A complementary medicine

Traditional Chinese medicine is the fruit of various millenniums of research and
experimentation of various disciplines such as acupuncture, massage, moxibustion or
pharmacopoeia.
None of these chapters can define by itself the importance of this medicine.

On the international scene, Chinese medicine, has the World Health Organization (WHO)
endorsement and is now completely incorporated in various systems of public health.
Various publications in the scientific press, especially in the
United Kingdom and in Germany , validate its complementarity.
In the USA , Chinese medicine is taught in the university and the Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) has endorsed in the last few years the effectiveness
and action of most of the more than 10 000 existing Chinese herbs.
In Tanzania , technical help is given by the WHO in collaboration
with china in the production of anti-malaria agents extracted from the Chinese herb Artemisia annua.
The local production of this drug should reduce the cost of a dose from US $7 to $2.

In Brussels , practicioners and deputies brought the debate of its acceptation to the
European parliament. But despite remarkable development, Latin countries remain
diffident and have a tendency to oppose it to allopathic medicine.
TCM is neither a parallel medicine nor an alternative medicine. It does integrate itself perfectly in a medical system which considers the organism as a whole. This is why in china it is associated to western medicine to form a single medical system. This concept of complementarity is the ground for jadecampus tendency.

Link: Complementarity examples from the World Health Organization.

* 25 % of modern drugs are based on herbs that have been used traditionally.

* Acupuncture has shown its efficiency in relieving post surgical pain, nausea during pregnancy, nausea and vomiting secondary to chemotherapy and toothache without any side-effects. Besides it can reduce anxiety, panic attacks and insomnia.
* Yoga can contribute to relieve asthmatic attacks and Tai Ji practice can help preventing elderly from tumbling.

* Traditional medicine can be used to treat infective diseases. In china for example, the medicinal herb Artemisia annua , used for nearly 2000 years, has turned out to be effective against resistant malaria and could become a mean to stop the actual toll of 1 million malaria related death every year, mostly children.

* In South Africa , the Medical Research Council is researching on the effectiveness of the herb Sutherlandia Microphylla , in the treatment of AIDS patients. This herb, traditionally used as a tonic, can increase the weight in people affected with HIV, increase appetite and energy.

Source: World Health Organization, May 2003, http://www.who.int