Push to bring Tibetan medicine to the world
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Under the plan, investment will be injected into local medicine companies, and help will be given to the Tibetan Traditional Medical College to build the world's largest Tibetan medicine sample and documentation center. The plan would also see Tibetan medical services included in health insurance plans.
The industry insider told the Economic Information Daily that many legitimate drug manufacturers are being severely affected by fake Tibetan drugs.
To many Tibetans, Tibetan medicine not only involves the use of herbs to cure illness, but also embodies a philosophy of human life.
Nimajiangcai, a Tibetan college lecturer in Yushu, Qinghai Province, began suffering from gastroenteritis in 2002. But he did not go to a general hospital for help. Instead, he paid 100 yuan ($15) to a Tibetan doctor, who prescribed him herbal medicine and asked him to pray everyday, which is considered part of "life behavior treatment."
After a year of treatment, the stomach pains went away. "Tibetan medicine is an essential part of Tibetan people's lives because it works so well, especially for chronic diseases," he said.
Ancient techniques
Apart from herbal medicine and prayer, Tibetan medicine has other distinctive methods of diagnosing and treating diseases. These include bloodletting and examining patients' urine samples, techniques that people unfamiliar with Tibetan culture find mystifying.
By visually examining the color, smell, bubbles and sediments in a urine sample, an experienced Tibetan doctor can tell what kind of disease the patient is suffering from, and placing the urine in different metal containers can also help finalize the diagnosis.
According to Rgyud-bzhi (Four Tibetan Medical Tantras), the most famous classics to record ancient Tibetan medical theory, there are 77 acupuncture points on the human body conducive to treatment through bloodletting.
"Tibetan medicine is more than just a way to cure disease. It also represents the Tibetan culture and belief system," Lexinjake, an official at the Qinghai Tibetan Culture Museum, told the Global Times yesterday.
As Tibetan doctors believe that the human body is connected to the natural environment, they need to calculate the best time to feel the pulse and collect herbs for making medicine in the correct seasons in order to achieve the best treatment.
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