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eCAM Advance Access originally published online on August 4, 2004
eCAM 2004 1(2):125-132; doi:10.1093/ecam/neh019
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© 2004, the authors Evidenced-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Vol. 1, Issue 2 © Oxford University Press 2004; all rights reserved. The online version of this article has been published under an open access model. Users are entitled to use, reproduce, disseminate, or display the open access version of this article provided that: the original authorship is properly and fully attributed; the Journal and Oxford University Press are attributed as the original place of publication with the correct citation details given; if an article is subsequently reproduced or disseminated not in its entirety but only in part or as a derivative work this must be clearly indicated.

Review

An Overview of Traditional Chinese Herbal Formulae and a Proposal of a New Code System for Expressing the Formula Titles

Yeong-Deug Yi and Il-Moo Chang*

Natural Products Research Institute, Seoul National University Seoul, Korea

Traditional Chinese herbal therapy can be characterized by the use of a large number of multi-herb formulae. To provide modern and Western scientists without knowledge of Chinese literature and cultural background easy access to information, a database with a total of 11 810 traditional Chinese herbal formulae was constructed. All the information was then translated into understandable scientific terms in English. While coining the formula titles in English, we discovered some principles governing the naming of titles by using computer analysis. In addition, we observed that about 92% of the formulae are in the range of single-herb formulae to thirteen-herb formulae. Most large number-herb formulae are formulated by combining pre-existing smaller number-herb formulae. The King herbs ({neh019-inl-01}) with major therapeutic activity in a multi-herb formula were identified by the formulation concept using two parameters: the herbal dose and the herbal drug property (the degree of toxicity). Based on such analytical data, we established an English code system representing all formula titles written in ideographic Chinese characters: an array of important key words such as ‘Herbal name in Latin + Efficacy (Target organs) + Preparation form + Number of herbs.’ By searching the English version of the database with any of the above key words, a variety of information on the status of traditional Chinese herbal therapy can be accessed.

Keywords: traditional Chinese herbal therapy – herbal database – code system – formula title

*For reprints and all correspondence: Il-Moo Chang, Natural Products Research Institute, Seoul National University, Yungun-dong, Jongro-ku, Seoul 110-460, Korea. Fax: +82-2-745-1015. E-mail: changim{at}snu.ac.kr


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