EMBRACING TRADITIONAL MEDICINE
People, including medical practitioners, are displaying a renewed faith in traditional medicines, whether it is for common ailments or serious ones. Recently, doctors discovered that a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is effective in treating nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) – cancer originating from the nose and throat. Radiation is often the main treatment for NCP due to its unique position, making other treatments complicated. Moreover, some NCP patients are resistant to radiation therapy. This radio-resistance can be controlled by radio-sensitisers, a compound making cells more vulnerable to radiation, and the traditional herbal medicine Shengmai Yin is an effective radio-sensitiser, a recent study by Nan Fang Hospital and Southern Medical University, published in Journal of Pharmaceuticals Analysis has found.
This is not the only example of people turning towards traditional medicines. Across Asia, health experts are looking at traditional medicines for treatments as well as for prevention. Two Asian giants, India and China are firmly rooted in traditional medicines. The Chinese traditional medicine system is not only well known, but it has obtained world recognition as a traditional Chinese doctor received a Nobel award in physiology a few years back. In addition to herbal medicines, Chinese methods of acupuncture and acupressure are also well-known.
Although the numbers of public TCM hospitals in China stayed between 2004 and 2016, the number of private TCM hospitals grew from 294 to 1560 in the same period. The number of TCM physicians, pharmacists and revenue increased marginally in the vicinity of 0.3 per cent. In Singapore alone, there are 2,000 active TCM practitioners and several local hospitals offer TCM treatments, indicating the growing acceptance of traditional medicines both by doctors and patients. Like TCM, India has its own well-known traditional medicine systems like Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha etc. Of these, Ayurveda goes back over 5,000 years, the oldest known form of traditional medicine.
Many in India prefer these traditional systems over allopathy. Ayurveda is already well-acclaimed (along with the practice of Yoga) beyond the country’s borders. Along with India and China, other Asian countries like Korea, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Indonesia, too, have their own respective brands of traditional medicines.
The increased reliance on traditional and herbal medicines is expected to grow this market segment. The herbal medicine market, which was at $110 billion in 2020, is expected to reach $178 billion by 2026.
People are increasingly looking to traditional medicines, either as a complementary approach, or as a replacement of allopathic medicines altogether. This could be, in part, due to the vague treatment protocols notified to healthcare professionals in the initial phase of COVID-19. Logically, though, people were rightly concerned about improving their immunity, rather than wait for any allopathic ‘sureshot’ solution.
People consuming medicines or using treatments on their own without any expert guidance is one important problem concerning traditional and herbal medicines. The Health Science Authority (HSA) in Singapore recently alerted people against two types of herbal and slimming capsules following reports of adverse effects. They have been found to contain banned potent medical ingredients and banned substances. During COVID19, Australia had banned one TCM which was developed during the SARS outbreak in 2003. Since then it has been widely used to treat common cold in China without the requirement of any prescription. In fact, several such medicines are bought by people across the counter or from online shops, making it difficult to plug their misuse.
In September, 2021, at the Techno Innovation Conference, Singapore, ‘ Trends, Opportunities and Clinical Support for the Future Development of Traditional Medicine’ was discussed. Two important points emerged from that were building an evidence base for traditional medicine and standardising traditional medicines. These are the same two issues related to India’s Ayurvedic medicines. This is essential to further enhance its credibility and to take us closer to our roots.