Abstract
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an integral part of mainstream medicine in China. Due to its worldwide use, potential impact on healthcare and opportunities for new drug development, TCM is also of great international interest. Recently, a new era for modernisation of TCM was launched with the successful completion of the Good Practice in Traditional Chinese Medicine Research in the Post-genomic Era (GP-TCM) project, the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) coordination action on TCM research. This 3.5-year project that involved inputs from over 200 scientists resulted in the production of 20 editorials and in-depth reviews on different aspects of TCM that were published in a special issue of Journal of Ethnopharmacology (2012; volume 140, issue 3). In this narrative review, we aim to summarise the findings of the FP7 GP-TCM project and highlight the relevance of TCM to modern medicine within a historical and international context. Advances in TCM research since the 1950s can be characterised into three phases: Phase I (1950s-1970s) was fundamental for developing TCM higher education, research and hospital networks in China; Phase II (1980s-2000s) was critical for developing legal, economic and scientific foundations and international networks for TCM; and Phase III (2011 onwards) is concentrating on consolidating the scientific basis and clinical practice of TCM through interdisciplinary, interregional and intersectoral collaborations. Taking into account the quality and safety requirements newly imposed by a globalised market, we especially highlight the scientific evidence behind TCM, update the most important milestones and pitfalls, and propose integrity, integration and innovation as key principles for further modernisation of TCM. These principles will serve as foundations for further research and development of TCM, and for its future integration into tomorrow’s medicine.
Highlights
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is a holistic medical system for diagnosis, prevention and treatment of diseases and has been an integral part of Asian cultures for thousands of years
Due to the wide range of information needed for this narrative review, inclusion and exclusion of literature were judged by co-authors who are experts in the related research area, based on the quality of work and on the necessity for illustrating specific research areas
TCM considers the human body as a whole, emphasises the importance of functions and emotions and considers patients as part of a system interacting with its environmental factors, such as diet, climate and life style
Summary
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is a holistic medical system for diagnosis, prevention and treatment of diseases and has been an integral part of Asian cultures for thousands of years. In 1995, the Victorian Department of Human Services and the Health Departments of New South Wales and Queensland in Australia commenced a review in order to assess the risks and benefits associated with the practice of TCM [71] These studies, together with some other reports, such as those on herb-drug interactions [38], aconite poisoning [44] and the hepatoand genotoxicity of pyrrolizidine alkaloids [72], gave an impetus to research the adverse effects of herbal medicines. The project focused on development of systematic separation methodology for resolving and analysing the complex components in Chinese herbal medicine and establishment of a comprehensive resource library [95] This project might eventually help to understand the chemical basis of the active constituents of TCM drugs, be they single or multiple compounds.
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