Traditional Chinese Medicine and Clinical Pharmacology

Abstract

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) represents thousands of years in treatment protocols for health, healing, and longevity and has evolved into a complex healthcare system. The following chapter is designed to give a basic concise overview of TCM principles and practices, in relation to clinical pharmacology, and focuses on mutually relevant areas of interest. Much as society learned to harness electrical currents to empower machinery, TCM theories of energetic patterns help to empower the functionality of the human body. The major theories include the vital life force, known as Qi, Yin and Yang, Five Elements, herbal medicine, multivariate diagnostics, syndrome differentiation, and acupuncture, among others. In TCM, there is a direct relationship to the energy of nature and the energetic patterns within the human body and the human consciousness. This comprehensive approach is gaining momentum in clinical and network pharmacology, as new technologies emerge regarding TCM collaborative compounds versus singular chemical constituents in treatment modalities. Of major importance to clinical pharmacology are recent TCM evidenced-based empirical studies, correlations, and interactions between herbs and pharmaceuticals, updated data on toxicity, adverse reactions, quality assurance, and herbal medicine standardization. Global concerns over antimicrobial resistance to drugs have put a spotlight on TCM herbal medicines as alternatives with greatly reduced resistance factors. From ancient archives to the Nobel Prize to a formal endorsement by the World Health Organization as a global healthcare system, TCM has widened the lens of modern science. It offers the wisdom and experience of millennia to inspire the think tank of today’s medicine and pharmacology and tomorrow’s generations of integrative healthcare advancements.