Key Laboratory of Bio-resource and Eco-environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
Department of Metabolic Biology, John Innes Centre, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, UK.
Med Res Rev. 2021 Nov;41(6):3182-3200. doi: 10.1002/med.21793. Epub 2021 Feb 18.
The success of Western Scientific approaches to medicine, over the last 150 years, can be measured by substantial increases in life expectancy, reductions in infant mortality and the virtual elimination of many infectious diseases accompanied by development of effective management practices for noncommunicable diseases. However, major challenges remain in the form of infectious diseases that evolve resistance to pharmaceuticals rapidly, new diseases, particularly those caused by viruses and effective long-term treatments for chronic, noncommunicable diseases. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) can offer complementary treatments based on personalised interventions, informed by knowledge accumulated from empirical observations gathered over centuries of practice, that address the impact of disease on the whole body. We provide examples of both infectious and noncommunicable diseases where the combination of Western Scientific Medicine (WSM) and TCM can benefit patients in terms of the speed and efficacy of recovery or disease management. TCM is a healing skill based on practice, while WSM is scientific, based on experiments. Against this background, an understanding of the mechanisms of action of traditional Chinese medicinal preparations will offer fresh routes to discovery and development of new therapeutics as well as patented medical prescriptions, which will rely heavily on modern scientific methodologies for their adoption and success, particularly those in plant genomics, plant breeding and synthetic biology.
在过去的 150 年中，西方医学方法的成功可以通过以下方面来衡量：预期寿命的显著延长、婴儿死亡率的降低以及许多传染病的基本消除，同时还发展出了针对非传染性疾病的有效管理实践。然而，仍然存在着一些重大挑战，例如传染病对抗生素的快速耐药性、新疾病的出现，特别是由病毒引起的疾病，以及慢性非传染性疾病的有效长期治疗方法。传统中医（TCM）可以提供基于个性化干预的补充治疗方法，这些方法的依据是从数百年实践中积累的经验观察中获得的知识，可以解决疾病对整个身体的影响。我们提供了一些传染病和非传染性疾病的例子，在这些例子中，西医（WSM）和 TCM 的结合可以在恢复或疾病管理的速度和效果方面使患者受益。中医是一种基于实践的治疗技能，而西医则是基于实验的科学。在这种背景下，对传统中药制剂作用机制的理解将为新药和专利药物的发现和开发提供新的途径，这将严重依赖于现代科学方法来实现采用和成功，特别是在植物基因组学、植物育种和合成生物学方面。
