Traditional Chinese medicine goes global
Once eyed with suspicion for not being scientific enough, TraditionalChinese Medicine (TCM) might just be about to take over the world.
As part of a new health drive, Chinese authorities are stepping up research into TCM andare encouraging scientists to look for its next magic cure.
The game changer for TCM was undoubtedly the discovery of artemisinin, an activecomund of sweet wormwood, which landed China a Nobel Prize last year, and is now widelyused in anti-malarial drugs throughout the world.
“China will encourage originality in TCM and explore the market value of existing research,”said Yan Shujiang, deputy director of the State Administration of Traditional ChineseMedicine, at a TCM conference in Guangdong Province Monday.
“We are looking to make more technological achievements such as the discovery ofartemisinin, a leading cure for malaria.”
Tu Youyou, the Chinese researcher who discovered artemisinin, won the Nobel Prize inPhysiology or Medicine last year. She was the first Chinese national to win a Nobel Prize inscience, and the award significantly raised public and academic interest in TCM.
“The present time is a golden age for TCM to develop and prosper,” said Yan.
The TCM industry is now valued at over 786 billion yuan ($121 billion), almost 30 timeslarger than 20 years ago, and one-third of the total medicine industry in China.
Chinese researchers publish 3,000 scientific papers every year, which deepen research intothe different herbs, substances, and working mechanics of TCM, said Zhang Boli, a memberof the Chinese Academy of Engineering.
TCM is steadily building up its own roster of wonder drugs: alongside artemisinin used formalaria, epimedium (horny goat weed) is used to fight cancer, rhizoma curculiginis hasproved useful in treating depression, and tripterine is effective in treating lung cancer,according to TCM researchers at the conference.
Berberine, a popular medicine used by the Chinese to treat diarrhea, can work well treatingmetabolic diseases such as diabetes, hyperlipidemia, high blood pressure and fatty liverdisease, doctors said.
As authorities in China try to modernize TCM and push it onto the world stage, TCM willplay a bigger role and could impact the lives of millions, scholars said.
A more precise approach
Harald zur Hausen, a Nobel Prize winner in Physiology or Medicine, believes that TCM canbe useful in treating certain types of cancer, but said doctors have to first carefully identifyspecific substances within the herbs prior to treatment.
TCM has had its fair share of problems over the years. As it is based on a holistic and non-quantitative approach, it has faced challenges in stating the precise composition of certaindrugs, maintaining stable effects and demonstrating clearly how it works.
“A type of herb that grows in western China works differently from that in the east. Qualitycontrol is a major challenge,” said Chen Kaixian, a member of Chinese Academy ofEngineering.
Researchers said TCM needs to enhance its precision and converge with westernmedicine.
“Bringing together western medicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine – that is, theleveraging of our collective expertise, rather than seeing the two approaches as being incompetition – is where the potential for enormous impact lies,” said Bernhard Schwartlander,China representative of the World Health Organization.
“Chinese traditional medicine has come a long way, and probably the day will soon comewhere there will be no traditional Chinese medicine and there will be no western medicine,”said Aaron Ciechanover, an Israeli biologist who won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
Establishing an internationally recognized standard is also key for the industrialization ofTCM, scholars said.
“Both Japan and Korea are trying to use their own standards for TCM to replace theprevalent standard. So you see there is a whole lot of competition there,” said Chen Kaixian.
An international standard for TCM will legitimatize the use of the medicine all over the world.
China is improving its own national standards. A new national survey of TCM herbs will becarried out across the country soon, said Zhang Boli.
TCM researchers have also stepped up the studying of ancient recipes and promotingintellectual property rights, he said.
“I would be quite optimistic that traditional Chinese medicine will play a more significant rolein other parts of the world in the future,” said Harald zur Hausen.