The Key to High-Quality Development of Tibetan Medicine: Building and Applying a Modern Research Model for Tibetan Medicines Under the Guidance of Tibetan Medical Theory

Key point:

Mr. Chen Weiwu, Chief Scientist of Qizheng Tibetan Medicine, said: For Tibetan medicine enterprises to achieve high-quality development, they must delve into the fundamental principles of Tibetan medical theory and engage in original research. By leveraging traditional medical theories as a guide and adopting modern research methodologies and their applications, they can uncover the core, irreplaceable clinical value of their medicinal products.

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Many years ago, it was also early autumn.

Grandma developed lots of red rashes on the backs of her hands—they were incredibly itchy. Later, they also appeared on her arms and the back of her neck.

We went to the dermatology department of the best local hospital. The doctor prescribed a topical medication, saying that since the ointment contains hormones, it can be used for no more than one week at most.

But a week later, there was only slight improvement.

At that time, online consultations had just begun. I asked two dermatologists from top-tier Grade III hospitals online, but the results weren't very satisfactory.

Grandma’s eczema has been recurring for two months now. Sometimes, she even wakes up in the middle of the night because of the itching...

At that time, I was just bothered by my grandmother constantly grabbing the backs of my hands. Little did I realize that in the field of treating dermatitis and eczema, the lack of effective natural remedies is a significant challenge facing modern medicine.

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Many years later, in the summer of 2023, the Science and Technology Awards Conference of the Tibet Autonomous Region was held in Lhasa.

The conference honored the winners and projects of the Tibet Autonomous Region Science and Technology Awards for the years 2020, 2021, and 2022.

The project “Construction and Application of a Modern Research Model for Tibetan Medicines Guided by Tibetan Medical Theory” is among those being recognized.

Launched in 2004, this project has taken more than ten years to complete. Led by Tibet Qizheng Tibetan Medicine Co., Ltd., it was jointly undertaken by the Tibetan Hospital of the Tibet Autonomous Region, Beijing You'an Hospital affiliated with Capital Medical University, and Central South University for Nationalities. Through close collaboration among industry, academia, and research institutions, the project has finally come to fruition.

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When nominating this project, the relevant institutions in Linzhi City made the following assessment:

The research content and outcomes of this project closely align with the development needs of both the national and pharmaceutical industries, reflecting the latest trends in the scientific analysis of original thinking in traditional Chinese medicine. It promotes the integration and development of Tibetan medicine and modern medicine, as well as technological advancement within the Tibetan pharmaceutical industry, and holds broad prospects for market application.

The expert panel of the achievement evaluation committee, led by Researcher Chen Keji, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a master of traditional Chinese medicine, unanimously agreed that:

The project’s scientific and technological achievements as a whole have reached a domestically leading level, while its theoretical innovations have attained an internationally advanced level.

Accompanying this project are remarkable honors:

1. 58 high-quality papers, including 20 papers indexed in SCI, published in leading domestic and international journals such as Hepatology (IF 14.679), Phytomedicine, and the Chinese Journal of Dermatology.

2. From 2017 to 2021, the Tibetan medicines Qingpeng Ointment and Xiaotong Patch consistently ranked among the top two in the ethnic medicine section of the Science and Technology Competitiveness Report on Major Chinese Medicinal Products published by the China Association for Traditional Chinese Medicine.

3. Qingpeng Ointment and Xiaotong Patch have been incorporated into eight clinical practice guidelines, including the “Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Osteoarthritis (2018 Edition),” the “International Clinical Practice Guidelines for Traditional Chinese Medicine—Degenerative Lumbar Spinal Stenosis,” and the “Clinical Practice Guidelines for TCM Spinal Manipulation.” Moreover, Tibetan medicine has been included for the first time in the “Expert Consensus on the Use of Topical Traditional Chinese Medicines for the Treatment of Eczema,” compiled by Western dermatologists.

4. The “Group Standard for the Evaluation of Adverse Skin Reactions to Topical Traditional Chinese Medicines” (Chinese Society of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 2017) has been successfully released.

5. Xiaotong Tie Gao has been included in Volume I of the Pharmacopoeia of the People’s Republic of China (2020 Edition);

6. Obtained 8 national invention patents related to “Anti-inflammatory and Analgesic or Anti-inflammatory and Immunomodulatory Pharmaceutical Compositions, as well as Their Preparation Methods and Uses”;

7. The developed Tripterygium wilfordii capsule has received clinical approval as a Class 1.1 innovative Chinese medicine (2021LP01744);

………………

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Scrolling down to this point, you guys are probably totally confused! (Ah Zheng is about to explain right away how this project relates to “Grandma’s Eczema.”) But before we get into that, let me, Ah Zheng, break it down in the simplest terms possible: What exactly does this project entail, and why is it so valuable? Here’s the deal: This project uses Tibetan medical theory as its guiding principle. Through research and clinical practice, we’re uncovering Tibetan medicinal herbs that can be used to treat diseases afflicting modern people. On the one hand, this gives patients—beyond Western and traditional Chinese medicine—a new treatment option: Tibetan medical therapies. On the other hand, expanding the scope of Tibetan medicines to include the treatment of modern diseases means applying Tibetan medical theory to guide contemporary medical practice. And as practice feeds back into theory, it enriches Tibetan medicine with fresh, contemporary meaning. This new, contemporary meaning will infuse Tibetan medicine with even greater vitality, ensuring that this ancient wisdom is passed down more effectively and enduringly.

Returning to the specific research, let’s take as an example the part of the project related to “eczema”: Guided by the Tibetan medical theory of “Huangshui Disease,” the Tibetan medicine Qingpeng Ointment has been extended to the treatment of eczema in both adults and children. This therapy has been clinically applied to 200,000 cases with remarkable efficacy, shedding light on the modern implications of “Huangshui Disease” as well as the composition and mechanisms underlying dry-Huangshui medications. How, then, does this example achieve “offering patients one more treatment option”? And how can it integrate Tibetan medicine...

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“Under the guidance of pharmacological theory, conducting modern medical research”—how does that work? Please see the breakdown below:

How can we provide patients with more treatment options? In the field of dermatitis and eczema, there has long been a lack of effective natural remedies, and conventional Western medicine has been deficient in non-hormonal treatment options. Qingpeng Ointment, made from ingredients such as Astragalus membranaceus, Rheum palmatum, Aconitum carmichaelii, and Terminalia chebula, is a natural remedy that boasts its own advantages in terms of dosage form, efficacy, and safety. Through multiple multicenter randomized controlled clinical studies involving over 1,000 cases treated with Qingpeng Ointment for eczema and infantile eczema, the project has confirmed Qingpeng Ointment’s irreplaceable therapeutic benefits. Furthermore, based on research into the anti-itch mechanism of Qingpeng Ointment and feedback from related clinical trials, a series of clinical studies have demonstrated that Qingpeng Ointment also exhibits certain efficacy in relieving itching caused by other skin conditions, such as psoriasis and senile pruritus.

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How can modern medical research be conducted under the guidance of Tibetan medical theory? The “yellow-water disease” theory mentioned in the study is a traditional Tibetan medical concept, and Qingpeng Ointment—a Tibetan medicinal preparation—is a representative topical remedy used in Tibetan medicine to treat yellow-water disease.

In Tibetan medicine, Qingpeng Ointment is commonly used to treat joint swelling and pain. For skin conditions, it is often applied to herpes simplex and herpes zoster. However, there are virtually no documented reports on its use for eczema. Nevertheless, the researchers involved in this project discovered that, from the perspective of Tibetan medical theory, both joint swelling and eczema are attributed to an excess of "yellow water," making them amenable to the principle of treating different diseases with the same therapy. Therefore, the project team collaborated with several Western medicine hospitals to conduct the first multi-center, large-sample, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of Tibetan medicine in the field of eczema, thereby confirming the product’s therapeutic efficacy in both subacute and chronic eczema.

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In the year 400 AD, during the Southern Dynasties period, Liu Yiqing listed the four great events of life in his "Shi Shuo Xin Yu—Ya Liang": birth, aging, illness, and death. Ah Zheng thinks that if Liu Yiqing were alive today, he’d probably have to revise those four events to: buying a car, buying a home, education, and medical care.

Look—even though four have turned into three, the very fact of “being sick” has managed to plague people across time and cultures. Even in our highly advanced civilization today, illness remains the number-one source of trouble, “preventing me from ever feeling truly happy.”

And that, precisely, is the very reason pharmaceutical companies exist.

Even when buying a simple work meal, people will agonize over it for ages—because they want it to taste great, be low in oil and fat, and also clean and hygienic. How much more so when it comes to seeing a doctor and taking medication? They’d even more like to have access to better drugs and a wider selection.

And this is precisely why Tibetan medicine companies are venturing beyond the plateau.

Compared to Western medicine and traditional Chinese medicine, Tibetan medicine remains relatively obscure and often unknown to the general public.

However, in the treatment of many diseases, Tibetan medicine has unique advantages—simply put, it’s better at certain conditions or excels in specific areas. In industry jargon, these are referred to as “disease categories with advantages” and “areas of therapeutic excellence.”

As a leading enterprise in Tibetan medicine, Qizheng has been working for years to bring Tibetan medicines out of the plateau and into inland regions, enabling more people to have access to them.

But “bringing it out” is one dimension; how to “bring it out better” represents another, higher dimension.

What does it mean to “bring out the best”? It means aligning Tibetan medicine with the medication needs and usage experiences of modern people—achieving better therapeutic effects and a more comfortable user experience. It also means enabling traditional Tibetan medical theories to engage in meaningful dialogue with modern medicine, drawing on the strengths of both through mutual exchange and collision, integrating them seamlessly, and advancing together.

How can we reach higher dimensions?

Mr. Chen Weiwu, Chief Scientist of Qizheng Tibetan Medicine, said: For Tibetan medicine enterprises to achieve high-quality development, they must delve into the fundamental principles of Tibetan medical theory and engage in original research. By adopting and applying modern research methodologies guided by traditional medical theories, they can uncover the core, irreplaceable clinical value of their medicinal products.

This is not only the key to unlocking high-quality development for Tibetan medicine enterprises, but also precisely what is needed to build genuine cultural confidence among the Chinese nation.