CBE, FRS, Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PT, UK.
Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2009 Sep;6 Suppl 1(Suppl 1):5-10. doi: 10.1093/ecam/nep101.
Attitudes towards oriental medicine are changing for two major reasons. The first is that many patients, even in the West, are choosing to use its practitioners and methods. The second is that the rise of Systems Biology may offer a better basis for dialogue, and even for synthesis, between the oriental and Western traditions. However, a lot of work is needed to clear the way for such dialogue and synthesis. Much of this work should be devoted to clarifying the meanings of the terms used, and the framework of theory and practice within which oriental methods operate. But it is also necessary for Systems Biology itself to mature as a discipline, particularly at the higher levels of biological organization since it is at these levels that oriental medicine derives its ideas and practice. Higher level Systems Biology could be a basis for interpretation of the Korean version of oriental medicine: Sasang constitutional medicine since it seeks patient specific analysis and treatment, and the mathematical methods of systems biology could be used to analyze the central concept of balance in Sasang.
人们对东方医学的态度正在发生变化，主要有两个原因。一是许多患者，甚至是在西方，都选择使用东方医学从业者和方法。二是系统生物学的兴起可能为东西方传统之间的对话，甚至是综合，提供一个更好的基础。然而，要为这种对话和综合扫清道路，还需要做大量的工作。其中大部分工作应该致力于澄清所用术语的含义，以及东方方法运作的理论和实践框架。但是，系统生物学本身也需要成熟为一门学科，特别是在更高的生物组织层次上，因为正是在这些层次上，东方医学产生了它的思想和实践。更高层次的系统生物学可以成为解释韩国版东方医学——沙桑体质医学的基础，因为它寻求针对患者个体的分析和治疗，而系统生物学的数学方法可以用于分析沙桑中平衡的核心概念。
