Unique dual medical system in Korea has resulted in the emergence of dual-licensed medical doctors (DLMDs) who have both traditional Korean medicine (KM) and Western medicine (WM) licenses. There have been few studies on DLMDs in spite of their growing number and importance within the medical system. We surveyed the current status and attitudes of DLMD to assess their role in integrative medici...

Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) is frequently used in Portugal and it contributes to the improvement of people's health. CAM and Western Medicine (WM) are taken as complements both in the diagnosis and the treatment stage. The Portuguese health system is able to generate certified CAM professionals but the provision of CAM care and services is not included in the national health sy...

BACKGROUND In 1995, Taiwan has launched a national health-care system (the National Health Insurance Program, NHI) covering the use of both Western medicine (WM) and Chinese medicine (CM). This population-based study was conducted to understand the role of CM in this dual medical system by determining the utilization patterns of CM and WM and to analyze the demographic characteristics and prima...

Current management of retinitis pigmentosa (RP) includes an attempt at slowing down the degenerative process through therapies that use either Western or traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Novel therapies in Western medicine (WM) include use of tailor-made gene therapy, transplantation of stem cells, or neuroprotection treatment. TCM treatment includes two major approaches. These are orally ap...

BACKGROUND Many female breast cancer (FBC) patients take Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) and Western medication (WM) concurrently in Taiwan. Despite the possibility of interactions between the CHM and WM mentioned in previous studies, the pattern of these coprescriptions in FBC patients remains unclear. Hence, the aim of the present study is to investigate the utilization of coprescriptions of CH...

BACKGROUND Chinese herbal decoction (CHD) has been extensively used in the treatment of atrophic gastritis (AG) in China and other Far Eastern countries. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to estimate the efficacy and safety of CHD in AG. MATERIALS AND METHODS Pubmed, Embase, Cochrane central register of controlled trials (central), VIP, China National Knowledge Infrastructure...

Four phases of trial are widely used in testing drugs, surgery, and diagnosis in Western medicine (WM). The staged testing process helps protect patients from unnecessary harms and control costs while assessing safety and efficacy. In this paper we adapt the four phase trials for traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). As TCM has been used in humans for thousands of years and there has been good pr...

BACKGROUND On account of deterioration of chronic heart failure (CHF) and extensive exploration of Chinese herbal injections (CHIs), we performed a network meta-analysis to investigate the efficacy of CHIs (Huangqi injection, Shenfu injection, Shengmai injection, Shenmai injection, Shenqi Fuzheng injection, Yiqifumai injection) on the basis of western medicine (WM) treatment in CHF. METHODS L...

OBJECTIVES A randomised controlled trial was performed to compare the symptomatic effects on patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) treated by two therapeutic approaches - the Western medicine (WM) and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). METHODS Four primary outcome measures, namely the quality of life (QOL), maximum urine flow ratio (UFR), International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS...

BACKGROUND To determine if expenditures for dentistry (DENT) correlate with severity of chronic kidney disease (CKD). METHODS A total of 10,457 subjects were enrolled from January 2008 to December 2010, divided into three groups: healthy control (HC) group (n = 1,438), high risk (HR) group (n = 3,392), and CKD group (n = 5,627). Five stages were further categorized for the CKD group. OPD util...