Traditional Chinese Medicine in Malaysia: A Brief Historical Overview of Laws and Regulations

Although traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)has been a part of the Malaya and the Malaysia people’s method of maintaining health and well-being for many centuries,it was never been enrolled in the public health-care system.However,the rising cost of Western drugs and the increasing number of people frequenting TCM has driven the government to search for cheaper options and to look into its safe practice.In 1992,the government mandated all TCM herbal products to be registered with the National Pharmaceutical Control Bureau.All TCM products sold in Malaysia are now Good Manufacturing Practice certified.The government has also established a Traditional and Complementary Medicine Division within the Ministry of Health.Between 2008 and 2014,a traditional and complementary medicine unit was set up in major hospitals in all states.TCM is one of the main services offered by the unit.In 2016,the government enacted the Traditional and Complementary Medicine Act to regulate the TCM practice.Subsequently,a 10-vear blueprint has been drawn to support the development of all traditional and complementary medicines in Malaysia.This article aims to provide a brief overview on the regulatory development of TCM in Malaysia.

First 150 years of catatonia:Looking back at its complicated history and forward to the road ahead

Karl Ludwig Kahlbaum(1828-1899)was the first to conceptualize and describe the main clinical features of a novel psychiatric illness,which he termed catatonia in his groundbreaking monograph published 150 years ago.Although Kahlbaum postulated catatonia as a separate disease entity characterized by psychomotor symptoms and a cyclical course,a close examination of his 26 cases reveals that most of them presented with motor symptom complexes or syndromes associated with various psychiatric and medical conditions.In his classification system,Kraepelin categorized catatonic motor symptoms that occur in combination with psychotic symptoms and typically have a poor prognosis within his dementia praecox(schizophrenia)disease entity.Because of the substantial influence of Kraepelin’s classification,catatonia was predominantly perceived as a component of schizophrenia for most of the 20th century.However,with the advent of the psychopharmacotherapy era starting from the early 1950s,interest in catatonia in both clinical practice and research subsided until the early 2000s.The past two decades have witnessed a resurgence of interest in catatonia.The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fifth Edition,marked a paradigmatic shift by acknowledging that catatonia can occur secondary to various psychiatric and medical conditions.The introduction of an independent diagnostic category termed“Catatonia Not Otherwise Specified”significantly stimulated research in this field.The authors briefly review the history and findings of recent catatonia research and highlight promising directions for future exploration.

The crown jewelry of the surgeries for pancreatic cancer

We are very pleased to organize this issue of Chinese Journal of Cancer Research.Authors come from the most distinguished groups of pancreatic cancer surgeons and oncologists in China and in USA.The first two articles make overviews on the historic and contemporary progresses in surgical management of pancreatic cancer.