Analysis of prescription database extracted from standard textbooks of traditional Dai medicine

BACKGROUND Traditional Dai Medicine (TDM) is one of the four major ethnomedicine of China. In 2007 a group of experts produced a set of seven Dai medical textbooks on this subject. The first two were selected as the main data source to analyse well recognized prescriptions. OBJECTIVE To quantify patterns of prescriptions, common ingredients, indications and usages of TDM. METHODS A relational database linking the prescriptions, ingredients, herb names, indications, and usages was set up. Frequency of pattern of combination and common ingredients were tabulated. RESULTS A total of 200 prescriptions and 402 herbs were compiled. Prescriptions based on "wind" disorders, a detoxification theory that most commonly deals with symptoms of digestive system diseases, accounted for over one third of all prescriptions. The major methods of preparations mostly used roots and whole herbs. CONCLUSION The information extracted from the relational database may be useful for understanding symptomatic treatments. Antidote and detoxification theory deserves further research.