Chinese Drugs Of Plant Origin

Traditional Chinese medicine has been used for thousands of years by a large population. It is currently still serving many of the health needs of the Chinese people; and still enjoying their confi dence it is practised in China in parallel with modern Western medical treatment. In addition to scientific organisations dedi cated to modern Western medicine, e. g. the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and various medical schools, a series of parallel institutions have been established in China to promote traditional Chinese medicine, such as the Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine and training institutions. Almost all hospitals in China have a department of traditional medicine. Furthermore, a large number of scientific journals are dedicated to traditional Chinese medicine, covering both experimental and clinical investigations. Medicinal materials constitute a key topic in the treatment of disease according to traditional Chinese medicine. The Chinese Pharmacopoeia (1985 edition) is therefore divided into two sepa rate volumes, Volume I containing traditional Chinese medicinal materials and preparations and Volume II containing pharmaceu tics of Western medicine. The oldest Chinese review of medicinal materials, Shennong Bencao Jing (100-200 A. D. ), covered 365 herbal drugs. The clas sic compilation in this field, Bencao Gangmu (Compendium of Materia Medica), was published in 1578 by Li Shi-zhen and recorded as many as 1898 crude drugs of plant, animal and min eral origin.

The "First International Conference on Traditional Chinese Medicine: Science, Regulation and Globalization" was held from August 30 to September 2, 2000 at the University of Maryland at College Park, Maryland. There were approximately 250 participants from the Peoples Republic of China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and the United States. This objective of this conference was to promote international collaboration for the modernization of Traditional Chinese herbal medicines (TCM) and their introduction into the global health care system. It was mainly sponsored by the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China and the NllI National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM). It was organized by Dr. William Tai, then director of the Institute of Global Chinese Affairs at the University of Maryland and Dr. Yuan Lin, president of Marco Polo Technologies, Bethesda, MD. This conference was conceived by Dr. Tai two years earlier recognizing that this was an appropriate time and also the unique location of the University of Maryland. Today, there is a growing recognition of the of alternative medicine in modem societies and the rapid loss of importance knowledge about traditional methods for the treatment of the multitude of human illnesses found throughout the world. TCM has been in common use in China for thousands of years; and many of its formulations are well defined.

Catalogues the 150 species of medicinal plants most commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine. The book, which was compiled in collaboration with the Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, was produced in an effort to communicate knowledge about herbal medicine that has accumulated over thousands of years, has been confirmed through both empirical experience and scientific evaluation, and yet has rarely been published outside the Chinese literature. The book also responds to increasing respect for the value of medicinal plants as a source of efficacious and inexpensive new drugs that offer an important alternative to chemically synthesized medicines. Each plant species is first documented by a full colour photograph taken under natural conditions during the flowering or fruiting season. Where relevant, a second photograph illustrates the plant parts from which the crude drug is extracted. Explanatory notes for each species cover botanical name and synonyms, Chinese name, English name, parts used, description of the plant, its habitat, and geographical distribution, and clinical indications and dosage. Some of the syndromes and clinical signs are described in traditional Chinese medical terminology. Information on indications and dosage is in keeping with theories for the prescription of medicinal plants taken from traditional Chinese pharmacology. To facilitate retrieval of information, plant species are indexed according to botanical names, English names, names in Chinese phonetic alphabet, and Chinese (Han) characters. The book, which was compiled for reference and educational purposes, includes a note advising readers of the dangers of self-treatment.

After the successful introduction of acupuncture to the West, recent advances in analytical methods in chemistry, molecular biology and systems biology – especially the development of the “omic” technologies – have again brought Chinese drugs into the focus of research on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). With more than 1000 publications on the chemistry, molecular biology and pharmacology of TCM drugs in international journals over the last 10 years, Chinese drugs are gaining increasingly reputation and impact. These data offer great opportunities for the development of new pharmaceuticals for various clinical applications. International scientists have compiled relevant and trend setting research results in this book. Topics range from the latest methods of quality and safety assurance by chemical and genetic fingerprints to the development of new pharmaceuticals for a future evidence-based therapy e.g. for cancer, cardiovascular, inflammatory or infectious diseases as well as to recent experimental results on multitarget and synergy research for the preparation of multi-extract-pharmaceuticals from TCM.

This first volume describes 78 species of medicinal plants in 44 families, in which 7 families and 13 species are algae and fungi, 28 families and 52 species are ferns, 9 families and 13 species are gymnosperms. The algae include Laminaria japonica, Sargassum fusiforme, Ulva lactucam, Uiva pertusa et al.; the fungi include Calvatia lilacina, Calvatia lilacina, Cordyceps sobolifera, et al.; the gymnosperms include Ginkgo biloba, Pinus massoniana, Thuja orientalis, Ephedra sinica, Ephedra intermedia, Ephedra equisetina, et al. In each specie, it introduces the scientific names, herbal medicine names, characteristics, habitats, distributions, Acquisition and processing methods, medicinal traits, tastes, functions, use and dosages, and other information of medicinal plants. The color pictures of all species in their wild forms are presented, along with some pictures of medicinal products made of them. This book series has totally 10 volumes, which covers 2000 kinds of Chinese medicines that are commonly seen or used. These volumes not only introduce the efficacy function and some prescriptions of the medicines, but also introduce the biological characteristics of them in detail with clear photos of the habitats, so that readers can identify them in the field. Apart from the growing environment, the books expound the distribution areas and other information to facilitate researches and other applications. The volumes are targeted at readers of general interests and it is also of high referential value for scientific researcher and teachers. It can be used as a guide to researchers, clinical doctors, and students in the department of pharmaceutics and traditional Chinese medicine.

This is the first botanically authoritative and practical illustrated identification guide to Chinese medicinal plants and drugs and their substitutes. It offers authoritative guidance on the identification of the herbal drugs themselves, and the plants from which they are sourced. Over the past 15 years, the authors have been collecting plant specimens throughout China, using verified species to create typical TCM reference drugs, prepared according to traditional methods. The herbal drugs included in this book are officially recognised from the Chinese materia medica (as defined in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia) and their selection has been based on those popular in international trade, as well as those recognised by the European Herbal and Traditional Medicine Practitioners Association, and those that are easily confused, substituted or adulterated with other plants.

This set of six volumes provides a systematic and standardized description of 23,033 chemical components isolated from 6,926 medicinal plants, collected from 5,535 books/articles published in Chinese and international journals. A chemical structure with stereo-chemistry bonds is provided for each chemical component, in addition to conventional information, such as Chinese and English names, physical and chemical properties. It includes a name list of medicinal plants from which the chemical component was isolated. Furthermore, abundant pharmacological data for nearly 8,000 chemical components are presented, including experimental method, experimental animal, cell type, quantitative data, as well as control compound data. The seven indexes allow for complete cross-indexing. Regardless whether one searches for the molecular formula of a compound, the pharmacological activity of a compound, or the English name of a plant, the information in the book can be retrieved in multiple ways.