They pin hopes on Vardhan
Timesofindia.indiatimes.com, 1 July 2014

The new government, that in favourably inclined towards promoting alternative medicine, has raised hopes of the revival of acupuncture. In a letter to incumbent health minister Harsh Vardhan, NCCA demanded acupuncture be recognized as an independent system of medicine. They propose a bill be passed in Parliament to recognize this system of medicine nationwide.

UCLA addresses ‘lost in translation’ issues in Chinese medicine
Medicalxpress.com, 2 July 2014

There is a need for accurate, high-quality translations, say researchers at UCLA's Center for East-West Medicine. The center has published a document that includes a detailed discussion of the issues involved in Chinese medical translation. The 15-page document, “Considerations in the Translation of Chinese Medicine” appears in the online edition of the Journal of Integrative Medicine. The document highlights several important topics in the translation of Chinese medical texts.

Province pushed ahead with TCM school despite doubts: FOI
Vancouver.24hrs.ca, 2 July 2014

Low demand and the presence of other established TCM schools concerned bureaucrats within the Ministry of Advanced Education, but that didn’t stop it from pursuing opening a new one at a public institution, documents reveal. The nearly 200 pages of documents were available through B.C.’s open information site, that show a strategy to engage the Chinese media, offering private roundtables and interviews with ministers, and aiming to spark discussion in the Chinese community.

Arthritis knee pain eased by Chinese med
Medpagetoday.com, 3 July 2014

Moxibustion was effective in reducing pain and improving function among patients with knee osteoarthritis, a randomized clinical trial found. After 6 weeks of thrice-weekly sessions of moxibustion, pain scores decreased from 6.69 to 3.03 in active treatment, compared with a decrease from 6.27 to 4.56 in sham treatment. Physical function difficulty scores decreased from 33.4 to 16.43 and from 30.99 to 21.70 in the active treatment and sham groups, respectively.

Your tongue says a lot about your health says Tao of Wellness
Insidetoronto.com, 3 July 2014

The tongue gives us a glimpse of the state of our health, which tells our circulation, metabolism, digestive concerns and more. Chinese medicine has used the tongue as a tool to assess an individual’s health by checking the size, shape, colour and coat of it. For example, an opaque or thicker coat present means there is a higher tendency to retaining fluids, referred as dampness, and may implicate from poor digestion to increased weight.

Houshiheisan maintains stabilization of the internal environment of neurovascular units
Sciencecodex.com, 7 July 2014

Researchers from Capital Medical University in China performed a study on herbal combination and found that the ingredients are complementary to each other, effectively suppress abnormal amyloid precursor protein accumulation, reduce amyloid substance deposition, maintain stabilization of the internal environment of neurovascular units, and minimize injury to neurovascular units in the ischemic penumbra by down-regulating the amyloid-β expression. Published in Neural Regeneration Research.

Chinese ‘fire therapy’ sets patients up in flames to cure chronic illness, but is it safe?
Medicaldaily.com, 8 July 2014

A Chinese doctor in Beijing claims fire therapy can treat any chronic ailment without expensive medical procedures. The practice is based on Chinese folk beliefs that our health depends on maintaining a balance of hot and cold elements within the body. The fire therapist trains students in a dingy apartment and charges 300 yuan ($48) per hour for treatment, which starts by setting a fire on top of the body.

Chinese herbs growing in Virginia
Wvtf.org, 9 July 2014

A new project underway to grow Chinese medicinal herbs is taking root in Floyd Virginia, the Blue Ridge Center for Chinese Medicine in Pilot. There’s a constant increase in demand because of the growing popularity of the profession. The herbs are gradually becoming more expensive imported from China, moreover increasing environmental pollution, over harvesting, and sometimes unreliable quality control means Chinese imports may not be enough to fill the growing demand in US.

Diapharm assists in EU registration of Chinese medicines
Openpr.com, 9 July 2014

Diapharm has opened its representative office in Shanghai in reaction to a surging demand for pharmaceutical consultancy services in China. “We will advise and assist Chinese companies as they make their way to Europe and also support European companies that purchase active ingredients or finished products from China and that may require assistance in auditing their suppliers,” Ralf Sibbing, the general manager explains.

Filiform needle acupuncture versus antidepressant drugs for poststroke depression
Phys.org, 9 July 2014

Systematic review or meta-analysis studies have demonstrated that early acupuncture is superior to conventional western medicine in the treatment of poststroke depression. 17 clinical trials scored at least 4 points on the Jadad scale was included, and was concluded it can perfectly control depression, safe and reliable and superior therapeutic effects to antidepressant drugs.

Herbal decoction vs herbal capsules
Theepochtimes.com, 10 July 2014

Boiling a pot of roots, bark and berries and then drinking the water left behind is the foundation of TCM. The average size of pills and capsules can hold only about 1/2 a gram of herbal extract. Even if the herbal extract is at a very high concentration, 1/2 gram per capsule (about 1/4 tsp) is a very small amount to get a desired effect from the herbal medicinal. Drinking your herbal medicine not only allows the chemical components from the plants to be more readily bio-available, but also the way your body understands receiving nourishment.

80% of Chinese medicine from mainland contains aphrodisiacs: FDA
The China Post, 12 July 2014

The FDA of Taiwan published the statistics of the Chinese medicine samples collected from 2010 to 2013. Among the 5125 samples, 1097 samples of Chinese medicine were tested and found to contain Western medicine ingredients. FDA inspection chief said that 91.7% of the failed samples were collected from local Chinese medicine centers or unknown sources. Pain killers, stimulants and diuretics are also common ingredients discovered in the Chinese medicines that failed inspections.

Wellsoon reaches out to global traditional Chinese medicine market via Hong Kong
7thSpace Interactive, 13 July 2014

Mainland TCM company Wellsoon (International) Medicine Co Ltd opened four retail outlets in Hong Kong in a bid to take its brand to the world as part of the company's global expansion strategy. The company set up a regional office in Hong Kong last year in preparation for the global launch. The clinics are located in Admiralty, Taikoo Shing, Central and Happy Valley, together with the central decoction facilities located at Kwun Tong.

Cicada fungus successfully developed in laboratory
Focus Taiwan, 15 July 2014

An associate professor in Taiwan has successfully developed a laboratory method to produce Ophiocordyceps sobolifera or cicada fungus, a cicada-killing parasite used in TCM, in a much shorter time than it grows in the wild. The fungus can be achieved a harvest in just two months in the laboratory, while it takes a year in the wild. Traditionally, the fungus is used to relieve pain, fever and adjust immunological functions.

Zhichan decoction increases dopaminergic neurons from transplanted NSCs in PD
Phys.org, 16 July 2014

Study results showed that neural stem cell (NSC) transplantation and Zhichan decoction administration increased dihydroxyphenylacetic acid levels up to 10-fold, while NSC transplantation alone resulted in a 3-fold increment. Homovanillic acid levels showed no apparent change, which indicate that after NSC transplantation in Parkinson's disease rats, Zhichan decoction can promote differentiation of NSCs into dopaminergic neurons. Published in Neural Regeneration Research.

China police question doctor over criticism of traditional medicine
MarketWatch.com, 21 July 2014

A doctor who challenged a famous TCM treatment on his blog was interrogated by the police under suspicion of starting an Internet rumor. The dermatologist posted for a young girl treated for bruises was disfigured after using a combination of Merbromin (a topical antiseptic) and Yunnan Baiyao. He had then been interrogated for 4 hours by Yunnan police and representatives of the state-owned Group. The police challenged him about the truth of his remarks and asked whether he was paid to make them.

Latest Guidebook for Conducting Pharma Clinical Trials in China (2014 Edition)
Digitaljournal.com, 22 July 2014

Latest Guidebook for Conducting Pharma Clinical Trials in China: From Regulations to Practice (2014 Edition) not only provided a comprehensive and thorough knowledge of the latest Chinese regulations on clinical trials for imported drug registration but also introduced the practical operation how to comply with the Chinese GCP to guide the Chinese trial venues to keep drug development lean and agile in the “post-patent-cliff” world step by step.

Fulbright to send professor to Hong Kong
Riverdalepress.com, 23 July 2014

Dr. Edward Kennelly, professor at Lehman College, has received one of this year’s Fulbright scholarships, to research modern TCM in Hong Kong. Since 2008, he has focused on Chinese plants, thanks to grants from the U.S. and Chinese government, traveling back and forth to the Chinese University of Hong Kong and Minzu University in Beijing to work on different projects. His Fulbright will allow him to travel to other parts of Asia in the six months to present lectures on his research, including mainland China, Japan and Thailand.

China considers traditional Chinese medicine legislation
Shanghaidaily.com, 24 July 2014

China's cabinet, the State Council, issued a draft on TCM legislation for public review. China will establish a comprehensive TCM medical service system covering both urban and rural areas, set up TCM departments in public hospitals and promote TCM service in grassroots clinics, encourages private capital to participate in building the TCM system, enhance the research and development of TCM with sound quality control, and strive to develop and enrich TCM culture.

Scientific skin care holds vast opportunity
Cosmeticsdesign-europe.com, 25 July 2014

Natural and alternative medical traditions inspire scientific skin care products and treatments, and the market has seen growth. In alternative medicine, the natural and the scientific are not mutually exclusive concepts, such as with TCM in Asia, but fundamental misunderstanding about market reality and consumer attitudes probably explains why legacy beauty brands have largely ignored or missed the category. Consumer expectations of what a skin care product might or should deliver have dramatically changed.

Seized at UK airports: tiger bones and claws made into jewellery
Standard.co.uk, 29 July 2014

Dozens of items containing parts of endangered tigers are being seized by border officials at UK ports and airports. Most seizures involve ground tiger bone, others include a tiger claw pendant, two tiger claws and items identified as “tiger tissue samples” such as patches. There were 3479 items of traditional medicine, some of which contained turtle, seahorse and leopard.

Compiled By:
Rose Tse, Integrated Chinese Medicine Holdings Ltd.