Chinese medicine, books

The advent of functional foods and nutraceuticals on the market has blurred the distinction between pharma and nutrition [1]. Obviously, the concept of foods promoting health is not new. In 400 b.c., Hippocrates already sentenced Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food [2], and in the countries of the far East, influenced by Chinese culture, foods such as glutinous rice, wheat, sesame, jujube, gingiber, or leek were included in Chinese medicine books for their traditional use for chronic diseases [3]. Nowadays, the development of functional foods is one of the most intensive areas of food product development worldwide, opening multiple challenges for countries with a vast biodiversity and historical use of plant extracts [4]. 

TCM is a Cabinet database that attempts to bridge Eastern and Western medicines and their use. The TCM data of molecules come from the book Traditional Chinese Medicines [41] and has two kinds of data. Molecular entries are structures contained in TCM medicinals. Biological entries are the sources of these medicinals (plants, minerals etc.). Many relationships can be discovered within the database on the basis of structure (SMILES) or language (English, Chinese, Latin and Pinyin). 

DCM is a Cabinet server that provides encyclopedic information of Chinese medicines and medical conditions from the book, A Practical Dictionary of Chinese Medicine [42], It has over 220 000 searchable fields in four different languages (English, traditional Chinese, Pinyin and Latin). DCM is a tool that includes Chinese and Western medical terminology and gives medication as well as acupuncture treatment descriptions. DCM is implemented for finding definitions without leaving the TCM database. Many medicinal sources are identified by pictures generated from PARK. 

This book is an authoritative and comprehensive reference guide to a very large number of significant Chinese medicinal herbs. A gold mine of information is available on their chemical constituents and therapeutic applications. This will be extremely useful to a wide range of health-care professionals who deal in one way or another with medicinal plants. The current heated debate regarding the comparative values of traditional herbal preparations and physician-prescribed pharmaceuticals should in no way detract from the value of this book, since Chinese medicinal herbs are not simply useful in herbal form, but also have immense potential for contributing to the development of new pharmaceuticals. 

This book is designed to provide researchers with easy access to information on Chinese medicinal herbs compiled from widely scattered sources in the Chinese and Western literature. Table 1 presents current available information on the major constituents and therapeutic values of more than 1800 species of Chinese medicinal herbs. The data are arranged alphabetically by the Latin name followed by the common Chinese and English names. Tables 2 and 3 present data on a total of 700 North American herbs belonging to the same species or genus as Chinese herbs, and a comparison of active ingredients and claimed therapeutic values. Appendices 1, 2, and 3 cross-reference Chinese and scientific names, and major active ingredients and their sources in the Chinese and North American herbs cited in the tables. 

In the sections Associated disorders in western medicine, some disease names are mentioned. However, it should be borne in mind that a disease in western medicine may involve more than one syndrome in traditional Chinese medicine. As such, the diseases mentioned here are only intended to help the reader to understand the syndrome and to have some corresponding orientation in western medicine. The principles, methods and strategies introduced in each chapter of this book are abstracted from a large number of formulas, integrating the knowledge of single herbs, herbal combinations, syndrome differentiation, treatment methods and treatment sequence. They are the essential part of this book. 

For students and junior practitioners, this book offers a method of learning formula composition in a clear and concise fashion. For experienced practitioners, this book offers a comprehensive discussion of various syndromes and their differential diagnoses, as well as treatment methods and strategies that may bring a deeper understanding of the theories of traditional Chinese medicine and help to improve their diagnostic skills and their knowledge of appropriate herb selection, as well as their... 

Williams, T., Natural Ways to Health Chinese Medicine, Element Books, Boston, MA, 1996. 

Wiseman, N. and Ellis, A., Fundamentals of Chinese Medicine (revised ed.), Paradigm Publications, MA, 1996. Wood, M., The Practice of Traditional Western Herbalism, North Atlantic Books, CA, 2004. 

Herbal medicinal traditions can be traced back to our primate forebears. Thus, parasite-infected chimpanzees make recourse to particular plants, which they evidently associate with symptomatic relief. Human cultures in general have accumulated medicinal protocols based on use of plants, major traditions including Chinese medicine and Indian Ayurvedic herbal medicine. As detailed in this book, in some instances, specific bioactive substances from medicinal plants (or derivatives of such compounds) have found application in conventional medicine. Thus, the cardiotonic cardiac glycoside sodium pump (Na+, K+-ATPase) inhibitors derived from the initial use for cardiac insufficiency of digitalis (dried leaves of the foxglove, Digitalis purpuremri). 

ABSTRACT The concept "Diet and Medicine from the Same Source" has been described in old Chinese medical books. Based on die above classic concept, we have been using biochemical and pharmacological approaches to study natural products (e.g. flavonoids, saponins, tannins etc.) isolated from various medicinal plants and foodstuffs for 20 years. In the present review, we will introduce the biological and pharmacological actions of various components isolated from some medicinal plants and foodstuffs. 

The publishers do not advocate nor endorse self-medication by laypersons. Chinese medicine is a professional medicine. Laypersons interested in availing themselves of the treatments described in this book should seek out a qualified professional practitioner of Chinese medicine. 

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is one of the most developed time-honored medicines in the world. It has a long history of use in practice and has been carefully recorded in ancient books. Shennong-Bencao (Shennong herbs) is a compendium book published back to A.D.200 [1]. The characteristics and medical applications of 356 medicines have been described in the book. Now TCMs have been developed to include 10,000 herbs and are popular in China for treating different kinds of diseases. The development of TCM with modem science and technology has allowed the exploration of many new dmgs some of them have... 

Sheng-nong Bencai-Jing (Compendium of Chinese Herbs), Publisher of Ancient Books of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Beijing, 1982 309-... 

In Chinese traditional medicinal books such as Shen Nong s Herbal compendium of Chinese Materia Medica and Dictionary of Chinese Materia... 

The traditional Chinese medicine system and various books regarding this medical system were also introduced into Japan with those crude drugs. Consequently, the main purpose ofjapanese pharmacognosy was to find which medicinal plant explained in the Chinese book was related which plant in Japan. This situation has actually continued for more than 1000 years. 

The crude drug prepared from the roots of Sophora flavescens (Fabaceae) is known as Kujin in Traditional Chinese Medicine. It possesses a strong bitter taste, and has been used as a medicine from ancient times in China, where it was recorded in the very old text book of herbal medicine known as Jinno-Honzo-Kyo in Japanese. Jinno-Honzo-Kyo was said to be first written in China at the end of 5th century, but the original has not survived until now. 

Herbology is practiced in different ways according to the philosophy of treatment. Some dosage recommendations are derived from herbal traditions such as traditional Ayurvedic or Chinese medicine. Many books are available on the subject of herbal remedies, and some commercially available products will have recommended dosages on the label. 

Species belonging to the Simaroubaceae family are widely referenced in the pharmacopoeias of different medical systems around the world, whether they be of contemporary or ancient use, transmitted orally, or from written sources. For example, Ailanthus altissima, the area of natural distribution of which extends from Manchuria to Malaysia, is one of the most cited species in ancient Chinese medical treatise for a wide range of indications. One of the oldest recipes for this species has been recorded in a book in China dating back to 732 AD for the treatment of mental illness [110]. Its bark is stiU registered in actual Chinese and Asian pharmacopoeias, and it is traded across China. The same applies to Brucea javanica fruits in Southeast Asia and to Ailanthus excelsa Roxb. bark, mentioned in ancient and contemporary ayurvedic medicine books [111]. The use of Brucea antidysenterica bark has also been documented since the sixteenth century in ancient Arabic medical pharmacopoeias [112]. 

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