Generally, this medicine is more poplar in Asia than in Europe. 

    However, problems including the exhaustion of medicinal resources and adulterants are threatening the development of this science.

Photo shows the Specimen Gallery of the Qinghai Tibetan Medicine Research Institute, Xining, capital of northwest China's Xining Province. (Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    In recent years, with eco-environmental deterioration and predatory exploitation of natural resources, a vicious circle has formed -- the more expensive the raw medicine is, the more people engage in medicinal material collection, resulting in less and less medicinal substances and increasingly higher prices.

For instance, the price of the Chinese caterpillar fungus has soared to more than 10,000 yuan (1,464 U.S. dollars) per kg from only 100 yuan decades ago and still continues rising now.

    On the market, the ratio of the genuine and fake Tibetan medicine is about 1:10, a top official of an enterprise revealed.

    Anyway, there is a long way to go before making the West understand and accept this science.

Photo shows a field of jerusalem artichokes, a plant used as a medicinal material in the Tibetan medicine. (Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    No explicit definition has been made of the Tibetan medicine in any Western science and medical theory. Zhonggegya indicated that excluded from regular pharmacy by most western countries, the Tibetan medicines are regarded as a supplement to health products or food addictives only and no promotion or advertisement can be made for it in the Western market.

    Moreover, some indexes, such as the heavy metal content, microorganism remnants and pesticide residues, also have hindered its development on the global market because it is hard to enable these indexes to meet international safety standards.

    "Like any other traditional medicine, the Tibetan medicine needs improving in many aspects including prescription and processing techniques. Today, the modern Tibetan medicine focuses on abandoning the use of improper addictives and developing more drug forms in order to improve its efficacy," Li Fangrui said.