[Overview and Future Thinking of Integrative Medicine]

Area of Science:

• Integrative medicine
• Clinical research methodology
• Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Western Medicine (WM) integration

Background:

• Clinical research in Chinese medicine (CM) and Western medicine (WM) presents distinct approaches.
• Literature review highlights two primary methods for integrating CM and WM.
• Existing research often relies on clinical experience or modern scientific validation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To summarize and analyze the clinical research integration methods of CM and WM.
• To propose a framework for combining CM syndrome typing with WM disease identification.
• To outline future directions for the development of integrated CM and WM.

Main Methods:

• Literature-based research and analysis of existing clinical studies.
• Categorization of integration strategies into experience-based and research-based approaches.
• Conceptual framework development for macro-syndrome typing and micro-disease identification.

Main Results:

• Identified two main integration approaches: combining CM syndrome typing with WM disease identification based on clinical experience, and refining CM syndrome typing within WM recognition using modern scientific research.
• Proposed an integrated model that bridges macro-syndrome typing with micro-disease identification.
• Outlined future goals, tasks, and feasible strategies for CM and WM development.

Conclusions:

• The integration of CM and WM is achievable through structured methodologies.
• Modern scientific research can enhance the flexibility and accuracy of CM syndrome typing.
• A clear roadmap for future research and development in integrative medicine is proposed.