china medical tourism: 2011

2011年12月30日星期五

Acupotomology Founder--Zhu hangzhang

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The Eureka World Fair for Invention, was held by the ‘European Invention Association’. It is one of the three most influential invention expositions in the world. It is where scientists and inventors worldwide display their best products.
In 1988, a Chinese doctor won the Officer Medal at the 37th ‘Eureka World Fair for Inventions’.

Zhu Hanzhang, once an informal doctor in the countryside, was given the ‘Hua Tuo Prize’, the highest award for domestic medicine.
His newly invented TREATMENT won a ‘Gold Medal’ at the 37th ‘Eureka World Fair for Invention’. This medicine is for treating chronic injury to soft tissues, one of the three most difficult illnesses in the world.
Subtitle: Chronic Injury of Soft Tissues
Subtitle: Qiao Jinlin Director of Department of Rehabilitation medicine Naval General Hospital
Qiao Jinlin: Soft tissues trauma includes muscular pain, fascia and tendon injury, as well as injury of articular cartilage, capsule and bursa.
Human body can roughly be divided into soft and hard tissues. Hard tissues are the bones AND soft tissues include muscles and ligaments. Since soft tissues involve every human activity, they are the most vulnerable part of human body.
Zhang Xiufen: There is usually a 2 to 3 centimeters homeostasis during muscle movement, like this. But in muscle injuries, the long head of ‘biceps brachia’ is conglutinated and any forward motion hurts.
Chromic Injury of Soft Tissues is caused by long term sitting or accidents. This leads to pain or numbness in lower back and ‘cervical vertebrae.’
Zhang Xiufen: Office workers sit all day, this harms the cervical vertebrae. More physical workers harmed parts are lumbar, shoulder and per arthritis. Symptoms include dizziness, tinnitus, nausea, pain and numbness.

Corresponding Voice: The symptom of this patient is simply lumbago. It’s lasted more than 20 days. His vertebral column is no longer straight and his left crotch is higher than the right .Yang, please turn and walk.

Therefore, the incidence of Chronic Injury of Soft Tissues is very high. The most common is ‘Cervical Spondylosis’. Today in China, ‘Cervical Spondylosis’ is up 10%. Almost 100 million people suffer from it chronically.

Though patients can get relieve current methods have disadvantages including high incidence recurrence rates and long term treatment. Currently there is no medically effective cure for Chronic Soft Tissue Injury.
Here is the tool that Zhu Hanzhang uses, an acupotome. From its appearance, the acupotome looks no different from an ordinary needle. But amazingly Dr. Zhu has cured many patients with it.

Is this a miraculous acupotome? For many bedridden patients, even surgical operations haven’t helped. But apparently the needle-knife can cure their diseases by working just a few minutes in the painful area.
In 1976, an old carpenter, injured by an axe while working, came to Zhu ’s clinic. Though he’d already visited many hospitals, his hand still could not move freely. This meant the old man had lost his main source of income.

Then what supernatural method did Zhu Hanzhang use to recover control in the old man’s hand? Upon examination, Dr. Zhu found the old man’s muscles and bones were congealed together. They could not be separated.

At that time, Zhu Hanzhang was a herbalist doctor. He was also proficient at acupuncture. But how could just one small needle cure the carpenter’s hand? Zhu decided to take a risk: he cut away the congealed mass with a needle…completely loosening the hand joints. To every one’s surprise, the old Carpenter’s hand spread open at once and more surprisingly he was able to work in just three days.

The old man’s hand was apparently cured and Zhu seemed to have discovered a new form of treatment. He redesigned the needlepoint into an 0.8mm wide blade complete with a handle. This provided him much more accuracy. Zhu then named his surgical tool the ‘Acupotome.’

In 1984, the acupotome, invented by Zhu Hanzhang, was certified by ‘Jiangsu Health Department’. It obtained a Chinese patent in 1988.

From 1991 to 1992, Dr. Zhu completed his instruction book on acupotome treatments. It was published in both English and Chinese. Since then the manuscript has been translated into 17 languages and quoted in medical and other journals more than 9000 times.

BUT how could such a simple change in an ordinary needle produce such a miraculous cure? AND…What’s the difference between the ‘Acupotomy’ and Acupuncture?
Acupuncture is a special method of treatment in Chinese medicine. As early as 2000 years ago, famous doctors Bian Que and Hua Tuo began treating people using Acupuncture. Then…In the 6th century A.D.,…Acupuncture spread to other countries, including Korea and Japan… In the 14th century Europeans learned of acupuncture from Jesuit Missionaries returning to the west from China.
Acupuncture allows ‘QI’ and blood to move more freely by stimulating special points on a patient’s body by needle. But Zhu Hanzhang’s acupotome, after piercing the injured area, not only stimulates but also cuts the damaged soft tissues. The human body has a self-healing process. When soft tissues are injured, this function results in scaring,… congealing all muscles around the injury.
Cervical Spondylosis patients often experience aches around the Cervical Vertebrae. What’s more, paralysis may result when patients lower their heads. This is because more pressure is put on the Cervical Vertebrae. As a result spinal cord nerves, spinal facets and important vein networks are affected.
In the West, surgery has been used to treat chronic soft tissue injuries resulting in serious ‘sequel a syndrome.’ The needle-knife pierces the congealed area of tissues and separates them. There is no wound and no injury. A previously difficult medical problem has been solved by a simple ‘Acupotome.’
Zhu Hanzhang was invited to Southeast Asia for educational and medical consultations. Since 1991, Acupotomology has been recognized by the world of medicine.
Dr. Zhu was invited to be vice president of the Thai seat of learning,…’The Royal University of Thailand.’ He declined because at that time he was setting up The Academy of ‘Acupotomology’ at the ‘College of Chinese Medicine’.
In 1996, Zhu Hanzhang was invited to go to the USA, (with Green Card plus 200 thousand dollar annual salary,) but again he declined in order to continue establishment of Acupotomology’s theory in China.
Established by Zhu Hanzhang 31 years ago, Acupotomology has created its own school of ‘theoretical knowledge’ AND perfected ‘treatment criterion.’ Applications now include internal medicine, surgery, dermatology, and ontology.
Following it’s establishment and acceptance more than 100 thousand people all over the world have studied Acupotomology. More than 5000 overseas doctor are currently practicing this procedure.
Over 100 Million Sufferers
To date, sufferers cured by Acupotomology total 100 million. In China, 300 thousand undergo needle-knife therapy everyday.
2000，Professor Zhu was accepted as a member of The American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress.
2001 ,in order to honor the contribution done by professor Zhu, International Star Registry named a star of Canis Minor (RA7hl9m36sD11.l4’) ‘Zhuhanzhang Star’.
2002 ， ZhuHanzhang’s work “Principle of Acupotomology” was published by People’s
Medical Publishing Company.
Zhu Hanzhang was removed to Beijing University of Chinese Medicine from China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences.
2003， in the conference on “Research of Acupotomy”, organized by State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine of the People’s Republic of China, “Needle-knife Therapy” was identified as a new science and named “Acupotomology”.
2004, in the conference of “Originality and Popularity of Acupotomology”, organized by Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, experts, including 4 academicians, agreed that Acupotomology has reached international levels in the field of clinic treatment.
2004, the scientific publication, “Clinical Study of Osteoarthritis by Acupotomy” was nominated by Misistry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, Second Prize of State Scientific and Technological Progress.
2005, “Fundamental Research of Acupotome Relief”, listed as project of state key research “973 Plan”.
The textbook for TCM colleges throughout the country, “ Acupotomology Teaching Process” (5 books), granted publication rights by China Press of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
2006, The 272nd XiangShan Science Conference featured “The Development of Acupotomology and the Modernization of TCM”. Experts regarded Acupotomology as a premier development with both Chinese and Hippocratic characteristics in the Chinese medical field. It has brought huge social and economic gains and is a successful example of the modernization of Chinese medicine.
The series of Acupotomes for ‘Closed Operation’ obtained National Invention patent.
Beijing University of Chinese Medicine and Hubei College of Chinese Medicine began admitting undergraduates into Acupotomology programs.
Today, over 20 medical colleges have begun Acupotomology programs.

Professor Zhu Hanzhang, founder of Acupotomology, suffered a heart attack and passed away in the early hours of Oct. 14, 2006. He was 57 years old.

Green Tea May Protect Against Cancer

An extract of green tea wards off colorectal cancer, animal experiments show.

According to research reported at the Sixth International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention, sponsored by the American Association for Cancer Research, a standardized green tea polyphenol preparation (Polyphenon E) limits the growth of colorectal tumors in rats treated with a substance that causes the cancer.

"Our findings show that rats fed a diet containing Polyphenon E are less than half as likely to develop colon cancer," Dr. Hang Xiao, from the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy at Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, noted in a statement.

These results are consistent with previously published results, which showed that green tea consumption was associated with lower colon cancer rates in Shanghai, China, he also noted.

In the study, Xiao and colleagues injected rats with azoxymethane, a chemical known to produce colorectal tumors that share many characteristics with colorectal cancer in humans. Then they fed the animals a high-fat Western-style diet with or without Polyphenon E for 34 weeks. The amount of Polyphenon the animals took in was roughly equal to about four to six cups of green tea per day.

Polyphenon E decreased the total number of tumors per rat and decreased tumor size, compared with control rats that were not given Polyphenon E, Xiao told the conference.

"In the control group," he said, "67 percent of rats developed malignant tumors while in the treated group only 27 percent of rats had malignant tumors. Most important, tea polyphenols decreased the number of malignant tumors per rat by 80 percent compared to the control group."

When the researchers analyzed blood and colon tissue samples, they found a "considerable amount of tea polyphenols in those samples in treated animals, and those levels of tea polyphenols were comparable to the human situation after ingestion of tea leaves or tea beverage," Xiao noted.

The researchers believe these findings will pave the way for clinical trials with green tea polyphenols in humans.

"China will be the world leader in stem cell research"

Stephen Minger is director of the biology laboratory of stem cells of the Wolfson Centre for Age-Related Diseases of King’s College London. He has been pioneer in embryonic stem cell research in the United Kingdom. In 2001 he obtained one of the two first licences that the British Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFSA) conceded for the derivation of embryonic stem cells. The following year, his group generated the first line of these cells in the United Kingdom, one of the first in the world.

Cristina Jiménez | 24 September 2009

The United Kingdom is one of the most prolific countries in stem cell research.
In the last years there has been a lot of public investment in this field, for both lines of adult and embryonic stem cells. Moreover, the British public generally welcomes this kind of research. The strong collaboration between the different British universities is also important. In London, for example, there is the London Network of Regenerative Medicine and at national level, the UK Stem Cell Network. The United Kingdom has to maintain these investment levels if it wants to remain competitive. China and the United States are investing astronomic quantities and the UK could be left behind.

Does the recent move of Barack Obama to lift the veto on embryonic stem cells influence it?
The decision of Obama is important, but symbolic at large. I am not very optimistic because in the United State there isn´t a coherent scenario in the federal field for the research on embryonic stem cells. Even if a scientist receives federal money from the National Health Institutes, the state can decide if it can be used or not. Therefore many scientists don’t feel too comfortable working with these cells: if the state goes from having liberal politicians to conservative, the researcher can see how his researchers fall flat on their face. Whilst the States have the last word, things will not change too much. And the problem is not due to lack of money, but to the regulation imposed by Bush; they are four to five years behind other more advanced countries. China will soon be the world’s leader in stem cell research.

China?
The quantity of money invested in China is enormous. They have laboratories equipped with the latest technologies and their scientists are very prepared. The laws that regulate the research with embryonic stem cells are similar to those from the United Kingdom, very strict, but generally accepted. From the Buddhist-Confucian perspective, the embryo is not considered a human being until one day after it is born. At King’s College we collaborate with scientists from the University of Zhejiang [Hangzhou], Fudan and Jiao Tong [both in Shanghai] and from the Institute of Biomedicine and Health of Canton.

With the current techniques of cell reprogramming, there are scientists that believe that therapeutic cloning is redundant.
The technology of cell reprogramming is a big step, but it cannot meet all expectations. For this motive it is necessary to research in parallel with conventional embryonic stem cells. The technique is so new that the iPS cells [induced pluripotent stem cells] are not properly characterized. Parallel research consists in cloning the same individual with two types of cells and compare properties and differences. But therapeutic cloning requires a large quantity of ova in order to be able to carry it out. Therefore, Lyle Armstrong, from the University of Newcastle, Justin St John, from Warwick University, and me encouraged a change in legislation at the end of last year; it allows the creation and use of human-animal hybrid embryos.

Something which at the beginning was very critical for British legislation…
It is the test where scientific rationality can omit often religious pressures. The United Kingdom is one of the most advances and progressive countries in the world regarding its legislations on cell therapy, but it is extremely strict.
In order to carry out studies on hybrid embryos one has to ask for its approval, as well as justify why such research cannot be carried out in another way. Also, hybrids cannot be kept alive for more than 14 days, when the embryo starts to develop. In any case, even though the legislation allows it, the team and necessary reagents for this type of research are extremely expensive, and the majority of the projects presented have not managed to get government funding.

Will this situation prolong itself in the future?
Regenerative medicine has a hopeful future, and therapies will be developed with both types of stem cells. Some will consist of injecting stem cells to substitute dead tissue; others will stimulate them from damaged tissue. Methods will be invented to repair tissues, especially those of the brain and heart, and work will be carried out with them to study new drugs, especially to measure their toxicity.

What has your group focused on?
We are interested in Parkinson’s disease and type 1 diabetes. Introducing cells to patients with these disease works; the problem is that there are not sufficient stem cells available for transplant. Our objective is to mange to change defective cells for others that produce dopamine or insulin.

PROGRESS IN TRADITIONAL MEDICINEMinger´s team has recently initiated a very special collaboration with China. With the use of stem cell biology, the scientists from King´s College aim to understand better the chemistry if traditional Chinese medicine to try and convert traditional remedies in future pharmacological products. The objective is to study the active principles in different stem cell types and see how these act.

The investment dedicated to this type of research is necessary not only to unblock the enormous potential of traditional medicine to treat common western disease.

It is also important to protect the public from insecure natural remedies. The complex differences between the western pharmacological products and the natural oriental products present a significant challenge for the development of conventional drugs based on traditional Chinese medicine.

This article forwarded by www.medicaltourism.hk from general news

60th Anniversary of the Founding of New China Health

The medical and health sector concerns health of hundreds of millions of people， and well-being of millions of households， thus it is a major livelihood issue. The Chinese government has always attached great importance to the development of health sector， emphasizing the protection of people's health and safety. Governments at all levels and all departments concerned， especially health workers and professionals of medical and health system have adhered to the policy of “to focus on rural areas， to prioritize prevention， to emphasize equally traditional Chinese medicine and western medicine， to rely on science， technology and education， to mobilize the whole society， in order to serve people's health and the socialist modernization drive ”， has vigorously developed China's medical and health services to protect public health and safety， meet the growing medical and health demand of the general public， and improve health conditions of the whole nation.

　　Since new China was founded 60 years ago， especially since the reform and opening up， China's medical and health sector has made remarkable achievements， medical and health service system covering urban and rural areas has basically taken shape， disease prevention and control capacity has gradually improved， health insurance coverage has been expanding， health science and technology has improved rapidly. At present， people's health conditions significantly improved， and key health indicators of the residents are in the forefront of the developing countries.

　　I. Effectively control major diseases and continuously improve health of urban and rural residents

　　At present， China's average life expectancy is 73 years， a substantial increase from 35 years before the founding of new China; the maternal mortality rate has dropped from 1500 per 100000 to 34.2 per 100000 in 2008， infant mortality rate has dropped from 200‰ in the early stage of new China to 14.9‰ in 2008. All these indicators are in the forefront of the developing countries.

　　In six decades， through great efforts of the patriotic public health campaign， national immunization programs， major disease prevention and control policys， the major infectious diseases threatening people’s health have been kept under effective control. Morbidity of type A&B national statutory infectious diseases has dropped from 20000 per 100000 in 1949 to 268.01 per 100000 in 2008. China has successfully eradicated smallpox and filariasis， achieved the polio-free goal， eliminated iodine deficiency disorder in general， and effectively controlled leprosy， schistosomiasis， malaria， which have been serious threats to people's health. Control of TB， HIV/AIDs， hepatitis B has made significant progress. Prevelence of endemic diseases has been effectively contained and the outcome of prevention and treatment is steadfast.Prevention and control of chronic non-communicable diseases has gained with remarkable results.

　　Under the CPC Central Committee and State Council's unified leadership and guidance， the national health system has taken prevention and treatment measures in a scientific manner in response to major challenges of emerging infectious diseases. We won the victory in fight against SARS， effectively contained the spread of human avian influenza， made initial achievemnets in prevention and treatment of H1N1 influenza， and has safeguarded lives of the people， social stability and the great achievements of reform and opening up.

　　Prevention and control of chronic non-communicable diseases has gained remarkable results. Since 1990s， the Chinese government has actively promoted the prevention and control of major chronic non-communicable diseases， such as high blood pressure， diabetes， cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease， mental illness， malignant cancer， oral disease and etc. We launched a nationwide health lifestyle campaign to enhance national health education， advocate healthy lifestyles， and prevent chronic disease related risk factors， focusing on community and grassroots level. Chronic non-communicable disease prevention and control framework has been initially in place with government advocacy， coordination among departments， efforts of experts and social participation.

　　II.Continuously strengthen health system and improve access to services

　　In the early days of the foundation of China， there were only 3670 medical and health institutions， 84600 hospital beds， 505000 health professionals. At that time the medical institutions and medical staff were largely concentrated in cities and towns， medical equipment was extremely simple， and medical technology was poor. The general public， especially farmers， lacked medical treatment and medicine， and did not have access to basic health insurance.

　　After 60 years of construction and development， China's medical and health services have made considerable progress. By the end of 2008， China has 278000 health institutions， and another 613000 village clinics， health system covering urban and rural residents has been basically established; the total number of hospital beds nationwide is 4.036 million， hospital beds per 1000 population is 2.83; number of health personnel nationwide amount to 6.169 million， rural doctors and health workers amount to 938000 million; number of health professionals per 1000 population is 3.8.

　　In the meantime， services and support capabilities as well as technical levels of the health system have been greatly enhanced， and the general public have enjoyed benefits brought by development. In 2008， medical institutions (excluding village clinics) in China diagosed and treated 3532 million people times， with 114.83 million inpatients; 91% pregnant women underwent prenatal examination， 87% paid post-natal visits， and hospital delivery rate was 94.5%; rural wate supply projects benefited 93.6% of the total rural population， rural tap water supply coverage reached 65.5%，and coverage of sanitary latrines in rural areas reached 59.7%.

　　At present， China has built a number of large-scale modern general hospitals and specialist hospitals， which represent the highest level of clinical medicine in China and enjoy high reputations in the international arena. Urban medical service system has been basically formed， including community health service institutions， all levels of general hospitals， and specialized hospitals; the rural three-tier medical service network has taken initial shape， lead by county hospitals， supported by village clinics and township hospitals. The urban and rural medical service system has kept improving and has provided the urban and rural residents with comprehensive， continuous， safe， effective， convenient and inexpensive medical and health care services. The system has played an important role in safeguarding people’s lives and safety and maintaining social stability in public health emergencies and major natural disasters.

　　III.The basic medical insurance system has been improved continuously， and medical insurance level for urban-rural residents has been raised.

　　The Chinese government attaches great importance to the establishment and development of medical insurance system. In the early years after the founding of People’s Republic of China， free medical care and labor insurance medical system were established; in the 1960s， the rural cooperative medical care system was formed in the rural areas. The establishment and improvement of these systems played an important role in protecting the health of employees and farmers. In the 1990s， China launched the reform of medical insurance system， which helped actively and steadily push forward the improvement of medical insurance system via significant progress. The basic medical insurance for urban workers was implemented steadily， covering a population of 318 million by the end of 2008. In October 2002， the Chinese government introduced the policy of establishing a new rural cooperative medical care scheme. Starting from 2003， the new rural cooperative medical care scheme was put into pilot programs and gradually advanced across the country， covering all of the counties (cities， districts) with agricultural population， which reaches 833 million at present. The new rural cooperative medical insurance scheme has brought about more and more benefits for farmers， and played an increasingly important role to mitigate or reduce the economic burden of diseases on farmers.

　　The urban and rural medical assistance system has been initially established. The rural medical aid covers the entire rural population in counties (districts)， while 65% of counties (districts) have seen pilot projects of urban medical assistance in place. Commercial health insurance industry is flourishing. At present， various types of insurance systems cover more than 1.1 billion urban and rural residents; a multi-level medical insurance system framework is taking shape， providing a protective shield for the vast number of urban and rural residents from medical risks.

　　IV. The legalization process in health has gone through in-depth development， which continues to protect people’s health rights.

　　Since reform and opening policy was adopted， the National People’s Congress and its Standing Committee have promulgated and implemented 11 health-related laws， including the "Communicable Disease Prevention and Control Law，" "Food Safety Law"， "Maternal and Child Health Care Act"， etc.; the State Council enacted 37 administrative regulations， such as the "Medical Institution Regulation Rules"， and “Public Health Emergency Response Ordinance". The Ministry of Health has issued more than 200 departmental rules， for instance， the "Prescription Management Rules"; at present， 1，300 existing health standards are effective. A legal system of health laws has been initially built composed of laws concerning public health， medical services， health-related product management and health insurance， among others， which has played a critical role in protecting the health and life safety of citizens， regulating the market economy behaviors and promoting economic and social development.

　　V. The reform on deepening medical and health care system was officially launched and efforts have been made to achieve universal access to basic medical and health services for all.

　　The Chinese government has always attached great importance to the development of health， emphasizing the protection of people's health and safety as a priority. In April 2009， the Chinese government issued "Opinions on Deepening the Medical and Health Care System Reform，" and "Short-term Major Implementation Plans on Medical and Health Care System Reform"， clearly formulating direction and major principles and policies for Chinese medical and health sector reform and development in a new era， placing emphasis on provision of basic medical and health care system as public goods to all people and achieving the overall goal of universal access to basic medical and health services.

　　The overall goal for deepening medical and health system reform is to establish basic medical and health care system covering urban and rural residents， and provide safe， effective， convenient and affordable medical and health services to the people. By 2011， the basic medical insurance system will cover all urban and rural residents， the essential drugs system will be initially established， urban and rural primary health care system will be further improved， the basic public health services will be universally accessible， the pilot reform projects of public hospitals will achieve breakthroughs， and the accessibility of basic medical and health services markedly increased. All these progresses will effectively reduce the economical burden on residents for medical treatment and ease the problem of "difficulty and inaccessibility to seek medical treatment ". By 2020， a basic medical health system covering urban and rural residents will be established. We will have built a relatively sound public health service system， health care system， health insurance system， a fairly regulated drug supply system， more scientific management system and operational mechanism for medical and health organizations， and form the configuration of multi-run medical institutions. Everyone will have access to basic health services by then. The health care system will be suitable to multi-level medical and health needs of the people， and further raise people's health to a higher level.

　　The focus of reform in the near future highlights basic， foundation， and the grassroots level. We will focus our efforts on five key reform tasks from 2009 to 2011， namely， accelerating the basic medical insurance system construction， the initial establishment of national essential drug system， improving basic health services system， steadily promoting the equal access of basic public health services and pushing ahead the pilot reform of public hospitals. At present， all work is being actively and orderly conducted， supporting documents of the reform are being issued one after another， a number of major reforms are being gradually implemented， the basic health insurance coverage continues to expand， and the construction of primary health care facilities and health institutions have progressed smoothly.The six major public health services programs and nine major categories of basic public health services projects in the country have entered the implementation phase， ranging from supplementing hepatitis B vaccines to population under 15 years of age， screening 35-year-old to 59-year-old rural women for cervical cancer and breast cancer to performing cataract surgeries free of charge for poor patients. The national essential drug system construction has started and preparatory work for pilot reform in public hospitals is being stepped up. In a whole， the medical and health care system reform is progressing smoothly in general.

　　New China's health industry has gone through nearly 60 years of development， and important experiences have been accumulated. We need to firmly grasp the gist of our past experiences in the future work， and continue to carry them forward: the strong leadership of the Party and the government on health work must be adhere to and strengthened; we must use the theory on socialism with Chinese characteristics， and health work guidelines to direct health reform and development; we must stick to the approach of reform and development to continue to solve new contradictions and problems; health work must serve economic and social development; health work must place safeguarding and protecting the people's health rights and interests as the highest mission; the public nature of public health must be upheld; health cause development must adhere to the combination of focusing on key points and overall planning; and health work must adhere to the combination of government-led mechanism and the introduction of market mechanisms.

　　China's health industry is facing an unprecedented development opportunity now， and the Chinese government will continuously improve the health of the people by adhering to people-oriented principle， governing for the people， comprehensively implementing the scientific concept of development， seizing opportunities， meeting challenges， and promoting the health reform and development.

This article forwarded by www.medicaltourism.hk from sina news

Food that keep you away from depression

Allergens in ingredients to be listed on food labels

Starting in April, all manufacturers of prepackaged food will have to clarify substances that can cause allergies, according to a national regulation for food labels.

The new standard will be compulsory nationwide, and is the first time that the country has included allergens in food safety regulations, according to Fan Yongxiang, an official with the National Institute of Nutrition and Food Safety under the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Approximately 1 to 2 percent of adults and around 5 percent of infants and young children in the country suffer from food allergies, according to Sun Jianqin, director of the nutrition department at Shanghai-based Huadong Hospital affiliated to Fudan University.

China does not have statistics to show how life threatening food allergies are, but figures from the United States government revealed that each year roughly 30,000 individuals require emergency treatment, and 150 individuals die because of allergic reactions to food.

A food allergy is an adverse immune response to food protein. Sufferers usually show acute responses, including vomiting, diarrhea and bronchial asthma.

"It may cause death in severe cases," Sun said.

"Some people are allergic to certain foods in childhood, and improve when they grow older. But it may last a life time for others, so they'd better avoid the food," said Chen Yuzhi, a professor at the Clinical and Education Center for Asthma under the Capital Institute of Pediatrics.

She added that there is no cure for food allergies at present.

Eight major foods or food groups - wheat bran cereals, shellfish, fish, eggs, peanuts, soybeans, milk and tree nuts - account for most food allergies, and they are all included in the mandatory regulation.

"Different food products may be produced on the same production line, so it's possible that a very small amount of ingredients of one product may be brought to another even after the production line is cleaned," said Dong Jinshi, executive vice-president of the International Food Packaging Association.

"It could also be caused when two food materials, say chicken and fish, share one storage house," he said.

Shen Wei, father of a 7-year-old child who is allergic to fish, said such regulations may better protect children and other consumers who have food allergies.

"My son grows blotches and lumps on the skin and suffers a headache whenever he eats fish," said the 35-year-old Shanghai resident. "I think it's a big step forward to safeguard consumers' health and rights to be informed - if food businesses really follow the rule."

However, Chinese consumers and even market watchdogs at present are not familiar with labels about food allergies.

In August, Knorr Stock Pot, a bouillon product by consumer product giant Unilever, was removed from shelves in Guiyang and Changsha because of a message on its package reading: "This product may contain wheat, soybeans, eggs, dairy products and fish" was accused of being unclear and confusing.

"So it's important that the public know something about food packaging labels," Dong said. "And it will be more understandable to consumers if food companies rewrite the alert as 'people allergic to fish should be cautious about eating this'."

This article forwarded by www.medicaltourism.hk from china daily

2011年12月29日星期四

U Michigan forms joint medical institute with China

According to the University of Michigan, academic leaders will gather Oct. 12 at U-M campus to note the unique partnership and $14 million commitment to advance medical research in collaboration with the Peking University Health Science Center of China. They will establish a joint institute to undertake research in the areas of pulmonary, cardiovascular and liver diseases.

The joint institute will feature collaborative research efforts, exchanges of faculty, medical residents, fellows and other researchers, and completion of large-scale clinical trials.

“Our Medical School mission is clear. We are dedicated to education and research for the people of the state of Michigan and beyond,” says Joseph Kolars, M.D., Senior Associate Dean for Education and Global Initiatives.

“This is evidence of the University of Michigan Medical School’s intention to have a global impact on the way physicians are trained, and to be leaders in cutting-edge research that can solve the medical problems of our world.”

The joint institute will be launched on Oct. 12 in an opening ceremony at the Biomedical Sciences Research Building on the Medical School campus. Leadership from both universities will sign a bilateral agreement that day when the first joint symposium will be held to facilitate the discussion on the joint research projects.

The joint institute will involve faculty at both institutions collaborating on projects on an equal basis — not just sharing data. The institute will provide infrastructures to optimize the mechanism to support joint projects, including human subjects protection, tissue repositories and biomedical informatics, as well as research on science of collaboration.

Both U-M Medical School and Peking University Health Science Center have committed to provide $7 million each to fund the initiative.

“We hope this joint institute will be internationally recognized as an exemplary way to conduct collaborative international research,” says Kolars.

“We hope to enhance our ability to attract excellent researchers, excellent students and grants and endowments that fund breakthroughs that can make a difference in health care.”

Kolars says U-M already has 19 Medical School departments collaborating with 31 Chinese universities including a joint laboratory. In the University of Michigan Health System, there are already 1,080 employees holding Chinese citizenship.

“Being positioned globally is key to meeting our mission. It is critical to developing innovative health and education models and being at the forefront of research. To continue to enhance our presence as a global medical school, we have to collaborate with China,” says James O. Woolliscroft, M.D., Dean of the U-M Medical School and Lyle C. Roll Professor of Medicine.

Because of its size, Peking University also offers a chance to gather patient data. The Peking health centers have 6,688 beds, compared to U-M Health System’s 930. On a daily basis, Peking has 32,431 outpatient visits; U-M has 6,411. Peking has 1,810 emergency room visits daily compared to 319 at U-M.

In August 2009, a leadership team including Woolliscroft visited four institutions in China. Peking University had the best match for research interests and its similar governing structure made it a good fit. Representatives from U-M and Peking University will work on defining the scope of the institutional collaboration.

“In this ever-shrinking world, we want to work together to create the future of medicine for our global community,” says Ora Pescovitz, M.D., Executive Vice President of Medical Affairs and Chief Executive Officer of the U-M Health System.

Pescovitz will serve on the joint institute’s executive board along with Kolars, Woolliscroft, Steve Forrest, U-M’s Vice President for Research and Steve Kunkel, Senior Associate Dean for Research for the Medical School.

“This kind of partnership will give our Medical School the kind of exposure to new ideas, new ways of thinking and the problems facing our world. Without that, we can’t make the major discoveries that we strive for and that we are committed to achieve,” says Pescovitz.

The U-M Medical School receives over $330 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health, ranking it among the top 10 funded research schools in the country, according to the university. The Medical School was tied for sixth among the top 10 medical schools and received one of the top five highest scores by residence program directors from across the country, according to U.S. News and World Report .

Elsewhere in Michigan, other medical systems are capitalizing on ties with China. For example, the Genesys Health Center of Grand Blanc MI, a part of the Ascension Health System based in St Louis MO, is in negotiations with Chinese counterparts to afford crosstraining in family medicine to physicians.

This article forwarded by www.medicaltourism.hk from spero news.

China Commits $9 Billion to Biotech and Other New Technology

China’s central government announced it will spend 62.8 billion RMB ($9.2 billion), half this year and the other half in 2010, on new technology, including biotech, in an effort to counteract the economic slowdown and stimulate growth. The State Council announced the funding on its website following a meeting on Wednesday. The grants were the first authorizations from the 4 trillion RMB ($586 billion) “Mega Program” announced last November to stimulate innovative technology.

This article forwarded by www.medicaltourism.hk from china biotech news

China's bone marrow bank gathers 970,000 donors

The China Marrow Donor Program (CMDP) has gathered 970,000 donors by the end of last month since its establishment in 2001.

"We expect the number of donors to reach 1 million next year," said Hong Junling, the CMDP director, at the program's annual meeting here Tuesday.

The number of donors increased by 170,000 in 2008 over the previous year, he said.

He attributed the increase to more investment in collecting samples, building storages and improving test devices.

The marrow bank, sponsored by the Red Cross Society of China (RCSC), received an allocation of 86 million yuan (12.46 million U.S. dollars) from the central government's proceeds from lottery sales last year.

In the past eight years, about 1,200 volunteers have donated hematopoietic stem cells to patients of blood diseases through the program, he said.

Among them, about 50 people donated to patients abroad, he added.

As the world's largest marrow bank for Chinese, it opens matching service to patients in more than 20 countries and regions including the United States, Canada and Great Britain.

The donor database now has a branch in every provincial division in the Chinese mainland. It also cooperated with six umbilical cord blood banks in the mainland, which enabled it to include 30,000 cord blood samples in its service.

Stem cell transplants have proved effective in treating blood diseases such as sickle-cell anemia, leukemia and other disorders. Matching of a donor and a recipient for HLA was pivotal for the success of blood stem cell transplants.

In China, about one million people were waiting for matching hematopoietic stem cells while the number of leukemia patients increased by around 40,000 annually.

"We hope to increase cooperation with marrow banks abroad, especially with those countries and regions that have more Chinese donors," said Jiang Yiman, the RCSC executive vice president, at the same meeting.

This article forwarded by www.medicaltourism.hk from china biotech news

China becomes rising star in Regenerative Medicine: international study

Chinese researchers have become the world's fifth most prolific contributors to peer-reviewed scientific literature on Regenerative Medicine (RM), according to an international study published on Friday.

The Canadian-based McLaughlin-Rotman Center for Global Health (MRC) published a research article in the UK journal Regenerative Medicine, saying that China's contributions to scientific journalson RM topics leapt from 37 in 2000 to 1,116 in 2008, exceeded only by that of the United States, Germany, Japan and Britain.

"China has been developing very quickly in the area of regenerative medicine", said Dominique McMahon, the leading author of the article, who also told Xinhua that "there is no doubt that China is one of the leaders in the race to develop RM therapies." Regenerative Medicine is an emerging interdisciplinary field of research and clinical applications focused on the repair, replacement or regeneration of cells, tissues, or organs, which uses a combination of approaches including gene therapy, stem cell transplantation, tissue engineering, and the reprogramming of cell and tissue types.

But as the stem cell research develops fast in recent years, RM becomes more and more dependent on this side, and shared some ethic criticism against stem cell research since it involves the usage of human embryos.

The article highlighted Chinese scientific firsts. For example, a hospital in Shanghai cultivated human brain tissue in 2002 after taking a sample from the end of a chopstick implanted in a patient's frontal lobe amid a disagreement at a restaurant.

Neural stem cells were cultured from trauma patients and reinjected into their brains in the first known controlled clinical trial of adult stem cell therapy for traumatic brain injury.

The article also said China to date had created at least 25 human embryonic stem cell lines, four of which were of a specialized type that only two other groups worldwide had managed to create then.

The numbers were based on analysis of articles which had been published in international peer-reviewed journals. The creation ofsome stem cell lines may not be published or only in Chinese journals, and some estimated that China had over 70 cell lines.

"There are three main strengths in China that we believe have helped contribute to this success", said Halla Thorsteinsdottir, co-author of the study. She listed the three as permissive regulations, a skilled labor force, and a focus on applications of RM.

She noted that China's recruitment policy for returned overseas professionals had made an important contribution to RM, and could be a strategy for other developing countries to reverse the brain drain phenomena.

But the authors also pointed out that some of the key elements were "double edged". For example, the focus on application may come at the expense of fundamental research and a better integration between basic and applied research could help move stem cell research forward in China.

They mentioned several other challenges for RM in China, such as the further improvement of regulations and the safety of stem cell therapies.

Regarding the regulation of embryonic stem cell research, which is often controversial in some countries as the United States but is less contentious to Chinese culture and religion, the authors said Chinese regulations "are very similar to that which is allowed in the UK". Though it needs improvement, it's not as weak as misinterpreted by some people.

McMahon said that "Regenerative medicine research in China is a source of national pride. The Chinese rightly feel their research discoveries can achieve solutions to many global health problems."

"If China continues to build on its strengths and overcomes its challenges, successful, internationally acclaimed regenerative medicine treatments and therapies are more than likely," she said.

This article forwarded by www.medicaltourism.hk from xinhuanet

Air travel increasingly popular in China

China’s air passenger volume is expected to reach 290 million in 2011, up over 8 percent from a year earlier, and may rise to 320 million in 2012, according to information from a national civil aviation conference. Air travel is becoming increasingly popular in the country.

Li Jun, deputy director of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), said China’s aviation industry has witnessed steady development in 2011, with the air freight volume expected to reach 57.4 billion ton-kilometers, up nearly 7 percent from last year.

The total profits of the aviation industry are expected to reach 45.6 billion yuan this year, up over 5 percent from last year, despite rising fuel costs and grim global market conditions.

China will continue to make great efforts to promote the development of the aviation sector in its central and western regions in 2012, in a bid to make air travel available to more people. Total fixed-asset investment in the country’s aviation sector will reach 158.5 billion yuan next year, including 75 billion yuan for infrastructure construction. A major part of the investment will go to the central and western regions.

Flight punctuality has greatly improved in China over the past year. The country’s flight punctuality rate reached nearly 77 percent in the first 11 months of the year, up 1.9 percentage points from the same period of last year.

The CAAC will continue to improve flight punctuality, and strive to raise the rate by 2 percentage points in 2012.

This article forwarded by www.medicaltourism.hk from people’s daily