Swarnalata Joardar

Dept. of Pharmacognosy

1st Semester , 2014

Himalayan Pharmacy Institute , E . Sikkim

TIBETAN & CHINESE

TRADITIONAL MEDICINE SYSTEM

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TIBETIAN TRADITIONAL MEDICINE SYSTEM

What is Tibetan Medicine?

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Energy

Vital Body Fluid

Solutions of Minerals, salts, sugar

that circulates in plants.

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• The Tibetan medical system is one of the world's oldest

known medical traditions.

• It continues to be practiced in Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, Ladakh,

Siberia, China and Mongolia, in some parts of India, parts of

Europe and North America.

• It embraces the traditional Buddhist belief that all illness

ultimately results from the three poisons:

1. Ignorance,

2. Attachment and

3. Aversion.

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• The Tibetan medical heritage is based on the book of the

Four Tantras, which remains the fundamental medical text

even today.

• Practical experiences gradually formed the art of healing in

Tibet. Like, drinking hot water for indigestion, using melted

butter for bleeding.

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• The basis of the Four Tantras -

- Root,

- Exegetical,

- Instructional, and

- Subsequent Tantra

is to keep the three bodily humors in balance- wind, bile,

phlegm.

•Which are in fact produced by the three mental poisons:

- desire gives rise to wind,

- hatred to bile and

- stupidity to phlegm.

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• Root Tantra - It discusses the humors in the body and their

imbalances and their link to illness.

• Exegetical Tantra - This section discusses in general theory

on subjects such as anatomy, physiology, embryology and

treatment.

• Instructional Tantra -The longest of the Tantras is mainly a

practical application of treatment.

•Subsequent Tantra – Discusses about diagnosis and

therapies, including the preparation of Tibetan medicine.

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Methods of Treatment - There are four methods of

treatment:

1. Through diet

2. Through behaviour modification

3. Through medicine

4. Through physical therapy

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Medicinal Plants used in Tibetan System

Orchis militaris Rhododendron dauricum

These plants are commonly known as “chudlens” – remedies that

have a positive strengthening effect on body (bio stimulants).

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This plant heals the warm diseases.

Iris humilis

This plant heals the cold diseases.

Phlomoides tuberosa

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Achillea millefolium

This plant is useful in leg’s

and hand’s edema.

Ephedra monosperma

This plant is useful for liver

disorder.

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The king of the herbs Locoweed, can help with

digesting, healing of wound and internally it will

constrict blood vessels.

Oxytropis lanata

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Dracocephalum fruticulosum

Aster alpinus

The plant heals the liver diseases. It

can help stop blood flow & heal

wounds.

Alpine aster is good in treatment of

fever diseases & helpful with

detoxification.

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CHINESE TRADITIONAL MEDICINE SYSTEM

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CHINESE MEDICINAL SYSTEM

• Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is a unique, complete

medical system, that spans at least 2,000 years.

• In the earliest times, the Chinese, as most human

communities, often attributed major illness to evil spirits or

angry ancestors.

• As Chinese medicine began to take shape, the notion grew

that the body was composed of different organs, that each

organ performed different functions to ensure our health,

and that disease was a breakdown of these functions for a

variety of reasons.

• In Chinese medicine system, description of human

physiological and pathological processes differs markedly

from that of biomedicine.

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Furthermore, pre-modern Chinese physicians never

understood the role of bacteria and viruses as a cause of

disease. They attributed certain diseases to environ-

mental conditions, such as - wind, heat, cold, and damp-

ness, but they never developed the technology to observe

the microorganisms.

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•The doctrines of yīn - yáng and the five phases make sense

of the universe by identifying correspondences between

different things. They are the product of “correlative

thinking,” that is, a kind of thinking that spots similarities

and connections between the many different aspects of our

world.

•“Yīn” and “yáng” originally referred to topographical

inclines. “Yīn” was defined as the north face of a mountain.

Similarly, “Yáng” was defined as the south face of a

mountain.

Doctrine of Yīn and Yáng

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Yīn and Yáng theory expresses a universal standard of quality

that describes two complementary, opposite aspects of an

indivisible whole. It is used to describe function and

relationship of these aspects as part of a continuous process of

transformation and change in the universe. Applied to

medicine, yin yang theory is used to compare and contrast, and

thus differentiate, physiological and pathological phenomena.

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Taiji diagram - The classic yin and yang diagram.

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Yīn Yáng

Night Day

Dark Light

Cold Heat

Earth Heaven

Yīn and Yáng in Nature

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Yīn and Yáng in Body

Yīn Yáng

Lower body Upper body

Chest & abdomen Shoulders & back

Interior Exterior

Viscera Bowels

Fluids Qì (Gas)

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•Yīn and yáng are applied to medicine in numerous ways. For

example, they classify parts of the body. The upper body is

yáng, while the lower body is yīn.

•When a person is healthy, these yīn and yáng aspects of the

body are “in harmony”.

•Disease is attributed to many different causes, but is almost

invariably linked to a disturbance of the body’s normal yīn-

yáng relationship. This may take different forms, depending on

the nature and location of the disease.

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Coptis chinensis

It is a bitter digestive, having

sedative properties.

Lonicera japonica

Anti-pyretic & detoxifier in

nature.

Some Medicinal Plants Used in Chinese Medicine System

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Rheum palmatumUsed as natural purgative.

Alisma plantago aquaticaUsed as natural diuretic.

Prunus persica

A natural circulatory stimulant.

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Amomum cardomum

An anti-emetic, digestive

stimulant, expectorant used

in Chinese medicinal

system.

Chaenomeles sinensis

A natural spasmolytic.

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Citrus tangerina

It is used as carminative.

Panax ginseng

It is used as sedative.

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Reference

• Skinner P., Tibetan medicine. In: Gale T, editor. The Gale

Encyclopaedia of Alternative Medicine. 2nd edition. Detroit, Mich, USA:

Longe,2005.

• Sandanov D.V., Medicinal Plants in Tibetan Medicine pdf, Hostos

Community College,5th Nov, 2012.

• Badmaev V., Medicine tested by Science: an effective botanical

treatment for circulatory deficiency due to atherosclerosis. Nutri-

Cosme-Ceutici, 6.8.2.2002, Rome, Italy, 2002.

• Mills S.Y., Chinese Herbs in the West, Trease and Evans’

Pharmacognosy, 14th edition, 505-510.

• Wiseman N., Introduction to Chinese Medicine, Revised edition, Chang

Gung University, 2005.

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