The origins of Uyghur medicine: Debates and perspectives

Uyghur medicine refers to the traditional medicine of the people residing in the oases of the Taklamakan desert in the North-West corner of modern China.Due to historical and geographical reasons,the ancestors of the modern Uyghurs had extensive contact with Greco-Roman civilization even beginning in the 4th century BCE,and continuing with different extent until the 6th century CE.Thus,the knowledge of Greek humoral medicine spread to the Uyghur regions.When Arab-Persian medicine arrived along with Islam in the 10th century,it met both Buddhist medicine and the developed folk medicine.In this paper,we argue that“Greco-Roman”,“Arab-Persian”and“Uyghur”medicines are all of essentially the same system under holistic humoral medicine.We further assert that“Traditional European Medicine”is based on the same tradition,and,while it was discarded in the West,it has been substantially preserved by the Uyghurs.We also consider the implications of making the two millennial tradition of Uyghur medicine the object of modern scientific research in China.

Annual advances of Chinese minority traditional medicine in 2019

Traditional medicine systems practiced by various ethnic minorities represent an important part of traditional Chinese medicine.The past 12 months have witnessed extensive research pertaining to different Chinese minority traditional medicine(CMTM).The annual CMTM review evaluates research published during 2019 in different CMTM including Tibetan medicine,Uyghur medicine,Mongolian medicine,Korean medicine and Zhuang medicine.Research in the field of Tibetan medicine focused on pharmacology,pharmacy,plant sciences,medicinal chemistry and integrated complementary medicine and the top three countries were China,USA and India.Research in Uyghur medicine mainly pertained to chemistry,pharmacology,pharmacy,and food science technology and the publications were mainly from China.Research in Mongolian medicine mainly pertained to pharmacology,pharmacy,analytical chemistry,biochemistry,molecular biology and experimental research;the publications were mainly from China and Mongolia.In short,research related to traditional medicine of various ethnic minorities was mainly conducted in China and the neighboring countries.The research focus for each minority medicine is essentially on the effects and mechanisms of action of the active ingredients of the ethnodrugs and the special prescriptions or therapies.The generated evidence will facilitate further developments in this field.

Annual advances of Chinese minority traditional medicine in 2020

Chinese minority traditional medicine is a traditional medicine formed during the long-term medical practice of various ethnic groups and is the crystallization of the wisdom of the people in all ethnic groups in China.The unique meaning carried by Chinese minority traditional medicine makes it an inseparable and important part of traditional Chinese medicine.The rich clinical experience and theoretical studies with different Chinese minority traditional medicine provide new ideas and new methods for Chinese medicine development.The pieces of literature published in 2020 on the traditional application analyzed the phytochemical composition,pharmacological effects,and mechanisms of the different ethnic groups including Tibetan,Mongolian,Zhuang,Dai,and Uyghur medicines,among others.This study found that some projects were stalled or delayed due to the coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak in 2020 compared with 2019,resulting in a decrease in the number of articles in certain fields.However,studied on Chinese minority traditional medicine have shown an overall upward trend this year with the Tibetan,Mongolian,and Dai medicines as the top three.In addition,the Chinese minority traditional medicine application under the coronavirus disease 2019 epidemic situation background was also summarized.Consequently,this study found that among the Chinese minority traditional medicine-related publications in 2020,publications using Chinese minority traditional medicine to treat coronavirus disease 2019 account for a certain percentage.Thus,this article systematically reviews and summarizes the related research of Chinese minority traditional medicine published in 2020 and provides references for future Chinese minority traditional medicine development.