Comparison Of Traditional Chinese Medicine And Traditional Thai Medicine On Their Theories And Therapeutic Prescriptions In The Treatment Of Female Infertility

Objective: To systematize and analyze the differences between traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)and traditional Thai medicine(TTM)on their theories and therapeutic prescriptions for the treatment of female infertility in Thai patients and provide the prescription compatibility of herbal formulas for Thai female infertility,and also provide the theoretical basis and references for learning exchange between TCM and TTM.Methods: We systematized and analyzed 228 published papers and 161 textbooks on TCM materials and 87 published papers together with 29 textbooks on TTM materials and herbal prescriptions for female infertility treatment that were collected since 2008 until July 2018,and the ancients textbooks for TCM documents,and all previous data from 1782 until July 2018 for TTM from the Medline,Cochrane,CBM,CNKI,and the Thai JO database by using the following search terms: ‘infertility',‘female infertility',‘Chinese medicine',‘Chinese herbal medicine',‘Traditional Chinese medicine',‘TCM',‘woman disease',‘Thai Traditional medicine',‘Thai herbal medicine',‘TTM'.In addition,we sourced for books relevant to female infertility in TCM and TTM and checked reference lists of relevant articles from Shanghai University of TCM,Thai National Library,and also collected the TCM prescription from Tianfa Hospital,Zheng Wenjie TCM Clinic.The data mining methodology was used to analyze the prescription patterns and included IBM SPSS 21.0 for Windows,and IBM SPSS Modeler Subscription(Apriori),which were used to analyze the frequency and association rules.Results:1.Similarities and differences between TCM and TTM on their therapeutic theories for the treatment of female infertility.The result showed TCM and TTM had the same explanation on getting pregnant;patients must have sufficient nourishment from blood,normal menstrual cycle and flow,and under appropriate sex conditions,but TCM had 2 additional explanations about kidney essence and Qi,the balance of yin and yang conditions,and TTM pointed on normal condition of the uterus.There are quite similar principles about female infertility factors that are categorized into congenital factors and the secondary factors: for congenital factors,TCM discusses the 5 abnormalities of the female reproductive system,TTM points to inherited blood disorder;TTM and TCM has common explanations on the secondary factors,for example life style and environmental factors,including bad diet,lifestyle,excessive emotions,excessive sexual activity,or inappropriate sex conditions,etc.,similar to TCM which describes exogenous pathogenicity(wind,cold,dampness),TCM also points to woman's age as well as the time of year which can also be important factors.The disease mechanism: TCM mainly explains “deficiency of kidney and spleen pattern” and “stagnation pattern” that cause deficiency of Qi and blood,the imbalance of Cong and Ren meridians,the stagnation of uterus and uterus meridian etc.,;in TTM it is mainly explained that the deficiency of blood,irregular menstruation,and blood stasis,blood clot,and the abnormal uterus function were the main mechanism of infertility.The treatment analyzed result showed both TCM and TTM were based on disease mechanisms and a holistic diagnosis pattern,then choose the appropriate treatment option: for the treatment theory we found that period regulation,nourishing blood,regulate and treat uterine diseases,improve the body circulation,and remove the pathological waste were the common treatments,but further treatment theory on TCM were to warm and tonify the kidney-Yang,disperse the liver Qi stagnation,eliminating phlegm and dampness,and TTM mainly regulate the4 basic body elements,warm the fire element.2.Similarities and differences between TCM and TTM on their prescription compatibility pattern in the treatment of Thai female infertility.The data mining results showed 162 unique herbs were used from 223 TCM prescriptions,TCM's most frequency used in the prescription herbs were Pseudostellaria heterophylla,Eucommia ulmoides,Epimedium brevicornum,Astragalus membranaceus,Lycium babarum,Cuscuta chinensis,Morus alba,Curculigo orchioides,Atractylodes macrocephala,Glycyrrhiza uralensis,Bupleurum chinensis,Dry human placenta,Sedum sarmentosum,Paeonia lactiflora;TCM's most important compatible prescription herbs were “Bupleurum chinensis-Dry human placenta,Cuscuta chinensis-Morus alba-Curculigo orchioides-Epimedium brevicornum”,so the TCM treated Thai female infertility prescription compatibility rules were to nourish Qi and blood,warm and tonify kidney-Yang,regulate Chong and Ren meridians,disperse the liver Qi stagnation,promoting blood circulation and remove blood stasis;229 herbal were used from 85 TTM prescriptions,Piper retrofractum ? Zingiber officinale?Piper nigrum?Plumbago indica?Piper interruptum?Piper sarmentosum?Myristica fragrans?Angelica dahurica?Atractylodes lancea?Ligusticum sinense?Angelica sinensis ? Artemisia annua ? Cuminum cyminum ? Nigella sativa ?Foeniculum vulgare?Lepidium sativum?Syzygium aromaticum?Cyperus rotundus?Dracaena loureiroi?Terminalia chebula were the most frequently used herbs in the prescription;“Atractylodes lancea-Angelica dahurica”,“Piper sarmentosum-Piper interruptum-Zingiber officinale-Piper retrofractum-Plumbago indica” were the most compatible found,so TTM prescription compatibility rules were to regulate and nourish the 4 basic body elements,nourish blood,nourish the fire element to eliminate cold inside body,eliminate blood stasis,and treat all other blood disorders.Conclusions:1.There were similarities between TCM and TTM on the diagnosis and therapeutic approaches of female infertility,but there were differences on the explanation of its principle.2.TCM and TTM's diagnosis were based on the holistic view,and most of the Thai female infertility patients had the “cold and deficiency pattern”,then main prescription pattern compatibility of regulate menstrual cycle and flow,nourishing blood,regulate and treat the uterine diseases,improve body circulation,and to remove the blood stasis might be the effective compatible prescription.But there were differences on the specific herbal used that rely on their medicinal theories.