Medicine, East Asian Traditional ; Terminology as Topic

Acupuncture Therapy ; Database Management Systems ; Integrative Medicine ; Internationality ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Research Design

The field of integrative medicine (IM) has grown tremendously in the United States over last two decades, in terms of clinical practice, research, and education. Its growing popularity among patients has led to increased need for physicians with appropriate counseling skills and a knowledge base of the efficacy and safety of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies. Family medicine is the first specialty as a whole to embrace IM, which encounters similar ailing conditions and emphasizes similar core values-person centered, evidence based, proactive, and continuous in nature. As integrative family medicine emerges, family medicine educators have developed suggested curriculum guidelines and approved measurable competencies to implement the best of evidence-based CAM and principles of IM. There are currently over 40 family medicine residencies that officially advertise CAM/IM in their programs. Meanwhile, IM centers have also been developing their own primary care programs based on their unique characteristics. This physician-led IM workforce is similar to that of China's IM in the early 1960s. As the Chinese government embarks on repeating its efforts to educate more Western medicine trained physicians in Chinese medicine in primary care training programs, the process and insights related to implementation of their practice in the United States would provide useful food for thought.
China ; Complementary Therapies ; Curriculum ; Education, Medical ; Humans ; Integrative Medicine ; education ; Internship and Residency ; Physicians ; Primary Health Care ; United States

Comparative Effectiveness Research ; Holistic Health ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; methods

California ; Complementary Therapies ; Language ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Terminology as Topic ; United States ; Universities

China and the United States share similar goals regarding their health care reform: expanding coverage, bending the curve of healthcare expenditure, and ensuring quality improvement and effectiveness of healthcare. Though many differences in the two health care systems exist, there are still many innovative strategies both countries can learn from each other. This paper first discusses two major problems in the America's health care system: an increasing aging population coupled with ineffective chronic disease management; and a failing primary care system. Next it discusses the role of integrative medicine in the United States health care reform. We also review some key strategies in China's health care reform, which we believe if these policies are implemented fully and effectively, China is poised to build a better healthcare delivery system using the integrative health paradigm.
China ; Delivery of Health Care ; Health Care Reform ; Integrative Medicine

Humans ; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ; pathology ; Specimen Handling

Convergence of principles of palliative care and integrative medicine has led to the introduction of the new practice of integrative palliative care in which integrative therapies (including mind-body modalities, traditional Chinese medicine, Ayurveda, and dietary supplements) are used to provide symptom management for patients who are dying or experiencing the sequelae of serious illness and its treatment. We propose an East-West Integrative palliative care model using non-drug therapies, such as acupuncture, diet, exercise, and stress management that shift the paradigm from suppressing the symptoms of illness to addressing both the root cause of the symptoms and the imbalance and declining homeostatic reserve that perpetuate these symptoms. This whole-person model expands the reach of palliative care, prolonging a better quality of life and allowing the patient to maintain as many activities as possible by preventing symptoms and improving function. Through this approach we reframe the dialogue such that patients are "living better" rather than "dying better" when faced with serious illness or death. In this article, we provide an overview of the principles of palliative care, integrative medicine, and the novel area of integrative palliative care, and propose an East-West integrative palliative care model that incorporates and broadens the scope of these existing approaches.
Acupuncture ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Humans ; Integrative Medicine ; Palliative Care ; Quality of Life

This article introduces the document, Considerations in the Translation of Chinese Medicine, published in PDF form online in both Chinese and English. This 20-page document includes several sections describing why the Considerations is necessary, the specificity of texts in Chinese medicine; the history of translation in Chinese medicine; who constitutes an ideal translator of Chinese medicine; what types of language exist in Chinese medicine; and specific issues in the translation of Chinese medicine, such as domestication versus foreignization, technical terminology, period-specific language, style, polysemy, and etymological translation. The final section offers a brief advisory for consumers, and concludes with a call to further discussion, and action, specifically in the development of international collaborative efforts towards the creation of more rigorous guidelines for the translation of Chinese medicine. The current article provides an overview of several of these sections, and includes links to the original document.
Language ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Translations

OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), preconception health patterns and fertility outcomes. METHODS: A community-based prospective cohort study was conducted in China. A total of 3012 newly married women who were willing to conceive within 2 years were enrolled in the study and took National Free Prepregnancy Checkups (NFPC). A reliably structured self-rating scale was used to measure the TCM preconception health patterns of the enrolled women. A 3-year follow-up was conducted to obtain the fertility outcomes, including pregnancy rate, time to pregnancy, spontaneous miscarriage and newborn status. Statistical analyses were conducted using Chi-square or Fisher's exact tests, logistic regression models, general linear models and the Cox proportional hazard model. RESULTS: The fertility outcomes showed no statistic correlations to the terms of NFPC in this population. Approximately a half of the women (46.66%) had unhealthy patterns. Women with qi & blood-deficiency (odds ratio [OR] = 35.19, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.55-801.15) or qi-stagnation (OR = 4.55, 95% CI = 0.90-23.06) pattern took a longer time to get pregnant, and those with qi-stagnation (OR = 2.05, 95% CI = 1.1-3.82) or yang-deficiency (OR = 1.91, 95% CI = 1.12-3.25) pattern had a higher risk of spontaneous miscarriage. CONCLUSION Three unhealthy TCM patterns during the preconception period might be risk factors for low fecundity or poor pregnancy outcomes. The TCM preconception pattern identification may provide a convenient and effective way to screen for potential pregnancy risks beyond the NFPC. Further, appropriate interventions based on the TCM preconception health patterns are needed to improve quality in women's fecundability and birth outcomes.