Treating pediatric asthma with Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM)

A randomized controlled trial compared the efficacy of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) prescriptions to salbutamol and montelukast in the improvement of asthma control, mitigating asthma attacks, and enhancing the quality of life among pediatric asthma patients. The results showed that TCM prescriptions achieved better symptom control (SC) in children who have asthma.

The researchers published their findings in the Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

A total of 182 children with asthma were randomized into either the TCM group or the SM group.

Patients in the TCM group were treated with a series of Chinese herbal prescriptions, while those in the SM group received salbutamol and montelukast. Both groups underwent treatment for 12 weeks.

At the end of the trial period, researchers compared asthma control, shifts in scores of TCM symptom patterns, and SC scores following treatment.

A higher percentage of patients in the TCM group (91.67 percent) displayed asthma control compared with those in the SM group ( 76.83 percent), suggesting TCM can control asthma attacks. Scores for abnormal feces, hyperhidrosis, and tongue appearance in the TCM group were also better.

There were no major differences in the total scores of TCM symptom patterns and SC scores of the two groups. But patients of the TCM group suffered fewer asthma attacks, so they didn’t need as much antibiotics and glucocorticoids (second-line asthma treatment medicines) to treat bacterial and respiratory-tract infections.

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Tai Chi lowers stress, anxiety and depression levels

Tai Chi lowers stress, anxiety and depression levels. It reduces mood disturbance and boosts self-esteem. This form of Chinese martial arts also boosts self-confidence and overcomes the fear of pain.

You can do basic Tai Chi moves at home. Here’s how.

Windmill exercise.
Stand with feet parallel, slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Let arms hang loose. Bring hands in front your body using your pubic bone while your fingers point down. Breathe in. Raise arms to the center above your head; fingers pointed upwards. Stretch upwards and bend your spine slightly backward.

Breathe out
Slowly bend forward to the floor and move hands to the center. Bend forward from the hip joint, letting your arms hang loosely in front. Breathe in and go back to starting position.

Knee rolls
Stand with feet slightly apart, knees bent a bit. Put hands on knees; fingers pointed toward each other. Rotate knees to the left, back, right and front. Do this in clockwise and counter-clockwise direction.

Hand exercises
Stand with feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Raise arms straight ahead of you, shoulder height. Stretch hands as far as you can. Rotate wrists clockwise, then counter-clockwise.

Closing stance
This aims to balance your energy and promote relaxation and quiet. Stand with feet hip-width apart. Relax shoulders. Cup hands with palms facing up, resting in front of your pelvis. Close eyes. Breathe in. Imagine pulling energy up as you position your hands to your chest. Breathe out. Rotate hands and let your palms face down. Imagine pushing energy downwards while your hands move toward the floor. Repeat as many times as you can.

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Acupuncture is a very good treatment option for period pain

Acupuncture can help alleviate period pain and reduce the need for painkillers, a study by Australian and New Zealand researchers has uncovered.

Dr. Mike Armour from Western Sydney University told Xinhua on Tuesday he felt compelled to conduct the study when he noticed a lack of effective pain management solutions for women.

"My wife suffered a lot from period pain, and when I went with her to the doctor, I was very surprised to see that there really weren't a lot of treatment options," Armour said.

"Period pain is very common, and many women suffer from it, but that doesn't mean they have to suffer."

Period pain, or dysmenorrhoea, is more common in women in their early 20s.
The pilot study conducted by Western Sydney University and the University of Auckland found from their sample group of 74 women aged between 18 and 45, the majority believed after three months of acupuncture that their period pain was reduced by at least 50 percent.

The traditional Chinese medicine technique was found to also reduce headaches and nausea caused by periods, minimizing the need for painkillers to address secondary symptoms.

"Many women resort to taking painkillers but there are some studies to suggest that long-term use of painkillers can have some negative implications," Armour said.
The study found manual stimulation of the acupuncture needles - rather than electrical pulse - proved to be a more effective method of pain management, and the majority of test subjects reported their discomfort during the "peak pain" time frame of the first three days of menstruation had been significantly reduced.
Armour believes the results signify a growing acceptance of some traditional Chinese medicine practices in the West, as being both safe and effective.

"Chinese medicine is becoming more and more accepted in Western medical circles as a treatment option for certain conditions, and it is definitely seen as an accepted method of pain management," he said.

"Acupuncture is an example of this, it is a very safe way of managing pain."
Armour said that initially they did not expect to find that acupuncture could also reduce secondary symptoms like headaches and would further investigate this in future medical trials.

China has a long folk traditional martial arts history

The 2017 China (Lijiang) International Wushu Culture Festival is underway in Lijiang, Southwest China's Yunnan province. The sporting event takes place from Aug 27 to 28, in conjunction with the International Health Qigong Grand Prix.

China has a long folk traditional martial arts history. Wushu is Chinese for traditional martial arts . Qigong is also traditionally viewed as a practice to cultivate and balance qi, translated as "life energy", with roots in Chinese medicine, philosophy, and martial arts.

The two-day event aims to strengthen exchanges on sports culture between China and other countries and build a platform for qigong lovers from home and abroad.
Approximately 36 representative teams have been selected for competition in two sports–health qigong and wushu.

The Wushu Culture Festival is large in scale and has a profound influence around the world. More than 10 countries, including the United States, Russia, Vietnam, Singapore, Switzerland, Malaysia, Japan, Thailand, Kosovo and France have shown interest in the festival.

Wu Guokun, a local government official, said, "Lijiang endeavors to build an event which will be a new calling card of the city’s culture. The event is not only a feast of Chinese traditional martial culture but also can help promote the city’s sports industry and image."

Lijiang also emphasizes cultivation of young martial arts lovers. The event sends many coaches to local kindergartens to teach the children basic sklls and wushu gymnastics.

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Policy support toward healthcare projects in Lecheng

The scenery around Lecheng, a small town 6 kilometers away from the site of the Boao Forum for Asia on tropical Hainan Island, is changing daily as it is turned into an international pilot zone for medical tourism, an industry which is expected to bring in $678 billion in 2017 worldwide.

About 90 kilometers from Haikou, the capital city of Hainan province, Lecheng, with its 700-year history, was chosen in 2013 as the location for a future world-class medical tourism center.

"All the projects in the the Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone, the only one in the country, have been designed to sit in an area of about 20 square kilometers, on both banks of the Wanquan River. This area has been nicknamed China's Amazon and encircles Lecheng island with plush tropical scenery," said Lin Ping, deputy director of the zone's administration office.

Equipped with state-of-the-art facilities and served by a cluster of high-end medical professionals, the zone will cater to patients from around the country and overseas, Lin said.

More than 483,000 Chinese went abroad for overseas healthcare and leisure, health checkups and other medical services in 2015.

To support development of the pilot zone, the central government has offered a number of preferential policies under which foreign companies will be able to set up medical organizations in the zone and foreign doctors will be allowed to practice there for up to three years.

"A total of 27 projects have been completed or are under construction, attracting an investment of 22.8 billion yuan ($3.3 billion). The main businesses of these projects involve treatment of tumors, plastic surgery, anti-aging services, leading-edge medical technology research, such as stem cells, health management and rehabilitation," said Lin.

He said another 36 projects have passed medical technology appraisals and in total the administration office has talked with developers of 92 high-end medical and healthcare projects, with a potential total investment of 60 billion yuan.

"When all the projects are completed in about five years, the pilot zone will be able to receive 5 million tourists a year. Output value of the services will amount to 80 to 100 billion yuan," said Lin.

Geng Songtao, a professor of tourism with Haikou-based Hainan University, believes that the pilot zone has many advantages that will help with the development of its medical tourism industry. He suggested that the zone makes good use of the preferential policies and produces an exquisite top-down design for the zone's development.

Hainan, once a key stop on the ancient Maritime Silk Road and now building itself into an international tourism destination, plans to be an all-in-one international demonstration zone for Chinese traditional medicine tourism by 2020.

Devotion to the Chinese internal martial art of tai chi

They gathered in Toronto on Saturday, unified by their devotion to the Chinese internal martial art of tai chi.
Ken Boshcoff, a former member of parliament (MP) and mayor of Thunder Bay, Ontario, who is now the president of North American Chen’s Taichi Association (NACTA), said that his best birthday present was a tai chi biography of Chen Zhenglei, which was signed by Chen on Saturday at the Light of Taichi International Wushu Elite Competition in Toronto.
"Tai chi has grown fast recently in North America; people who are local champions have built a strong community of tai chi," said Boshcoff. "In Thunder Bay, for example, 5 percent of the population trains in one type of martial arts or another. A large number of them are training (in something other than) tai chi."
According to Boshcoff, people tend to be more health conscious in North America. They realize that tai chi has a distinct advantage over many other martial arts.
"You can do it for a much longer period in your life. It also has a significant selling point that it helps your circulation. If your blood is not flowing, you’ll not flow," said the former MP, who has practiced tai chi for 10 years.
There were more than 70 tai chi practitioners from China, the US, Canada who attended the elite tournament. Following the competition was the Light of Taichi summer camp and seminars, which is part of the "Thousand Public Seminars in a Hundred Cities" around the world.
"Tai chi represents Chinese culture and philosophy. It is one of the most popular sports in the world," said Chen, an 11th generation direct-line inheritor of Chen’s tai chi. "I hope to spread tai chi culture and carry on the tradition through Light of Taichi. Eventually, I hope tai chi can make more contributions to human health."
"We open for a wider audience in order to bring authentic Chen’s tai chi to more tai chi lovers," said Jack Yan, secretary of NACTA. "On the other hand, we assemble the talents of tai chi all over the world and give them a better promotion and instruction."
The martial art, which combines slow and fluid movements, deep breathing and meditation, has attracted more Canadians to study and practice.
"There are a lot of things such as qi (life energy) that tai chi offers, which Western society doesn’t have," said Chris Dickson, who won a couple of medals in the competition. "Just like the Chinese traditional medicine and Western medicine, they have different approaches, and I learn a lot from this exercise and culture."
"I had suffered from back pain before learning tai chi," said another competitor, 65-year-old Eva Nilsson, who has practiced tai chi for 10 years and become an instructor at a tai chi school. "Tai chi is a moving meditation. I relieve my stress and pain. It really helps me, make me flexible and keep me young."
"Canada is a country that promotes multiculturalism. It’s a very multicultural event that connects diverse people from different nationalities here. Even in the spirit of competition, there is a great deal of friendship," Boshcoff added.

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Modernization of Chinese medicine to contribute to human health

In a globalized world facing common health challenges, the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) will contribute to the progress of medical sciences, Chinese and Western medical experts agreed here Sunday.

"Medicine and food come from the same source. Nature provides us with food as well as medicine to protect us from diseases and strengthen our body," Yan Xijun, founder of the Tasly Holding Group and deputy director of China's Association of Chinese Medicine, said at the "2015 International Forum on Great Health Industry Development" in the Italian city of Milan, which is hosting the current world expo now.

The TCM is a tremendous culture treasure showing the process and experience of Chinese people fighting against diseases from some 3,000 years ago, Yan said at the forum that attracted leading medical experts from China, Europe and the United States. Click to learn Enlarged Spleen in TCM.

The theory of TCM advocates that human bodies should always be kept in harmony, while treating diseases on the basis of the theories of "Yin and Yang" and "Five Elements" -- wood, fire, earth, metal and water as well as the Etiological Theory, using natural herbs, animals and mineral resources for curing diseases, he explained.
As food safety, health and related issues become more and more important in the global society, the TCM modernization will contribute more to creating a solid health supporting system for people all over the world, Yan said.

"The ancient TCM should be combined with modern medical science while we follow the pattern and characteristics of the TCM, for the purpose of developing innovative new drugs," Yan stressed.

Challenges facing both China and Western countries, such as population aging, are further toughening the need for both the TCM and Western medicines to give full play to their synergy, said Wang Peiyu, deputy director of the School of Public Health under the Peking University Health Science Center.

Major health issues like environment pollution and health system reform have affected China in recent years, while chronic diseases have been continuously increasing over the past 30 years, Wang noted.

"We have to use the ideas and methods of epidemiology, health education and promotion, nutrition and clinical medicine to predict, assess and control health risk factors," he said.

All of these challenges can be overcome through the cooperation between the TCM and Western medicine, said Rudolf Bauer, a professor of pharmacognosy and head of the Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Graz, Austria. Click to learn Chronic Gastritis in TCM.

"To my understanding, the modernization of the traditional Chinese medicine means to prepare it to be accepted by the conventional medicine. And to be accepted by conventional medicine, I think it is very clear what we need. We need evidence on efficacy, we need evidence on quality, and we need evidence on safety, these are the three major issues we have to address," he said.

"We have to read books carefully and to get the ideas and advices from the traditional use, but then we have to transform them into modern ideas, or into modern science," Bauer said.

"For example, I think the Chinese concept of Yin and Yang is very solid, but is nothing we can measure in a pharmacological way. We have to analyze the physiological effects on our body, and they may finally explain Yin and Yang," he said.

A correct understanding of the TCM can only be achieved by close collaboration with Chinese partners, and that is why Bauer has established a consortium, known as the GP-TCM Research Association and supported by the European Union, to bring Chinese and European scientists together for joint research. Click to learn Atrophic Gastritis in TCM.

"My vision is to really have some kind of integrated medicine, which means you will be able to use both Western and Chinese medicines in the future on the only basis of which type of treatment is the best one for each single patient," the professor emphasized.