Integrated Western Medicine Research Articles

Mental Health in the Middle East: Historical Perspectives, Current Challenges, and Future Implications

Mental health practices and services in the Middle East have been profoundly shaped by the region's rich historical and cultural context, intertwined with the traditions of major monotheistic religions. This analytical literature review synthesizes existing scholarly research to examine the historical development of mental health approaches, current challenges and barriers, and potential future implications. Tracing the evolution from ancient practices to the establishment of psychiatric institutions and the integration of Western medicine, the review uncovers the impact of the Middle East's unique heritage on its mental health landscape. Current challenges include pervasive stigma, inadequate training for healthcare professionals, limited access to evidence-based interventions, and cultural barriers hindering open communication. The review explores recommendations such as implementing e-mental health interventions, developing national mental health strategies, collaborating with traditional healers, promoting public education campaigns, providing culturally responsive services and training, and garnering robust government support. By bridging knowledge gaps, challenging systemic barriers, and fostering cross-cultural collaborations, the Middle East can pave the way towards destigmatizing mental health, increasing accessibility, and embracing comprehensive, culturally sensitive support for individuals and communities.

A Case Report of an Effective Treatment for Syndrome of Inappropriate Secretion of Antidiuretic Hormone with Integration of Western Medicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine

Background: Syndrome of Inappropriate secretion of Antidiuretic Hormone (SIADH) is a group of disorders in which free water excretion is impaired due to increased Arginine Vaso Pressin (AVP) secretion in the absence of renal or endocrine dysfunction, which in turn leads to hypotonic hyponatremia. In this case report, we describe the diagnostic process of a patient with SIADH and the treatment with integration of Western and Chinese medicine. Case Presentation: A 69-year-old man was admitted to our hospital for intermittent hand tremors. He was diagnosed with hyponatremia based on laboratory tests. However, after 2 weeks of sodium supplementation, his condition did not improve. Combined with Pituitary MRI, 24h urine sodium and other laboratory tests, he was diagnosed with SIADH. After taking oral tolvaptan and traditional Chinese medicine Rehmanniae Decoction of Six Ingredients granules, his symptoms were alleviated and the serum sodium normalized. Conclusion: SIADH could be as an etiology for hyponatremia that is difficult-to-correct, and traditional Chinese medicine may have some efficacy and advantages.

Research on the development methodology for clinical practice guidelines for organic integration of traditional Chinese and Western medicine

Integrated traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and Western medicine (WM) is a new medical science grounded in the knowledge bases of both TCM and WM, which then forms a unique modern medical system in China. Integrated TCM and WM has a long history in China, and has made important achievements in the process of clinical diagnosis and treatment. However, the methodological defects in currently published clinical practice guidelines limit its development. The organic integration of TCM and WM is a deeper integration of TCM and WM. To realize the progression of "integration" to "organic integration", a targeted and standardized guideline development methodology is needed. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to establish a standardized development procedure for clinical practice guidelines for the organic integration of TCM and WM to promote the systematic integration of TCM and WM research results into clinical practice guidelines in order to achieve optimal results as the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

A Look into Pharmacy Practices among the Purépecha Indigenous Community.

This report describes the adoption and integration of Western medicine in Cherán K'eri after the social changes in the 1940s which led to the transition from healer to pharmacist. There are various health models that rely heavily on community pharmacies. The place used as the basis for this report was a clinic managed by a Purépecha-speaking physician and pharmacist that served primarily monolingual indigenous Purépecha patients, whose population was around 9550 according to the 2010 census. Twelve major differences were observed between community pharmacies in the United States and the community pharmacies of Cherán. It was also observed that the modern approach to the health of the indigenous population used a combination of Western medicine together with traditional methods and only resorted to short-term therapies with Western medicines lasting five days or less. A formulary from the clinic's community pharmacy compiled in 2022 listed the 38 most common medications. Medications used included anti-infectives (n = 3), central nervous system (n = 2), endocrine/hormonal (n = 3), gastrointestinal (n = 3), musculoskeletal (n = 17), respiratory or allergy (n = 6), and genitourinary (n = 2).

Chinese and Western Integrative Medicine for Stage IIIb-IVb Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Design and Rationale of a Multi-center, Prospective Registry (NSCLC-Chinese and Western Integrative Medicine cohort).

This planned multicenter observational study will evaluate the overall survival of those undergoing integrated Chinese and Western medicine for stage IIIb-IVb non-small cell lung cancer and analyze the factors related to the prognosis. The prospective cohort will enroll patients with stage IIIb-IVb NSCLC from March 1, 2019, to December 31, 2025, and follow them for 5 years. We plan to collect data on the patients' demographics, treatment, overall survival, and factors related to the prognosis. The institutional review board and ethics committee reviewed the study protocol. All patients will provide informed consent before enrollment.Trial registration number: ChiCTR1900021430.

Phytotherapeutica in common urological conditions in Western integrative medicine: a narrative review

Phytotherapeutica in common urological conditions in Western integrative medicine: a narrative review

Efficacy of the Integration of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Western Medicine in Coronary Heart Disease Comorbid with Anxiety and Depression: A Meta-Analysis.

The purpose of this study is to assess the efficacy and safety of the integration of Western medicine with traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) which is comorbid with anxiety and depression. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were searched in databases such as VIP, WanFang, CNKI, Embase, PubMed, and Cochrane Library from the inception of databases to November 2021. RCTs on treating CHD comorbid with anxiety and depression with the integration of TCM and Western medicine were retrieved, and publications were screened according to the screening criteria. Software RevMan 5.4 was utilized to analyze related indicators. Thirteen eligible studies were included in this meta-analysis. They involved a total of 1460 cases, including 747 cases in the TCM and Western medicine group, and 713 cases in the control group. Meta-analysis results illustrated that the difference in the relief of angina pectoris in treating CHD comorbid with anxiety and depression with the integration of TCM and Western medicine was statistically significant (OR = 3.97, 95% CI [2.47, 6.39], P < 0.05), and HAMD score, HAMA score, and clinical effective rate were statistically significant (MD = -4.11, 95% CI [-5.10, 3.12]), (SMD = 1.88, 95% CI [2.53, 1.24]), (OR = 9.71, 95% CI [4.65, 20.28]). By combining TCM and Western medicine, the treatment of angina pectoris and CHD comorbid with anxiety and depression can alleviate anxiety and depression and can enhance patients' quality of life.

Analysis of Eastern Asia’s Contributions to Major Orthopaedic Journals in the Past 21 Years

IntroductionOver the past two decades, Asia has experienced the rise and integration of Western medicine and digital health in its field of medicine. In this study, we investigated the trends in orthopaedic publications from three Asian countries: China, Japan, and Korea.MethodsPubMed was used to measure the number of publications from China, Japan, and Korea in the past 21 years, from 1998 to 2020. The average percentage change in publications during this 21-year time period was analyzed using descriptive statistics. The average annual change in the number of publications from each country was also determined. One-way analysis of variance and two-group t-tests were utilized for statistical analyses with a p-value of <0.05 as the cut-off value for statistical significance.ResultsFrom years 1998 to 2020, there was a mean 35.5% ± 70.7% annual increase in the number of total publications from China, in comparison to a 5.1% ± 14.0% annual increase from Japan (p = 0.005) and a 27.3% ± 40.0% annual increase from Korea (p = 0.586).ConclusionFor the past two decades, there has been a strong positive trend regarding the total number of orthopaedic publications from China. This finding might be related in part to an increased integration of Western medicine and the use of digital medicine, which followed a similar trend during the time period we analyzed. Korea and Japan also exhibited a positive trend in orthopaedic publications, which may be indicative of an improving educational system and greater general support for research.

Development Strategy of Chinese and Western Integrative Medicine Under New Circumstances

Development Strategy of Chinese and Western Integrative Medicine Under New Circumstances

New narration in practicing western integrative medicine: Linguistic, ecolinguistic, and biosemiotic aspects

Western science and academia have entered the new millennium with the growing realisation that their theoretical and utilitarian limits have been reached. A particular threshold is experienced across traditional academic disciplines, which is visible in the fact that, on the one hand, the intensity of social, environmental, psychological, health-related and communicational problems people deal with in their everyday lives is increasing; on the other hand, theoretical models and intervention programs that scholarly work provides do not meet the growing necessity. Our paper presents a research project whose starting-point aims are to explore the doctor-patient communication dyad, its functions in the healing process, and to propose a theoretical as well as applicative way forward. In the plans for our research, we aim to study the integrative medical approach and the ways in which language and communication processes allow healing to happen and optimal health to be preserved.

Roles and Implications of Paper Media in Early Stage of Integration of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Western Medicine in China.

Paper media including the People's Daily, Guangming Daily, Health News and Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine were the main media that spread the thought and policy of integrative medicine (IM) in the early stage of the integration of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and Western medicine (WM) in China. Issues including paper media and its roles for spreading IM, from "TCM learning from WM" to "WM learning from TCM", advocating integration of TCM and WM, promoting IM through multiple channels were analyzed in this article, so as to show the propagation process of IM in China and the roles of the paper media. It was shown that strengthening the propaganda of IM through mainstream media, strengthening media convergence and the role of new media are important in spreading the thought of IM.

Gut flora “the second brain” connects Eastern and Western medicine: intestinal hyper-permeability or Qi deficiency can affect brain, mind, and whole body

There are two famous “the Father of Modern Medicine”—Hippocrates (a Greek physician) said “all disease begins in the gut” and Sir William Osler (a Canadian physician) said “a man is as old as his arteries.” It is known that gut microbiota imbalance (dysbiosis) and intestinal hyper-permeability are related to high level of advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) which damage blood vessel’s endothelial function and potentially cause multi-organ dysfunction. On the other hand, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) doctors already knew the importance of digestive system thousands of years ago since the production of “Qi” which is vital energy for whole body largely rely on abdominal condition, and Qi deficiency triggers multiple mental and physical symptoms. It may sound two leading Integrative Medicine (IM) systems, Western IM and TCM use “different languages,” but it is not well known that their essence is very similar (illness is a result of “dis-ease” or “dysfunction of Qi.”). Genome analysis technology, such as DNA sequencing and microbiota researches have enabled us to understand how intestinal dysbiosis is related to obesity, metabolic syndrome, brain disorders, autoimmune diseases, or mood disorders (Brain-Mind-Gut axis). In addition, making the most of artificial intelligence’s (AI) “deep learning” technology might be a potential “prescription” to heal worldwide medical-economical crisis, spend more time with patients (for medical providers), and prevent providers’ burnout. AI-assisted TCM-style history taking computer and portable wrist pulse diagnostic device are about to be used in China. In the new era of preventive medicine, gut microbiota research, precision medicine with genome analysis, AI technology and TCM ancient wisdom can be combined together. Blending the new and the old will make it possible to detect and treat “pre-clinical disease” before real diseases happen since Western IM and TCM are actually using a “same language.”

Why Are Diabetic Patients Still Having Hyperglycemia despite Diet Regulation, Antiglycemic Medication and Insulin?

Introduction: Diabetes and its complications were responsible for 8.8% of deaths worldwide in 2017. Although Western Medicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) share the diabetes treatment goals of reducing symptoms and preventing complications, their approaches to conceptualizing, diagnosing, and treating the disease are very different. Purpose: The aim of this study is to demonstrate the different gaps in the Western Medicine treatment for diabetes that can be explained by Traditional Chinese Medicine, from an energy imbalance point of view. Methods: Through a case report of a 26-year-old male patient diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in 2016, the author analyzes two approaches, Western and Traditional Chinese Medicine. The patient’s received analysis of all their: • eating habits, • use of high-concentrated medications, • use of microwave ovens, • quantity and temperature of water intake, and • Quantity of sleep. All these items were analyzed according to Traditional Chinese Medicine. Despite treatment with diet along with the use of antiglycemic medications and insulin, the patient’s glycemia was still high. Use of the Western Medicine approach achieved a 750 mg/dl reading after 2 years (in September 2018). Results: In January 2019, a month and a half after the beginning of the treatment with Traditional Chinese Medicine, the patient's glycemia dropped to 150 to 250 mg/dl. Conclusion: A more holistic view of the human body has major importance. A deeper comprehension of the energy’s behavior, including its relation to pathologies, creates different possibilities of treatment. The suspension of sugar and high-carbohydrate foods in the diabetic patient’s diet is not sufficient to control the patient glycemia alone. Still the use of high-concentrated medications can be a factor to maintain the hyperglycemic state. This shows that the integration of Western Medicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine is important to better control the glycemia in diabetes patients.

Teaching Evaluation of Modern Chinese History Courses for Different Majors

Only by understanding history can we correctly understand and grasp the objective laws of social development. Taking the teaching of the Modern Chinese History as the background, this study explores the actual academic performance of 967 students in 27 classes of 11 different majors, including: Clinical medicine, Chinese and western integrative medicine, Pharmacy, Bioscience, Bioengineering, Medical laboratory technology, Animal nutrition and feed science, Aquaculture, Pratacultural science, Ecology as well as Landscape architecture, in Yangzhou University of China. We mainly investigate the influence of the same teaching method on different majors by means of statistical analysis. The results show that the current teaching methods have a significant impact on the teaching effect of three majors: Bioengineering, Pratacultural science and Ecology. This means that the ratio of impact of the same teaching methods to different majors accounts for 27.27%. In addition, we also find that there are significant differences between Bioengineering and other five majors, such as Clinical Medicine, Chinese and Western integrative medicine, Animal nutrition and feed science, Aquaculture as well as Pratacultural science. It is hoped that the analysis results of this paper may provide some theoretical basis and reference for the study of historical teaching methods, and also provide relevant information for overseas modern Chinese history research institutions to understand the learning situation of history of China in this period.

Limitations of Western Medicine and Models of Integration Between Medical Systems.

This article analyzes two major limitations of Western medicine: maturity and incompleteness. From this viewpoint, Western medicine is considered an incomplete system for the explanation of living matter. Therefore, through appropriate integration with other medical systems, in particular nonconventional approaches, its knowledge base and interpretations may be widened. This article presents possible models of integration of Western medicine with homeopathy, the latter being viewed as representative of all complementary and alternative medicine. To compare the two, a medical system was classified into three levels through which it is possible to distinguish between different medical systems: epistemological (first level), theoretical (second level), and operational (third level). These levels are based on the characterization of any medical system according to, respectively, a reference paradigm, a theory on the functioning of living matter, and clinical practice. The three levels are consistent and closely consequential in the sense that from epistemology derives theory, and from theory derives clinical practice. Within operational integration, four models were identified: contemporary, alternative, sequential, and opportunistic. Theoretical integration involves an explanation of living systems covering simultaneously the molecular and physical mechanisms of functioning living matter. Epistemological integration provides a more thorough and comprehensive explanation of the epistemic concepts of indeterminism, holism, and vitalism to complement the reductionist approach of Western medicine; concepts much discussed by Western medicine while lacking the epistemologic basis for their emplacement. Epistemologic integration could be reached with or without a true paradigm shift and, in the latter, through a model of fusion or subsumption.

Clinical analysis on combined medication in patients of acute pancreatitis in real world

To study the characteristics and regular pattern of the medicine in common use and combined medication in patients of acute pancreatitis in real world. Collect the information of 5 433 acute pancreatitis patients in 19 grade IIIA general hospitals in China, analysis by descriptive statistics and association rule. In the 5 433 patients of acute pancreatitis, the glycyrrhizic acid injection and somatostatin are the frequency top used Chinese traditional and western medication. Glycyrrhizic acid injection, somatostatin and insulin are the frequency top used drug combination pattern. The Chinese and western integrative medicine drug use pattern are accord with the clinical guideline of acute panceatitis. The hepatic and renal function, blood routine and coagulation function should be monitored when the medicines are used.

Diabetes with pyogenic liver abscess—A perspective on tongue assessment in traditional Chinese medicine

This novel study provides a time series analysis of tongue features extracted from a diabetic patient with pyogenic liver abscess (PLA), treated with the integration of western medicine and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). The features, namely, tongue color, tongue fur thickness and fur color, identified from a series of tongue images taken every two days, exhibit significant transitions matching closely with the progression of disease. These tongue features could serve as effective, non-intrusive indices for different progression stages of diabetes with PLA. A 76-year-old male diabetic patient was admitted for hyperglycemic hyperosmolar state. Intermittent fever and abdominal discomfort were noted. After performing abdominal computed tomography and laboratory studies, the results indicated pyeogenic liver abscess, Klebsiella pneumoniae ssp. pneumoniae related. As PLA progressed, the patient suffered spiking fever and right upper abdominal pain. Tongue examination revealed features with red tongue, white-yellow and thick fur. After receiving pigtail catheter drainage, the fever subsided and the pus-like fluid was drained smoothly. During the course of this process, gradually dwindled tongue fur witnessed through periodic tongue examination coincides consistently with laboratory data, namely, body temperature, fasting plasma glucose and plasma glucose level gathered. This is the first time series analysis of applying tongue examination to the progression of a specific disease. Through a series of tongue images taken periodically, tongue color, tongue fur thickness and fur color are identified to closely linked to the progression of diabetes with PLA, as indicated by data gathered through means of plasma glucose and abdominal sonographic follow-ups. Based on this promising finding, our future study will further extend the application of tongue assessment to evaluate the tongue characteristics of diabetic patients.

Discussion on PBL teaching in clinical curriculum for seven-year program students majoring in Chinese and western integrative medicine

As a widely used teaching model in higher medical education,problem-based learning is regard as one of the direction of education revolution in our country.Based on the PBL teaching practice in the second clinical medical college of Guangzhou university of traditional Chinese medicine,the article summarized determination of teaching content,compiling of teaching plan,methods of teaching process and teaching evaluation as well as analyzed some key questions in practicing PBL teaching in seven-year program clinical curriculum. Key words: Seven-year program; Clinical curriculum; Problem-based learning

Meta-analysis of the effectiveness of Chinese and Western integrative medicine on medium and advanced lung cancer

To summarize the effectiveness of Chinese and Western integrative medicine in treating medium and advanced lung cancer, and to provide guidelines for clinical application. For this metaanalysis, a comparative search of Chinese medicine data in Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and Chinese BioMedical Literature Database (CBM) was undertaken to identify articles related to randomized comparative research of Chinese and Western integrative medicine in treating medium and advanced lung cancer between 1996 to 2006. Quality of life (QOL) was estimated using RevMan 4.2 software for data processing, adopting the odd ratio (OR) and the 95% confidence interval (CI). Through meta-analysis of 10 qualified articles, the results were as follows: the merging effectiveness of QOL [OR=3.80, 95% CI (2.65, 5.47)]; the rate of survival [OR=3.44, 95% CI (2.04, 5.80)]; the tumor response rate [OR=1.88, 95% CI (1.37, 2.58)]; the tumor developing rate [OR=0.33, 95% CI (0.23, 0.48)]. Significant differences existed between the Chinese and Western integrative medicine treatment group and the Western treatment group (P<0.01). Chinese and Western integrative medicine treatment of medium and advanced lung cancer has shown to improve patients' QOL and survival rate; it also can control tumor development in the short term.

Progress in tumor vascular normalization for anticancer therapy: challenges and perspectives

Antitumor angiogenic therapy has been shown promising in the treatment of several advanced cancers since the approval of the first antiangiogenic drug Avastin in 2004. Although the current antiangiogenic drugs reduce the density of tumor blood vessels and result in tumor shrinkage at the early stage of treatment, recent studies have shown that antiangiogenic therapy has transient and insufficient efficacy, resulting in tumor recurrence in patients after several months of treatment. Blockage of blood and oxygen supplies creates a hypoxic and acidic microenvironment in the tumor tissues, which fosters tumor cells to become more aggressive and metastatic. In 2001, Jain proposed tumor vascular normalization as an alternative approach to treating cancers based on the pioneering work on tumor blood vessels by several other researchers. At present, normalizing the disorganized tumor vasculature, rather than disrupting or blocking them, has emerged as a new option for anticancer therapy. Preclinical and clinical data have shown that tumor vascular normalization using monoclonal antibodies, proteins, peptides, small molecules, and pericytes resulted in decreased tumor size and reduced metastasis. However, current tumor vascular normalizing drugs display moderate anticancer efficacy. Accumulated data have shown that a variety of vasculogenic/angiogenic tumor cells and genes play important roles in tumor neovascularization, growth, and metastasis. Therefore, multiple-targeting of vasculogenic tumor cells and genes may improve the efficacy of tumor vascular normalization. To this end, the combination of antiangiogenic drugs with tumor vascular normalizing therapeutics, as well as the integration of Western medicine with traditional Chinese medicine, may provide a good opportunity for discovering novel tumor vascular normalizing drugs for an effective anticancer therapy.