<P> A 2013 review found the data too weak to support use of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) for benign prostatic hyperplasia . A 2013 review found the research on the benefit and safety of CHM for idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss is of poor quality and cannot be relied upon to support their use . A 2013 Cochrane review found inconclusive evidence that CHM reduces the severity of eczema . The traditional medicine ginger, which has shown anti-inflammatory properties in laboratory experiments, has been used to treat rheumatism, headache and digestive and respiratory issues, though there is no firm evidence supporting these uses . A 2012 Cochrane review found no difference in decreased mortality when Chinese herbs were used alongside Western medicine versus Western medicine exclusively . A 2012 Cochrane review found insufficient evidence to support the use of TCM for people with adhesive small bowel obstruction . A 2011 review found low quality evidence that suggests CHM improves the symptoms of Sjogren's syndrome . A 2010 review found TCM seems to be effective for the treatment of fibromyalgia but the findings were of insufficient methodological rigor . A 2009 Cochrane review found insufficient evidence to recommend the use of TCM for the treatment of epilepsy . A 2008 Cochrane review found promising evidence for the use of Chinese herbal medicine in relieving painful menstruation, but the trials assessed were of such low methodological quality that no conclusion could be drawn about the remedies' suitability as a recommendable treatment option . Turmeric has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for centuries to treat various conditions . This includes jaundice and hepatic disorders, rheumatism, anorexia, diabetic wounds, and menstrual complications . Most of its effects have been attributed to curcumin . Research that curcumin shows strong anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities have instigated mechanism of action studies on the possibility for cancer and inflammatory diseases prevention and treatment . It also exhibits immunomodulatory effects . A 2005 Cochrane review found insufficient evidence for the use of CHM in HIV - infected people and people with AIDS . A 2010 Cochrane review found insufficient evidence to support the use of Traditional Chinese Herbal Products (THCP) in the treatment of angina . A 2010 Cochrane review found no evidence supporting the use of TCHM for stopping bleeding from haemorrhoids . There was some weak evidence of pain relief . </P> <P> With an eye to the enormous Chinese market, pharmaceutical companies have explored the potential for creating new drugs from traditional remedies . A Nature editorial described TCM as "fraught with pseudoscience", and stated that having "no rational mechanism of action for most of its therapies" is the "most obvious answer" to why its study didn't provide a "flood of cures", while advocates responded that "researchers are missing aspects of the art, notably the interactions between different ingredients in traditional therapies ." </P> <P> One of the few successes was the development in the 1970s of the antimalarial drug artemisinin, which is a processed extract of Artemisia annua, a herb traditionally used as a fever treatment . Researcher Tu Youyou discovered that a low - temperature extraction process could isolate an effective antimalarial substance from the plant . She says she was influenced by a traditional source saying that this herb should be steeped in cold water, after initially finding high - temperature extraction unsatisfactory . The extracted substance, once subject to detoxification and purification processes, is a usable antimalarial drug--a 2012 review found that artemisinin - based remedies were the most effective drugs for the treatment of malaria . For her work on malaria, Tu received the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine . Despite global efforts in combating malaria, it remains a large burden for the population . Although WHO recommends artemisinin - based remedies for treating uncomplicated malaria, artemisinin resistance can no longer be ignored . </P> <P> Also in the 1970s Chinese researcher Zhang TingDong and colleagues investigated the potential use of the traditionally used substance arsenic trioxide to treat acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). Building on his work, research both in China and the West eventually led to the development of the drug Trisenox, which was approved for leukemia treatment by the FDA in 2000 . </P>

The examination of the tongue by the chinese physician is known as