Why is TCM worth of commendation?

Traditional Chinese medicine has its unique characteristics and advantages. As long as these characteristics and advantages are handed down, the traditional Chinese medicine surely will make new contributions to human health.

Since the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft flew to the space and successfully docked with the Tiangong-1, China turned into the third country in the world to master the rendezvous and docking technology of manned spacecraft. Li Yongzhi, director of Medical Department of the China Astronaut Research and Training Center, said that the astronauts of Shenzhou-9 take a "Space Heart-Nourishing Pill" three times a day. The "Space Heart-Nourishing Pills" are made of traditional Chinese medicine and are used for the health of the astronauts of Shenzhou-5, Shenzhou-6, Shengzhou-7 and Shenzhou-9 and can help realize the dream of manned space flight.

In the rendezvous and docking, the astronauts of Shenzhou-9 had worked and lived in the space for more than 10 days. The astronauts are likely to suffer from space motion sickness, decompression sickness and orthostatic intolerance. These actually are not real "diseases" but the reactions induced by cardiovascular dysfunction, loss of bone salt and decrease of red blood cells in a weightless environment and a physiological stress response of a healthy person in abnormal conditions.

Chinese medicine values the whole and the balance while Western medicine emphasizes the parts and antagonism. Therefore, the Western medicine and Chinese medicine are complementary. Although Russia and European and American countries have attached great importance to the diseases suffered by astronauts, they cannot effectively resolve the problem of their health due to the limitations of Western medicine. However, the Chinese medicine experts can help astronauts to nurse their bodies. Before setting out, the astronauts must take Chinese medicines to nurse their liver, kidney and blood and enhance physical fitness through massage and acupuncture. Especially the "Space Heart-Nourishing Pills" can prevent disease and help the imbalanced blood circulation return to normal.

The magical effects of Chinese medicines have been certified in the space flight. The Chinese space center and the Belgian Catholic University of Leuven had checked the bodies of astronauts when they returned to the Earth. The result shows that Chinese astronauts have the optimal health. Just as what the space hero Yang Liwei had said, "In the field of contemporary aerospace medicine, the Chinese medicine had effectively ensure the normal work of astronauts in special circumstances and played an important role in keeping their physical health from the shooting of Shenzhou-5 to the spacewalk of Shenzhou-7 astronauts."