Health ministry gets serious about promoting TCM

by MICHAEL WOODHEAD
If you have depression take a herbal infusion of daylily. If you have avian flu, use a few capsules of anti-cold Chinese herbs. These are just as effective and much cheaper than using western pharmaceuticals. That's the official advice from the National Health and Family Planning Commission this week.

At a press briefing organised in Beijing, the ministry's propaganda chief Mao Qun'an said that it was important to look at the public health advantages of using Traditional Chinese Medicine for fighting and reducing the burden of disease, as demonstrated by officials from Gansu province. He said the TCM promotion efforts of Gansu's health department were the "correct direction" and should be a model that other provinces can learn from.

He introduced TCM advocate Liu Weizhong from Gansu, who described how daylily was being sold by the ton in Gansu for the treatment of depression.

"Gansu is a poor province but we have harnessed the power of herbs such as daylily as a low cost way to manage disease in the population," he said.

"When Gannan Tibetan country has landslides many of the local people suffered from insomnia, anxiety and depression. We put two tons of day lily in 12 cauldrons, gave every person a paper cup and treated 7000 people at a cost of 1.4 yuan each. The depression was all gone," he said.

[A quick google search shows that daylily aka Hemerocallis is a traditional herbal remedy that contains active ingredients including clonidine - a drug for hypertension that can cause neurospychiatric effects].

Likewise Liu Weizhong claimed that avian flu, which caused many deaths and serious complications in China, could be easily and successfully treated with just three or four capsules of a Gansu TCM remedy that cost less than 200 yuan. This was much better than the regular medical treatment for avian flu that cost ten times as much, he said.

Another TCM panacea was the health prevention kit issued to households which consisted of a bag of salt, scrapers, plates, cupping utensils and a thermometer.

Liu Wenzhong said farmers were told to boil some fennel and pepper leaf and use this with the equipment as a cure for 13 kinds of disease, including cervical spondylosis, thyroid nodules, cough, pharyngitis, lumbar disc prolapse, frozen shoulder, arthritis, stomach pains, and especially senile prostatic hypertrophy.

These folk remedies might sound like old wives' tales. but they have the official backing of the State Council as well as the National Health and Family Planning Commission.

In February the State Council issued a "strategic plan for development of Chinese medicine," which said that with the ageing population "there is an urgent need to develop and make good use of Chinese medicine".

The NHFPC agreed, saying that Gansu was leading the way in developing TCM and putting it at the centre of healthcare.

Yunnan Baiyao gets the Streisand effect when it sends police to interrogate a doctor who reported a side effect

by Michael Woodhead
A Guangzhou dermatologist got a very rude shock when he posted a report of a possible adverse reaction to one of China's most popular traditional remedies, Yunnan Baiyao (an astringent said to be good for wound healing). 
The remedy is a multi-million yuan bestseller product for its Yunnan manufacturer, and they obviously have a lot of 'guanxi' and clout with the law enforcement authorities. Two years ago a Guangzhou dermatologist Dr Liu Xin posted a report on Weibo about a young girl who had an adverse reaction to some medicine that her family used on an open wound. The post advised caution in using excessive topical antiseptic products on wounds. Dr Liu did not even mention Yunnan Baiyao by name, but it was fairly obvious to readers which product the girl's family had used (in addition to mercurochrome antiseptic). The original post was circulated quite widely and has occasionally resurfaced over the last two year.

Dr Liu had almost forgotten about it, until the police came knocking on his door recently. The police had been sent by Yunnan Baiyao, who wanted the post retracted. They claimed that Dr Liu was trying to damage their corporate reputation and wanted hims charged with being involved in an extortion attempt against the company. They acused Dr Liu of deliberately spreading false and malicious rumours to discredit Baiyao - and they wanted to make an example of him. The police posed questions to him such as - "has the picture of the wound been Photoshopped? ... How come you don't remember this family's exact details?" and "did you verify with proof that these medicines were used and caused the disfigurement?" Dr Liu said he was amazed to be accused of a crime for doing his job - as a licensed dermatologist it is professional duty to treat cases such as this - and his public duty to report on matters where injury may be avoided in future. The police did not press charges against Dr Liu, but he says that even though he was 'exonerated' he has been left with a sense of fear and intimidation. How many others will choose to remain silent in such circumstances by such heavy handed tactics? Fortunately, online commentators have now circulated the latest news about Dr Liu's 'persecution' by Yunnan Baiyao - and exposed their use of police to put pressure on any public criticism of their product that threatens their commercial interest. Commentators say this is a clear case of freedom of speech being suppressed for financial reasons, and abuse of police powers to protect a commercial organisation. They say it is a typical case of s powerful local company relying on police to defeat perceived threats to their interests. They say it also underlines the lack of trust in Chinese society generally and the lack of trust in health products in particular.

Why do some Chinese patients with HIV refuse lifesaving antiviral treatment?

by Michael Woodhead
[UPDATED] China has a huge number of people with HIV, though fortunately there are now effective antiretroviral drugs that can prevent progression of the infection and allow people to live with HIV rather than die from it. However, for some reason some Chinese people refuse antiretroviral treatment and become victims of AIDS.
According to Dr Lu Hongzhou an infectious diseases specialist at Fudan University, this is because some Chinese still have 'traditional thinking' and believe they can overcome the disease through traditional methods such as Chinese medicine rather than with 'superficial'  western medicine. Writing in Bioscience Trends this week, Dr Lu describes a typical such case involving a man called Zhang Shan who was diagnosed with HIV in 2010. At that time he was already quite unwell with a CD4 cell count of 49/μL and he also had tuberculosis.  His prognosis was poor and he was advised to immediately start antiretroviral therapy. However, Zhang refused, citing his belief that he did not believe in  western medicine and that he could conquer the infection by finding out more about the virus and seeking Chinese remedies. For the next year he did a lot of reading and travelled to visit several famous "monks and Taoist priests" who claimed that they could cure him of his disease. Zhang's HIV infection deteriorated and he eventually decided to seek medical help again when he was extremely sick with a CD4 cell count of just only 8/μL. He was persuaded to start on anti-retroviral medications and made some recovery, but by that time he had left treatment very late and had already experienced some disability. After several months of antiviral treatment Zhang was still alive, but his doctors told him that he had missed his best opportunity because the earlier treatment begins, the better.
Dr Lu said the case highlighted the barriers that Chinese beliefs represented to delivering effective treatment for HIV. He characterised these barriers as including "society, history, morality and ideology, family, education" (- and most of all,the patient’s mindset).
"The daunting task is to transform or change traditional or inculcated beliefs of potential AIDS patients so that they are open to antiretroviral therapy, which is a product of modern science, to help their plight," he concludes.
Update: A newly published study shows that only about half of patients with HIV were still taking their antiviral medication after six months. One significant finding in this study was that many patients had depressison, which may have affected their motivation to continue with treatment.

China medical news headlines for Friday 17 January

Monitor and treat the best way for hepatitis B

Monitoring inactive chronic hepatitis B carriers is a cost-effective strategy for China, a study shows. The findings published in Hepatology, also show that increasing treatment, monitoring and adherence to therapy are necessary to achieve significant health benefits at the population level.
Shanghai researchers compared the current strategy of not monitoring inactive chronic HBV patients to a monitor and treat strategy which included twice-yearly assessment of HBV and ALT levels. For active HBV cases the researchers suggest treatment with the antiviral entecavir, which evidence shows to be a cost-effective antiviral therapy in China.
The study found that there were 1.5 million adult HBV arriers of HBV in Shanghai, of whom 63% were hepatitis B virus e antigen (HBeAg) positive. The number of active cases of chronic HBV, were 258,139 in the eAg-positive group and 152,384 in the HBeAg-negative group. A monitor and treat strategy would reduce liver cancer by 70% and reduce mortality caused by chronic HBV by 83%, according to News Medical.

China too hard for US generic drug maker

One of the world's biggest generic drug manufacturers has quit China, saying it is too hard to do business there. The US generic maker Actavis has said it will exit China because the business climate is just 'too risky' according to its CEO.
“It is not a business friendly environment,” CEO Paul Isaro is quoted as saying by Bloomberg.

Beijing wants foreign medical city

Beijing is to set up an International Medical Service Zone in Tongzhou District in 2014, Xinhua reports. The 15 square kilometre zone is intended to be a model of medical reform that will integrate social and foreign investment. Beijing hopes the zone will attract doctors and medical experts from Beijing's top public hospitals as well as draw in international medical institutions to set up shop in a healthcare hub. The aim is to have world-class medical facilities, education institutions, medical research personnel, rehabilitation and nursing homes and health management facilities all in one place.

TCM a leading cause of liver failure

Traditional Chinese Medicine is a major cause of acute liver failure in China, according to a report in PLOS One. In a review of 177 Chinese patients with liver failure, 17% had received herbal remedies, and TCM was believed to be a more frequent cause than any other factor, the Global Times reports. Of all the patients diagnosed with acute liver failure 44% developed the condition due to drug or herbal remedy toxicity, and herbal remedies, accounted for more liver failure than paracetamol.

Yunnan Baiyao remains on sale despite finding of toxic ingredients

Traditional Chinese medicine Yunnan Baiyao has not been recalled on the mainland despite Hong Kong health authorities claiming to have discovered "undeclared" poisonous ingredients in some batches of the product and ordering it to be taken off shop shelves.
The Department of Health of Hong Kong announced on Tuesday that it had tested samples of capsules, powder, plaster, aerosol and tincture of Yunnan Baiyao distributed by wholesaler Fung Wah (Hong Kong) Co, and found they contained "undeclared aconitum alkaloids".
"According to the products' registration details and the Chinese medicine literature, the ingredients in the products cannot account for the presence of aconitum alkaloids as detected," said the department in its statement.
According to the statement, if used improperly, aconitum alkaloids can "cause discomfort, such as numbness in the mouth and limbs, nausea, vomiting and peripheral weakness, and even lead to life threatening conditions such as breathing difficulties and cardiac arrhythmia".
Produced by Yunnan Baiyao Group, a medicine maker in Yunnan province, the product is a well-known traditional Chinese medicine that is effective in stopping bleeding and treating pain in muscles and joints caused by bruises and rheumatism.
The department said although it has not yet received any reports of users suffering adverse effects from the product, it ordered the recall.
Yunnan Baiyao Group confirmed in an online statement on Wednesday that such products contain aconitum alkaloids, but the toxicity is "greatly reduced" after "unique methods of preparation".
The medicine is still available in pharmacies in Beijing.
Three stores in the capital's Chaoyang district said they are still selling the medicine over the counter.
"It has always been a solid seller and sales have not been affected," a saleswoman at Hedantang Pharmacy said, adding that she had not heard the news of recall in Hong Kong.
The discovery of the poison has ignited heated public discussion because the ingredients of Yunnan Baiyao are not readily available.
A Yunnan Baiyao tincture purchased in Beijing, one of the products whose samples have been found to contain aconitum alkaloids in Hong Kong, has written on its instructions that its ingredients are "nationally classified", but advises against use by pregnant women and people allergic to alcohol.
The government classified the medicine's formulation and the way it is processed in 1956, and more than 100 million people have used the medicine in the past decade, the company said in a statement.
The State Food and Drug Administration has graded the medicine as "level one" TCM to be protected by the government, and its formulation and preparation are classified until August 2015.
But the administration said it has asked the company to revise the medicine's instructions and keep a close watch on reports of adverse reactions. The administration has also warned the public to only use the medicine under a doctor's instruction.
A Notification Letter for a Statement on a Dietary Supplement, that a California-based distributor filed to the US Food and Drug Administration in June 2002, named the ingredients of a product called Yunnan Baiyao Ding, which claimed to be manufactured by the Yunnan Baiyao Group.
The statement did not include aconitum-related ingredients.
On Jan 17, Luo Qiulin, a lawyer, filed a lawsuit in Hunan province against Yunnan Baiyao, claiming that the company infringed on consumers' dignity and their right to know.
However, Huang Jianyin, undersecretary-general of the World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies, said it makes sense for Yunnan Baiyao Group to classify its ingredients in order to protect its intellectual property rights.
"The national regulations justify it, and if other medicine makers got its formula, they may make generic medicines and harm the company," he said. "If consumers don't trust Yunnan Baiyao, they can switch to replacements."
With regard to its ingredient statement to the US, Huang said domestic medicine makers need to adjust to laws in other countries in order to get into markets overseas.
In an online survey conducted by Sina, more than 8,600 Internet users said they would use the product despite the incident, accounting for 51 percent of the people polled. Nearly 30 percent said they would not use the products of Yunnan Baiyao.
Source: China Daily

China tells WHO that traditional medicine will help overcome antibiotic resistance problem


China's position at WHO meeting on antibiotic resistance:
"Every person alive today has benefited from the development of antimicrobial drugs but their effectiveness is under threat. Studies in China show a  frightening increase in antibiotic-resistant bacteria such as MRSA. In 
China, 6.8 percent of tuberculosis cases detected are  multi-drug-resistant, far higher than the 2 percent average in most developed countries.
Chinese doctors routinely hand out multiple doses of antibiotics for simple maladies like the sore throats which increase the chance of bacteria becoming resistant to antibiotics. China's Ministry of Health has 
enforced strict rules to curb the widespread overuse of antibiotics in hospitals. Antibiotics will now be classified into three categories for restricted, unrestricted and special use, based on factors such as safety, efficacy, price and drug resistance. All the patients using antibiotics must complete their course to prevent bacteria to become 
resistant. All antibiotics should be made under high standards so that they are effective against the bacteria.
Hospitals are usually known as the sources of all diseases .Codes of practice have been drawn up for doctors, nurses and health care workers to prevent the spread of Hospital acquired infections. Good hygiene within 
hospitals can have a major impact on HAIs such as doctors washing their hands.Guidelines about the clothing the doctors and other staff should wear also prevent spreading of diseases.
China believes that using Chinese herbs is an alternative to antibiotics as it has the same aim as antibiotics to cure the patient. The proper use of Chinese herbal formulas can not only inhibit bacterial, viral and 
fungal infections, but also minimize the need for antibiotics with their adverse side effects.Scientist are still carrying out tests to know exactly how effective they are at destroying bacteria.
The delegate of China believes that if all these precautionary measures are  taken less number of bacteria’s will become resistant to antibiotics and reduced  number of people will be affected by these diseases 
reducing the threat to humanity."
Source: Admun

Chinese "herbal" slimming pills contain thyroid extract and cause hyperthyroidism

Chinese herbal slimming pills sold over the counter and via the internet have been found to contain dangerous levels of thyroid tissue. 
Australian path lab scientists made the discovery after a woman developed hyperthyroidism from taking the slimming pills she had bought online from a Chinese supplier. She presented to her doctor after collapsing and showed typical signs of hyperthyroidism such as palpitations, sweating, tremor and weakness of the arms and legs. Her thyroid tests showed she had hyperthyroidism and she admitted to taking a Chinese medicine "Qian Zhi Su" for three months. Analysis of the pills showed they contained thyroid-like tissue, possibly from pigs.
Source: Pathology

Is turtle jelly the Chinese answer to Lipitor?

The traditional Chinese food of turtle jelly (also known as 龟苓膏 or Guilinggao) in southern China has anti-cholesterol effects, a study shows.
The hypocholesterolemic effects of turtle jelly were investigated in rats and it was found that turtle jelly markedly reversed the increased serum total cholesterol, increased LDL lipoprotein, and decreased HDL lipoprotein induced by hypercholesterolemic diet with a dose-dependent improvement on the atherogenic index. It also demonstrated good hepatoprotective function by reducing fat depositions and overall lipid contents in the liver and increasing the activities of hepatic antioxidative enzymes. The blunted nitric oxide/endothelium-mediated aortic relaxation in rats fed with hypercholesterolemic diet was partially restored after turtle jelly consumption. It is postulated that the hypocholesterolemic effect is the primary beneficial effect given by turtle jelly; it then leads to secondary beneficial effects such as vasoprotective and hepatoprotective functions. The results suggest that turtle jelly may block the downregulation of LDLR and PEPCK and upregulation of PPARα mRNA and protein expressions in the livers of rats fed with hypercholesterolemic diet.
Source: Evidence based Alternative and Complementary Medicine.

Traditional medicine TM81 effective in diabetes

TM81 reduced glucose levels in people with type 2 diabetes

The traditional Chinese medicine TM81 (糖敏灵丸 or Tang-Min-Ling-Wan) is effective in controlling blood glucose level and is safe to use in patients with early-stage type 2 diabetes,a  study shows.
Dr Lian Feng-Mei  and co-researchers from the Guang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, evaluated the safety and effectiveness of TM81 in 480 overweight type 2 diabetes. The patients received 6 g TM81 or placebo, three times daily for 12 weeks. After treatment, HbA1c decreased 1.02% in the TM81 group vs. 0.47% in the placebo group. The fasting plasma glucose decreased 0.8 ± 0.1 mM in the TM81 group vs. an increase of 0.2 ± 0.2 mM in the placebo group.  The TM81 was more effective for patients with higher baseline HbA1c levels. The TM81 group also showed improved β-cell function and increased HOMA-β. In addition, body weight, BMI, and waist circumference of subjects in the TM81 group were reduced, and the symptoms related to diabetes were improved. There were no significant differences in the types and frequency of adverse reactions between the two groups.
The researchers say TM81 contains the herb Rhizoma Coptidis and is derived from a classic formula described in the Treatise on Exogenous Febrile Diseases over 1,000 years ago.
"This Chinese herbal medicine has
the potential to be a new option in clinical management of type 2 diabetes," the researchers conclude.
Source: Diabetes Obesity and Metabolism

Big pharma looks to TCM in China for drug pipeline

Pharma companies such as GSK and Sanofi see traditional Chinese medicine as a potential pipeline for new drugs

The world’s biggest drugmakers are turning to ancient Chinese remedies to boost product pipelines.
GlaxoSmithKline Plc is testing botanicals -- compounds extracted from plants -- for immune disorders, Sanofi plans to turn traditional Chinese medicines into alternative diabetes and cancer therapies, and Nestle SA teamed last month with billionaire Li Ka-Shing to develop a drug derived from ancient Chinese approaches to cure inflammatory bowel disease.
The confluence of China’s growing middle class and pharmaceutical companies’ need to find new revenue have combined to give Western drugmakers an increasingly open mind about a 2,500 year-old form of medicine they once scoffed at.
“You have 1.3 billion people, many of whom cannot afford Western medicines and who believe that traditional Chinese medicines are good enough,” said Bloomberg Industries analyst Sam Fazeli. “If they can manufacture it on a meaningful scale, and do it with the stamp of a Glaxo or a Sanofi on it, perhaps the consumer will be more interested in buying it than something that’s boiled up in a vat somewhere.”
China’s market for traditional drugs, excluding raw herbs and highly purified compounds extracted from herbs, was $13 billion in 2011 and could grow 14 percent annually over the next five years, according to consultancy McKinsey & Co. Of last year’s total, $6 billion came from medicines sold over the counter, accounting for almost half of China’s market for non- prescription drugs, the consultancy said.
Less stringent U.S. rules for approving plant-based treatments may give drugmakers a quicker path to creating medicines, with more than 500 applications to test treatments lodged with the Food & Drug Administration. Previous attempts to break down herbal medicines into single ingredients failed to yield major breakthroughs so Western drugmakers now target mixtures inspired by ancient recipes to sell globally and in China, where many are raised to trust traditional methods.
Combining Western science with traditional cures is an approach that already extends to Glaxo’s research center in Shanghai. Sick workers can tap an alternative Chinese therapy using suction cups made of glass, as well as the pharmaceuticals that generate most of the Brentford, U.K.-based company’s $44 billion of annual sales.
“Traditional medicine has been practiced for thousands of years but it has always been based on clinical experience and not so much on clinical evidence like Western medicine,” said Zang Jingwu, Glaxo’s head of China research and development. “Our strategy is to integrate existing traditional knowledge of diseases with modern drug discovery technology.”
The U.S. FDA introduced new guidelines for botanical treatments in 2004, applying less strict conditions to those imposed on chemical and biological drugs seeking approval. That opened up a new avenue for producers to replenish their medical research pipelines and replace expiring patents.
It’s no longer essential to identify the active constituents of botanical drugs, while products legally used as dietary supplements in the U.S. with no known safety issues may provide “markedly reduced” information on their toxicology, according to the U.S. regulator.
“Almost all botanicals are complex natural mixtures that are difficult to have full chemical characterization and will need flexibility in regulatory approaches,” said Shaw Chen, who leads the FDA’s botanical review team. The guidelines are “intended to facilitate more development of new treatments, especially for unmet medical needs,” he said.
The agency has received more than 500 applications to test drugs under the guidelines, most of which were approved for human trials, Chen said in an e-mailed response to questions. Many are in phase three trials, typically the last hurdle to qualify for approval, with a handful soon to make the final application to become an allowed drug, he said, declining to be more precise.
Glaxo’s herbal drugs efforts will focus initially on immune disorders such as psoriasis, a chronic disease that causes scaly skin, and drugs that treat inflammation of the digestive system, according to Zhang Xun, Shanghai-based head of research and development for the company’s global natural products unit.
“We want to get quickly into the clinical development stage by collaborating with domestic companies,” said Zhang, adding that the company will “soon” have a product in development with a Chinese partner without being more specific.
Sanofi, France’s largest drugmaker, is in talks with the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology to come up with “modernized” versions of traditional medicines. These could be used to treat chronic diseases such as diabetes and cancer, said Frank Jiang, the company’s head of Asia Pacific research and development.
The Paris-based company wants to first register new drugs in China to target local patients before aiming for the global market through approvals in the U.S.
Read more: Businessweek

Big pharma goes to China to look for TCM-based blockbusters

Drug companies like GSK are investing in research to evaluate traditional Chinese remedies

 by Ted Alcorn and Ouyang Yadang
Over the past five years, the world's largest pharmaceutical companies have invested billions of US dollars in research capacity in China, drawn there by the country's low research costs, enormous talent pool, and rapidly expanding market for health care. 
But the research facilities they have built in China are now leveraging their location to tap into the country's wealth of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), with the hope that the ancient practices can point the way to new treatments.
Almost all general hospitals in China have TCM departments and one in ten physicians is trained exclusively in TCM, with most western-medicine doctors also receiving some training. McKinsey report estimates that in China in 2011 there were $13 billion in sales of herbal medicines formulated according to TCM principles. The Chinese Government has fostered the sector in various ways, such as providing high rates of reimbursement for TCM through its national insurance programmes and ensuring the availability of common traditional treatments. More than a third of the drugs on the country's essential drug list are TCMs.
But China is also eager to see the drugs popularised abroad, says Ted Kaptchuk (Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA), an expert on east Asian medicine. “China wants to globalise, and part of its mission is [to demonstrate] its contribution to cosmopolitan, universal culture. And one of the places it is seeing potential is around its traditional medicine, which of course it has a lot of national pride in.”
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is one of several pharmaceutical giants that have taken an active interest. GSK built a major research centre in Shanghai in 2007, and at the beginning of 2012 it announced the formation of a new unit there devoted to the study of TCM. Zang Jingwu, who heads the research centre, says the unit is building a library of compounds derived from Chinese herbs that it will use to screen against known molecular targets, in the hope of identifying novel chemical scaffolds for engineering new drugs. GSK's network of local researchers has been crucial in amassing the library, which Zang describes as “quite sizeable”. The unit is also deconstructing existing TCM treatments with the goal of developing its own evidence-based prescription TCMs for treating disorders ranging from Alzheimer's disease to inflammatory diseases to cancer.
At Beijing's Guang'anmen Hospital, where one of the country's earliest TCM oncology departments was established, most of the inpatients have already received western treatment for their cancer or are receiving treatment that integrates chemotherapy and TCM. Those receiving exclusively TCM are predominantly late-stage patients with poor prognoses who still find the traditional treatment improves their quality of life. Lin Hongsheng, who directs the department, says she was sceptical about TCM when she arrived there in 1976 but has since become convinced of its value, particularly for ameliorating the side-effects of chemotherapy. In studies of late-stage cancer patients she has undertaken there with her colleagues, integrated TCM and western treatment has given better results than exclusively western treatment.
Read more: Lancet Oncology

Clinical news in brief ....

Chinese herbalists at high risk of bladder cancer

Practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine who handle the toxic herb fangchi are at high risk of bladder cancers, a study has shown. Fangchi contains aristolochic acid which is known to cause urothelial carcinoma. Fangchi is commonly used in the Chinese herbal medicine industry and a study of 6,564 Chinese herbalists found that processing, selling or dispensing herbs containing fangchi significantly increased their risk of urothelial carcinoma  by more than a factor of two.
"Exposure to the Chinese herbal drug fangchi increases the risk of urothelial carcinoma in herbalists. Appropriate medical monitoring is warranted for workers who have similar exposure," say researchers.
Read more: Journal of Urology

Bone loss factors in Chinese postmenopausal women

With advancing age, lean mass begins to decrease in women aged over 65 years, but fat mass levels show no significant difference between the age groups. Both fat mass and lean mass positively correlate with bone mineral density decreasing rates. Fat mass is the most significant determinant of bone loss at the lumbar spine, whereas lean mass is the most significant determinant of bone loss at the femoral neck and total hip.
Read more: Endocrine Journal

50% of rural women have reproductive tract infections

A study of 1500 women aged 30 to 59 years old in Shanxi Province found that 54% had reproductive tract infections such as cervicitis, trichomonas vaginitis, and bacterial
vaginitis. The study also showed that 14% had suspicious benign breast disease , 1.4% had cervical precancerous lesions and 0.2% had suspicious breast cancers. All the women expressed interesting taking part in a low cost program of combined screening for  cervical cancer, breast cancer and
reproductive tract infections (RTIs).
Read more: Asia Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention


Mercury causes birth defects in Chinese infants

High levels of mercury found in some pregnant Chinese women increase their risk of having a baby with neural tube defects, a study from has shown. Researchers from the Institute of Reproductive and Child Health/Ministry of Health Key Laboratory of Reproductive Health, Peking University found that the risk of neural tube defects was up to 18 times higher for babies who had in utero exposure to higher levels of mercury.
Read more: Reproductive Toxicology