International Links for March, 2009
Although health tours are still new to Vietnam, the health tourism industry adds another dimension to Vietnam’s wide range of attractions, promising more profits for the tourist sector.
According to travel companies, an increasing number of people are combining tourism with the advantages of natural medicine. In 2007, naturopathy tourism earned Asian countries US$1.6 billion. This figure is predicted to triple by 2012, and the industry can bring benefits to a number of countries, including Vietnam.
Taking the lead in developing the health tourism sector since 2006, the Vietnam National Institute and Hospital of Acupuncture has worked alongside travel companies to implement a program on combining traveling with acupuncture.
www.nhandan.com.vn
Scientists in Hong Kong believe they have made a breakthrough in the fight against H5N1 avian flu by creating a genetically modified rice which could routinely protect birds from the virus.
The rice contains genes from yuzhu, a plant used in traditional Chinese medicine, which has been found to inhibit the growth of viruses.
www.fwi.co.uk
An herb many Americans take to get an energy boost might also help doctors treat one of the most common—and deadly—cancers. Researchers have discovered that ginseng, particularly when heated, may be very effective against colorectal cancer, according to a study in The American Journal of Chinese Medicine.
Colorectal cancer is one of the most common types of cancer in the United States, and among the deadliest. Half of patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer eventually die from the disease, and less than 10 percent of patients with colorectal cancer that has spread will survive more than five years after diagnosis.
Because chemotherapy and other standard treatments aren’t always effective and may have serious side effects, many patients have turned to herbal remedies. Ginseng has been a staple of Asian herbal medicine, and studies have indicated that it might help not only prevent cancer, but also relieve some of the side effects (such as nausea and vomiting) of cancer therapies.
www.cancermonthly.com
Taiwan can serve as a role model for the United Kingdom and play an important role in lifting the profile of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in the Western world, as it has a high standard of TCM education and advanced production technology, a group of experts from the UK said yesterday.
Tony Booker, president of the UK Register of Chinese Herbal Medicine, said that he was amazed by the high level of quality control in the production of TCM and the expertise of TCM practitioners in Taiwan. He was part of a 13-member group of TCM practitioners, leading research scientists and experts from the UK and Ireland, who were in Taiwan to observe and study its practice of Chinese medicine.
www.chinapost.com.tw
Substance from a plant used in traditional Chinese medicine is effective in addressing inflammation and infection specific to the liver.
While the incidence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and C virus (HCV) infection is decreasing in the United States, it is still a world-wide challenge with ominous implications for individuals and public health. Hundreds of millions are infected throughout the world with a chronic, silent condition that often leads to irreparable liver damage and cancer.
Several botanical-based materials are emerging that appear to have substantial liver-protective and antiviral properties. These substances have been clinically studied and appear to be effective as solo or adjunct treatments -comparable or better than conventional methods. These substances are generally abundant in nature and inexpensive but must be harvested and processed using acceptable standards and measured for standardized potency.
herbal-properties.suite101.com
IBM today announced the launch of a new suite of healthcare information sharing and analytics technologies at the Guang Dong Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), which combines the strengths of TCM and Modern Western Medicine (MWM). The first-of-a-kind system, dubbed CHAS (Clinical and Health Records Analytics and Sharing), is designed to enable the sharing of electronic medical records (EMRs) that incorporates TCM and MWM data across the hospital network.