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"Tibet is an ancient culture with its own long-standing
medical tradition. Traditional Tibetan physicians examine pulses,
urine samples, the whites of the eyes, and the mental and spiritual
well-being of each patient in order to prescribe a complex formula
of both herbal and mineral components, as well as lifestyle
recommendations. Thousands of plants, minerals, animal products,
and even sea shells and bezoars have been catalogued in the
Tibetan Medical tradition. Traditional Tibetan Medicine (TTM)
is widely accepted by Tibetan villagers, and ingredients can
be gathered and processed at much lower cost than western medication.
Ancient medical texts have been researched to determine the
best formulations to prevent pneumonia and diarrhea. Indigenous
knowledge may prove a powerful method to serve the health of
the Tibetan people." |
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—Field
intern, 2000
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Problem: Tibetans are facing a serious
health crisis. Children are dying from common and preventable
diseases such as pneumonia, diarrhea, and malnutrition. Potential
solutions to these problems reside within the Tibetan community
itself and with traditional Tibetan physicians. However, often
these traditional approaches are overlooked or dismissed. |
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What Terma has done to address the problem:
Since 1995, Terma has been working with traditional Tibetan
physicians to document the efficacy of traditional Tibetan medical
practices in preventing and managing prevalent health problems
among Tibetan children. These data will be a significant contribution
to evaluating the efficacy of Tibetan herbs used preventively
in community settings as a public health strategy. |
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In 1998, the TCNP began collaborating
with traditional Tibetan physicians from the Nagchu Mensikhang
Hospital of Traditional Tibetan Medicine, to conduct a pilot
program using traditional herbal remedies to improve child health.
Traditional Tibetan physicians collaborated with Terma researchers
to develop a baseline survey measuring prevalence of diarrhea
and respiratory infections. A separate survey was developed
to collect baseline anthropometrical measurement of height,
weight, as well as chest and head circumference. The first Traditional
Tibetan Medicine trial was conducted among 600 children in three
rural villages in north central Tibet (Nagchu region) and three
agricultural villages in Tulum, about 10 km from Lhasa. |
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Traditional physicians examined
children aged 0-7. Herbs were distributed to children based
upon traditional diagnostic assessment of the child's vulnerability
to diarrhea and acute respiratory infection. This herbal recipe
is based on principles from the Tibetan pharmaceutical codices
addressing pediatric herbal prophylaxis of common fatal childhood
illnesses. |
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Field work was completed by
our young Tibetan traditional physicians and office staff in
November 2000, after three years of regular, recorded checkups
at three-month intervals. The staff has begun translation of
esoteric TTM terminology and entering and evaluating the data
collected in this study. From the perspective of the allopathic
and traditional clinicians, the participating children have
greatly improved in their overall condition, and we anticipate
our data to confirm that these children will have improved growth
and health verified by objective measures. |
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Next steps: As our methods of intervention are refined and
evaluated, Terma hopes to regionalize the TTM intervention throughout
Tibet and in other areas of the world where low-cost traditional
interventions will benefit children.
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