The Research Of The Development Of Foreign Traditional Medicine Systems And Their Influence On The Internationalization Of Traditional Chinese Medicine

Research ProgressIn the 21st century,the average life expectancy of human increased due to the global establishment of a public health care system and the advancement of medical technology.In the same time,we are also facing the challenge of an aging society and the increased proportion of chronic disease.In recent years,the development of western mainstream medicine started to encounter difficulties.People began to understand the high costs and possible side effects of mainstream medicine treatment,resulting in a renewed focus on low-cost traditional medicines(TM).Currently,traditional medicine,also known as supplemental or alternative therapy in some areas,is a secondary treatment in various countries.The World Health Organization published a traditional medical strategy in 2002,which indicates traditional medicine and complementary and alternative medicine are important subjects,suggesting governments all over the world pay attention to the development of TM and integrate them into national health care policy.Traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)has been practiced for a very long time,and over past hundreds of years,has spread to Japan,South Korea,Europe and the United States.Combined with different local cultures,TCM has developed into various and distinctive medical systems.India and the Arab region also have their own influential traditional medical systems.However,a thorough understanding of the history and current status of other TM systems is not comprehensive,making the comparative study of TCM and other TM systems difficult.In order to facilitate future development of TCM,it is necessary to study the TM of other nations,including the historical evolution,the theoretical structure,the personnel training and the development policy planning,etc.Purpose and MeaningCurrent studies of traditional medical systems mostly focused on the introduction of a single medical system or the comparison between one traditional medicine and TCM.The purpose of this study is to gather information regarding TMs across the world:i.e.history,evolution,the development of education and scientific research and the effectiveness of industrial management policies,so as to find out the shortcomings in the development of TCM.Furthermore,this study can also promote the exchange of valuable information related to traditional medicine between China and other countries,thus strengthening global understanding and trust in traditional medicine.Contents1.Compare various aspects of traditional medicine in different countries:modern status,historical evolution,theoretical development,management policy,scientific research,personnel training,medical resources,etc.2.Analyze the successful experiences of traditional medicine in education,medical system planning,industrial marketing and professional services,so as to find out the problems and insufficiencies in international development of Traditional Chinese Medicine.3.Based on the above results,this research provides suggestions and solutions to aid health policy initiatives and progress.MethodsTo sort out the origin,treatment theory,current status and characteristics of common TMs throughout the world,this study collects the pertinent literature related to TM research from 2000 to 2016 through internet resources such as CNKI database and Wan-Fang database,etc.1.Literature analysis:Widely collect the literatures and documents of traditional medicine or complementary medicine systems through domestic and foreign internet databases,books,website resources,etc.Arranging the information and cross analyzing the literature so as to summarize the differences of traditional medicine development between China and other countries.2.Comparative study:This article makes a comparative analysis of the historical evolution of traditional medicine systems,the development of medical schools,the implementation of government policies,the effectiveness of performance,etc.The aim is to use the experiences of other countries to educate,inspire and enlighten the development of Traditional Chinese Medicine in the 21st century.Main FindingsOne of the biggest questions facing traditional medicine systems is how to gain widespread trust and acceptance in the modern world.The government must prioritize investing resources in traditional medicine treatments,protecting and preserving traditional medical knowledge for future generations.A resilient,sustainable traditional medical system cannot rely solely on the value of cultural heritage to secure popular respect and necessary funding.Clinical efficacy is the key point for traditional medicines to obtain approval,respect and the necessary resources.An overview of all the difficulties that the traditional medicine of China and other countries face mainly lies in the lack of evidence-based studies.If China intends to spread and promote its taditional medicine,eradicating superstition is the top priority.We should focus on proving the clinical efficacy and showing the irreplaceable value of traditional medicine through evidence-based investigations.Scientific medicine is a systematic approach to first propose a hypothesis,and then make effort to verify it through collecting and analyzing a large number of samples with a rigorous randomized clinical trial.We can obtain objective clinical results under the premise that the experimental group is significantly different with the control one.Take Germany and England for example.These European countries have strongly advocated evidence-based medicine.They invest enormous resources on investigating the efficacy or theory of acupuncture in order to make sure it should be continuously covered in their medical insurance systems.Comparing with ours,their research on acupuncture is better both in quality and quantity.We should offer much appreciation to what they have done on proving the efficacy of acupuncture.If the traditional medicine is able to both establish high quality randomized clinical trials and obtain clear and convincing evidence proving its value,it definitely will attract the world's attention.This can be a tremendous improvement on the promotion and cultivation of the traditional medicine.China has more cultural advantage than western countries or even Japan and Korea on the understanding of Chinese traditional medicine theory and the knowledge of Chinese herbal medicine.Previously,the biggest difficulty Germany and England faced was not understanding the meaning of Chinese medical books and its meridians theory.That is probably the reason why they cannot receive consistent efficacy in their acupuncture studies.We are convinced that these obstacles will dramatically decrease if we direct or assist those investigations.Besides,if traditional medicine can receive international recognition,we will have more bargaining power to persuade the government to include traditional medicine into the orthodox medical system,which means being included into the medical insurance system,thus prevent traditional medicine from being gradually marginalized or replaced.In addition,it is not only the endorsement of evidence-based medicine and the establishment of the medical system that matter,but we also need to strictly examine the comprehensiveness of the educational and the license system to insure professional competency.Practitioners of the traditional medicine should receive enough clinical training and competency examinations in order to keep the patients' health from bearing risk.This would also affect society 's impressions on the efficacy of traditional medicine.The trend of merging both the modern and traditional medicine is a necessary development.Modern Chinese medicine doctors should be equipped with the knowledge of both modern and traditional medicine because the patients they meet maybe receiving treatments from both sides simultaneously.The doctor needs to know how to examine the suitability of traditional treatments and how herbs may interact with western medicine.This is extremely crucial for the total development of the traditional medicine.Main Innovative Points1.This study is the first comprehensive and systematic review and comparative study of the traditional medicine around the world on its history,theory development,educational systems,scientific research achievement,industry promotion policies,and medical system programs.The aim is to discover how the traditional medicine develops in different countries and the difficulties encountered during the development of traditional medicine.The results can provide our government and the world with relevant information like the position and the advantages and disadvantages of traditional medicine when forming a promoting strategy.2.This study will point out hardships that the traditional medicine encounter,including:(1)The questioning of its diagnose methods and treatment efficacy.(2)The lack of an unified educational and training system,resulting in the shortage of both the quantity and quality of the practitioners.(3)Not being recognized by the formal medical system.(4)The probability of being replaced by other health care professionals(ex:physical therapy)due to loose definitions of its professional practice scope.3.It is suggested that the development strategy should first focus on the establishment of evidence-based data,and then utilize the endorsement of the data to form relevant institutions like educational and licensing systems.Furthermore,we should not make any further concessions on our professional practice and should make every effort to enter the scope of benefits of medical insurance to stabilize the ongoing development of the traditional medicine.