical and psychological well-being, and leading to a lower quality of life for the patient after conventional treatment. Clinical observation suggests that traditional Chinese medicine may alleviate cancer-related pain either by oral administration, topical administration, acupuncture or other means with continuing non-addictive and non-drug-resistant qualities. However, scientific evaluation of the efficacy of herbs in the treatment of pain is insufficient; the underlying mechanisms are unclear and, safety and toxicity remain a concern.

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.