Biomedical Engineering Basis of Traditional Chinese Medicine

Traditional Chinese Medicine is gaining attention because of its many benefits; for instance, the emergence of personalized and integrative medicine. This method is based on individual variations and treatments from natural herbal combinations. Effective research on the safety of using Traditional Chinese Medicine and the combination of drug therapies will help to harmonize the cultural and western medicine gap.

The 2 most important tasks when it comes to modern biomedical communities are dealing with the heterogeneous nature of the rapidly growing amounts of biomedical data. These methods of bioinformatics are used to facilitate the interactional effects of both Traditional Chinese Medicine and Western medicine.

What is Traditional Chinese Medicine?

Traditional Chinese Medicine is a Chinese method of treatment that uses ancient medical practices based on various medical theories based on ancient Chinese philosophy. These include the Yin and Yang theory, acupuncture, herbal medicine, and the 5 phase theory.

TCM has played an important role in Asia for many years, and it is gaining momentum in Western countries. Traditional Chinese Medicine therapies and treatments have been found to have better effects on some diseases such as malaria. The fundamental aspects of Traditional Chinese Medicine are different compared to modern medicine.

Biomedical Engineering and Traditional Chinese Medicine

Traditional Chinese Medicine and Western Medicine are different, but both aim to diagnose, treat and prevent diseases.

The following information will help you to understand how these two can work together:

Traditional Chinese Medicine and Biology

Pathological disorders are as a result of the human body’s reaction to environmental changes, such as the presence of viruses, bacteria, internal pathological changes, and physical damage.  The change and reaction usually revolve around the structure and attributes of organismal and cellular function.

To understand biology at this level, another field that deals with complex interactions in the biological systems is depicted by using a natural approach to create biological systems. The objectives of systems biology-based medicine correspond with the integrative and holistic approach of TCM. This is because they both aim at personalized treatment.

In the past, there were questions about whether systems biology could merge modern medicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine. For instance, when you visit an acupuncture Dubai specialist, researchers claim that the transmission of energy via the meridians is based on molecules. They argue that these molecules travel through an intercellular communication system.

TCM and modern medicine are similar in that they understand that diseases have similar patterns. This knowledge can be used to discover biomarkers and aid in the development of new targeted drugs. These new targeted treatments allow for the right therapy for the right patient, which is in line with the aims of TCM.

Traditional Chinese Medicine and Genomics

Genetic information is likely to clarify the processes relating to the fundamental biological mechanisms regarding human diseases and controlled pathways guided by the herbal intervention. The combined genome-wide expression analysis, which uses system biology techniques, can establish healthy gene networks, which carry the fundamental information. This is used for pattern classification relating to treatment patterns and pathology in Traditional Chinese Medicine.

With the knowledge and the available biological data, information regarding genetic regulated diseases and the equivalent herbal therapies is on the rise. In the past years, there has been proof that many herbal medicines have improved the symptoms of some diseases.

Genome-wide expression analysis can be used with system biology techniques to establish the functional gene network for TCM clinical patterns. In TCM, cold and hot patterns are used to ascertain and classify things, such as disease, symptoms, and treatment. The clinical expression of specific ailments can be categorized into 2 patterns before acquiring blood samples. The genes associated with cold or hot patterns can be recognized to aid in the study of the diagnostics criteria and pathogenesis of TCM. For instance, the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis using acupuncture.

Traditional Chinese Medicine and Proteomics

Proteins are vital aspects of living organisms and proteomics gives us an insight into an organism by observing the structures and functions of proteins. Systems biology aims to model the whole cell by incorporating protein-protein interactions, which are aided by using ancient medical approaches such as TCM.

Traditional Chinese Medicine can benefit from proteomics because the latter can provide a platform for studying the cellular basis of diagnostics approaches of the former.  Proteomics can also be used to test the target molecules of TCM, isolate, and use new active components, and screen for toxins in TCM.

Traditional Chinese Medicine has been around for many years, but it was mostly used in China and some Asian countries. However, in recent years, Western medicine has embraced TCM as an effective form of treatment. This has led to the integration of modern medicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine.