PURPOSE To develop an age-dependent mathematical model of the isolated ex-vivo human crystalline lens shape to serve as basis for use in computational modeling. METHODS Profiles of whole isolated human lenses (n=27) aged 6 to 82, were measured from shadow-photogrammetric images. Two methods were used to analyze the lenses. In the two curves method (TCM) the anterior and posterior surfaces of ...

While traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is widely used among Chinese patients with cancer, studies evaluating the effectiveness of TCM using objective indicators are rare. We examined the effectiveness of TCM for liver protection and completion of chemotherapy among patients with cancer receiving chemotherapy. We used a case-control design to examine the medical records of patients with cancer...

This study aimed to explore the survival of AIDS patients treated with traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in addition to combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) and of AIDS patients treated with cART. Data of patients taking cART between 30 October 2003 and 30 October 2004 in the National TCM HIV Treatment Trial Program area were retrospectively analyzed, with follow-up from 30 October 2004 to 3...

Rapid advancing computational technologies have greatly speeded up the development of computer-aided drug design (CADD). Recently, pharmaceutical companies have increasingly shifted their attentions toward traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for novel lead compounds. Despite the growing number of studies on TCM, there is no free 3D small molecular structure database of TCM available for virtual ...

This research employed the complete datasets of Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) outpatient reimbursement claims from 2005 to 2007 to analyze the using of TCM, the characteristics of TCM patients, and the disease categories that were treated by TCM in Taiwan. With the result of this study, female use TCM more frequently than male, is consistent with previous reports from western countries. Th...

In continuation of the last year's special issue " TCM Zheng Classification and Clinical Trials, " the time for 2014 issue has come. Now we are on the way from TCM Zheng classification in clinical trial to development of clinical practice guideline. Clinical effectiveness is what matters most in any treatment, including traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Many clinical trials have been conducte...

OBJECTIVE Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is a unique and complex medical system that has developed over thousands of years. This article studies the problem of automatically extracting meaningful relations of entities from TCM literature, for the purposes of assisting clinical treatment or poly-pharmacology research and promoting the understanding of TCM in Western countries. METHODS Inst...

Introduction This qualitative study seeks to explore the role within the context of Australian breast cancer oncology treatments that traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) practitioners play in the treatment of breast cancer. Methods Semistructured interviews were used on 2 groups: the first group was TCM practitioners who were recognized experts in breast cancer, and the second group consisted of...

Background. Limited scientific evidence supports the positive effects of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for treating dysmenorrhea. Thus, an observation period of 3 months could verify the ancient indication that TCM treatments effectively alleviate menstrual cramps in women with primary dysmenorrhea or endometriosis. Methods. A prospective, nonrandomized study (primary dysmenorrhea and endo...

BACKGROUND Use of Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), an important category of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), has increased substantially in Western countries during the past decade. Use of TCM is also widespread in the Chinese population. However, few informative data have been obtained to date by large-scale investigations of TCM use in the Chinese population. This study was ai...