Sharing

“We are what we share.”

Professor Ian Sutherland, Brunel University London, Former UK Regional Coordinator, the Consortium for Globalization of Chinese Medicine

This column includes the following content:

Chinese Medicine and Culture: A Recommended Open-Access Journal

https://journals.lww.com/cmc/pages/default.aspx

The British Library collection of Traditional Chinese Medicine classics

A catalogue compiled and shared by Dr Lu Fu, China Institute for History of Medicine and Medical Literature, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences:

大英图书馆藏中医药古籍目录-19032026Download

Evidence-Based Integrative Chinese Medicine (ICM) for the Prevention and Treatment of Major Diseases

Evidence-based ICM_210326Download

International Standards and Guidelines​

General guidelines​ for biomedical research:

Note: Extensions directly related to traditional medicines (Acupuncture, Cupping, Tuina/Massage, herbal intervention, Chinese Herbal Medicine Formula, Integrated Chinese and Western, Non-Drug interventions, N-of-1, N-of-1 TCM, Reporting Single Group Trial for TCM, as we as Extensions for new types of RCTs suitable for innovative TCM studies, such as Basket, Umbrella and Platform trials, de-centralised trials, adaptive designs and pragmatic trials, cluster and stepped wedge cluster trials) can be found here: https://www.equator-network.org/?post_type=eq_guidelines&eq_guidelines_study_design=0&eq_guidelines_clinical_specialty=0&eq_guidelines_report_section=0&s=+CONSORT+extension&btn_submit=Search+Reporting+Guidelines

Note: the PRISMA extensions directly related to TCM (e.g. for acupuncture, moxibustion, Chinese herbal medicine; and special types of systematic reviews (e.g. PRISMA-ScR for Scoping review) can be found here: https://www.equator-network.org/?post_type=eq_guidelines&eq_guidelines_study_design=0&eq_guidelines_clinical_specialty=0&eq_guidelines_report_section=0&s=PRISMA+extension&btn_submit=Search+Reporting+Guidelines

Note: ARRIVE extension for Acupuncture

Special international standards, guidelines and extensions for traditional, complementary and integrative medicine

Nomenclature, terminologies and translation

WHO quality control guidelines

Other quality control guidelines and international standards

Strategic Visions & Priorities We Observe

WHO Traditional Medicine Strategy 2025-2034

WHO Health Priorities: In Feb. 2025, the WHO Executive Board resolution recognised kidney disease, mental health, cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and respiratory disease as global health priorities: https://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/EB156/B156_(20)-en.pdf

Convention on Biological Diversity: Signed by 150 government leaders at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, the Convention on Biological Diversity is dedicated to promoting sustainable development: https://www.cbd.int/convention

King’s Strategy and Vision 2029: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/about/strategy

The Priorities of the NHS: https://www.longtermplan.nhs.uk/publication/the-nhs-in-england-at-75-priorities-for-the-future/

Food for thought

  1. Theoretical Notes of Academician Prof Xuesen Qian (錢學森院士) on The Modernisation of Chinese Medicine
  • Academician Prof Xuesen Qian was a Chinese aerospace engineer and cyberneticist who made significant contributions to the field of aerodynamics and established engineering cybernetics. Though not an expert in TCM, his thoughts on modernisation of TCM still resonates with scientists in the field of TCM and integrative medicine.

2. A meticulous expert narrative review by Academician Prof Qi Wang, Grand Master of TCM (王琦院士，國醫大師) entitled From digits towards digitization: the past, present, and future of traditional Chinese medicine (Digital Chinese Medicine. 2025;8:4-19)

3. Academician Prof Daiming Fan (樊代明院士) addressed the Overseas TCM Community on Holistic Integrative Medicine

Experts’ Insights

✍️King’s CICM Honorary Advisor Dr Tiejun Tang (唐鐵軍博士)‘s Blog on the Mechanisms of Herbal Medicine and Acupuncture & Moxibustion （If you cannot directly get access from WeChat, please copy and paste this link into your preferred web browser and enjoy there: https://chinesemedicinesalon.blogspot.com/2020/02/my-ten-year-blogger-journey.html）

▶ King’s CICM Honorary Advisor Dr Dan Jiang (江丹大夫)‘s Talk on The Unique Strengths of TCM in the UK：http://m.qihuanghealthcare.cn/live/detail/1640）

📁 King’s CICM Honorary Advisor  Dr Tianjun Wang (王天俊博士)‘s PPT Presentation: “The Mechanism of Scalp Acupuncture from the Perspective of Brain-Computer Interface Development“ (中文) (28th May 2025)

📁Heinrich M, Sharma SK, Suetterle U, Bhamra SK. Herbal medicine use in the UK and Germany and pharmacy practice – A commentary. Res Social Adm Pharm. 2023 Mar;19(3):535-540

  • Written by King’s CICM Honorary Advisors Professor Michael Heinrich and Dr Sukvinder K. Bhamra, this commentary serves as a timely reminder that different European countries, such as Germany and the UK, have significantly different systems for regulating herbal medicine and practitioners. In the UK, medical and pharmacy curricula lack content on herbal medicine and herbal medicines are rarely prescribed by doctors or distributed by pharmacies. Most doctors and pharmacists are NOT knowledgeable enough to advise patients appropriately on herbal use. What should be the future for medical and pharmacy education in the UK? Can King’s play a role in this?

📁 Porter JD, Mathpati MM, Payyappallimana U, Shankar D. Medicalisation and Ayurveda: the need for pluralism and balance in global health systems. J Ayurveda Integr Med. 2023 Jan-Feb;14(1):100474.

  • King’s CICM focuses on TCM as a case study for integrative medicine by promoting learning from each other between different medical traditions and facilitating their marriage with state-of-the-art science and technology. This thought-provoking perspective article by Professor John Porter highlights the wisdom of Ayurveda, a school of Indian traditional medicine, which resonates with TCM and is complementary to conventional medicine. The article has raised many important concepts, e.g., “interconnectedness”， “One Health”， “medicalisation” and “medical industrial complex”, supporting medical pluralism and integration of all human wisdom in tomorrow’s medicine.

📹 Pan WX. Frontiers in Modern Acupuncture: Breakthrough – Translation – Restructuring.

✍️King’s CICM Honorary Advisor Prof Zhongzhen Zhao （赵中振教授）‘s Forum on Bencao Gang Mu and Chinese materia medica— please scan and enjoy via WeChat:

📁Yin’s Modern Tongue Diagnostics — King’s CICM Honorary Advisor Professor Hongchun Yin‘s introduction article on the technology.

📁Modern Abdominal Diagnosis Acupuncture — a video introduction kindly provided by Professor Ying Wang, founder of the technology.

📁 Yong-Qing Yang et al. Scientific pipelines for target discovery originating from acupuncture: Taking acupuncture for asthma as an example. Science Bulletin 2020; 65:3520-25 (杨永清，等。源自针灸的靶标发现之科学路径: 以针刺防治哮喘为例。科学通报 2020;65:3520-25).

📁Modern Acupuncture Anaesthesia — a video kindly provided by the Secretariat of theChinese National Acupuncture Anaesthesia Clinical Research Alliance and Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Professional Societies and Consortia

International societies and consortia

  • Consortium for Globalization of Chinese Medicine (CGCM), an international consortium promoting collaborations in TCM research for the global needs of all peoples: https://www.tcmedicine.org​
  • European Society of Preventive Medicine (ESPM), a not-for-profit organisation to facilitate research and advancements in the field of preventive, predictive, personalised and participatory medicine and to integrate a systems-biology approach in modern health care: www.espm.org
  • European Traditional Chinese Medicine Association(ETCMA) – an umbrella organisation for professional associations that represents different fields within TCM: https://etcma.org/
  • Good Practice in Traditional Chinese Medicine Research Association (GP-TCM RA), an international society established by the European Commission-funded FP7 GP-TCM Project, is dedicated to the development, dissemination and implementation of good practices in TCM research: https://www.gp-tcm.org​
  • Integrated Health Services, World Health Organization, the WHO Department specialised in promoting holistic care; its Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine Unit develops the integration of proven traditional and complementary medical practices into health systems:https://www.who.int/teams/integrated-health-services
  • International Society for Ethnopharmacology (ISE), an international society for pharmacological studies of traditional and integrative medicine:​ https://ethnopharmacology.org​
  • The Modernized Chinese Medicine International Association (MCMIA) is a non-profit trade organization by a group of Chinese medicine business professionals, scientists and academics. The goal of the association is to foster Hong Kong as an international centre of Chinese Medicine through its modernisation, popularisation and the enhancement of the professionalism of the industry: https://mcmia.org/en/welcome/
  • Society for Medicinal Plant and Natural Product Research (GA), an international society for R&D of natural products, especially botanical drugs: https://ga-online.org ​
  • World Traditional Medicine Forum (WTMF), the most comprehensive, up-to-date and authoritative information on traditional medicine: http://www.worldtmf.org

Professional societies and consortia in the UK

  • Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture (ATCM) https://www.atcm.co.uk/
  • British Acupuncture Council (BAcC), UK’s largest, member-led, professional body for traditional acupuncturists. with nearly 3,000 members: https://acupuncture.org.uk
  • British Society of Chinese Medicine (BSCM), Promoting the Knowledge, Wisdom and Power of Chinese Medicine: https://www.bscm.org.uk
  • Chinese Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine Alliance UK (CAHMA) is a special group of qualified acupuncturists and herbal practitioners who practice and provide a high standard health care services for the people in the UK. https://www.cahma.co.uk
  • Chinese Medicine Alliance UK (CMA), a professional organisation and a self-regulating body of Chinese medicine and acupuncture in the UK. It brings together high-quality Chinese medicine practitioners from all over the nations: https://www.thecmauk.org/home
  • Federation of Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners (FTCMP) striving for a legal status of TCM in the UK: https://ftcmp.co.uk/en/home/
  • Register of Chinese Herbal Medicine (RCHM), dedicated to promoting safe and ethical practice of Chinese Medicine in the UK; the only organisation in the UK that focuses on the herbal element of TCM: https://www.rchm.co.uk/
  • Research Council of Complementary Medicine (RCCM)– an organisation promoting research that will widen the availability of and access to safe and effective complementary medicine for patients within the NHS in the UK, helping prevent disease and improve patients’ health and quality of life: https://www.rccm.org.uk/
  • UK Centre of Chinese Medicine (CCMUK), an independent, not-for-profit, UK-based organisation created to support the development of high-standard Chinese medicine: https://ccmuk.org

Key References (classic references are listed at the end)

Xu Q. WHO International Standard Terminologies on Traditional Chinese Medicine: Use in Context, Creatively. Integr Med Nephrol Androl. 2023;10:e00029. https://journals.lww.com/imna/Fulltext/2023/06000/WHO_International_Standard_Terminologies_on.29.aspx

Ma P, et al. The SHARE: SHam Acupuncture REporting guidelines and a checklist in clinical trials. J Evid Based Med. 2023;16:428-431. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jebm.12560

Zhang X, et al.  STandards for Reporting Interventions in Clinical Trials Of Tuina/Massage (STRICTOTM): Extending the CONSORT statement. J Evid Based Med. 2023;16:68-81. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jebm.12522

Duan Y, et al. A cross-sectional study of the endorsement proportion of reporting guidelines in 1039 Chinese medical journals. BMC Med Res Methodol.2023;23:20. https://bmcmedresmethodol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12874-022-01789-1

Shepherd A, et al. Botanicals in the health and disease of the testis and male fertility: a scoping review.Phytomedicine. 2022;106:154398. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0944711322004871?via%3Dihub

Heinrich M, et al. Best Practice in the chemical characterisation of extracts used in pharmacological and toxicological research: The ConPhyMP Guidelines. Front Pharmacol 2022;13:953205: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pharmacology/articles/10.3389/fphar.2022.953205/full

Heinrich M, et al. Best practice in research – Overcoming common challenges in phytopharmacological research. J Ethnopharmacol 2020; 246:112230: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378874119330338

Zhang X, et al. Standards for reporting interventions in clinical trials of cupping (STRICTOC): extending the CONSORT statement. Chin Med. 2020;15:10. https://cmjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13020-020-0293-2

Smith AJ. Guidelines for planning and conducting high-quality research and testing on animals. Lab Anim Res. 2020;36:21. https://labanimres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s42826-020-00054-0

Smith AJ et al. PREPARE: guidelines for planning animal research and testing. Lab Anim. 2017;52:135-141. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5862319/

Cheng CW, et al. CONSORT Extension for Chinese Herbal Medicine Formulas 2017: Recommendations, Explanation, and Elaboration. Ann Intern Med. 2017;167:112-121. https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/full/10.7326/M16-2977?

Pelkonen O, et al. Why is research on herbal medicinal products important and how can we improve its quality? J Tradit Complement Med. 2014;4:1-7. ​https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2225411016302048​

Xu Q et al. ​The quest for modernisation of traditional Chinese medicine. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2013;13:132: ​https://bmccomplementmedtherapies.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1472-6882-13-132​

Buriani A, et al. Omic techniques in systems biology approaches to traditional Chinese medicine research: present and future. J Ethnopharmacol. 2012;140:535-44:​ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378874112000682?via%3Dihub

Uzuner H,  et al. Traditional Chinese medicine research in the post-genomic era: good practice, priorities, challenges and opportunities. J Ethnopharmacol. 2012;140:458-68:​ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378874112001110?via%3Dihub​

Chan K, et al. Good practice in reviewing and publishing studies on herbal medicine, with special emphasis on traditional Chinese medicine and Chinese materia medica. J Ethnopharmacol. 2012;140:469-75: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378874112000517?via%3Dihub​

Flower A, et al. Guidelines for randomised controlled trials investigating Chinese herbal medicine.J Ethnopharmacol. 2012;140:550-4: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378874111008956?via%3Dihub

MacPherson H, et al. Revised STandards for Reporting Interventions in Clinical Trials of Acupuncture (STRICTA): extending the CONSORT statement. Acupunct Med. 2010;28:83-93.

Gagnier JJ, et al. Reporting RCTs of herbal interventions: an elaborated CONSORT statement. Ann Intern Med. 2006;144:364-7: https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/0003-4819-144-5-200603070-00013?

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