Incorporating Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in modern day society: Regulating the quality of TCM medicinal herbs

How much do you care about the quality of the vegetables we eat every day? Are you worried that the vegetables may be contaminated by heavy metals or other chemicals from the water source near the farms? Do you care about the farming practices that produce your daily vegetables?  These are some of the questions … Read more

Incorporating Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in modern day society: over-the-counter supplement and TCM formulae

Note: I did not have any formal training in TCM practices. The TCM ingredients described below are mostly plant-based. In this article, ying/yang balance or the principle of ‘jun, Chen, zuo, shi’ (arbitrarily translated as principle/auxillary) won’t be discussed. Nowadays, various herbal extracts were available in health stores as ‘health supplements, which are not subjected … Read more

Incorporating Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in modern day society: thoughts of a fellow molecular biologist

In June 2018, World Health Organization (WHO) released new International classification of Diseases (ICD 11), in which Chapter 26 includes now the standardized wordings for diseases and diagnoses from TCM perspectives. In May this year, it caught the attention of the mass media. While TCM practitioners and supporters celebrated the news, physicians and medical scientists … Read more