The Register of Chinese Herbal Medicine is delighted to offer practitioners of Chinese Herbal Medicine use of its unique

CASE HISTORY WEBSITE
Use of the site is currently free but all users will need to apply to the administrator for a password at dba@rchmdatabase.com  The administrator will check the applicant's eligibility to use the site.

The site was launched in June 2005 and has enormous potential, but we need data for the potential to be fulfilled. So please contribute a case or two soon! Remember that contributions do not need to be success stories; it is just as useful to send in requests for comment on difficult or puzzling cases.

About the site
The case history website has been set up by the RCHM in order to assist practitioners of Chinese herbal medicine in dealing with clinical cases and to help communication within the profession. The site is a database which allows for an accumulation of searchable case history material. Cases may be success stories, but this is not essential. They may be difficult cases on which a practitioner would like comment or advice, or cases that are felt to be of interest for any other reason.

Practitioners apply to the administrator for a user name and password. The administrator will check that the applicant has a suitable background in Chinese medicine, because the intention is that the users of the site should also contribute cases where possible. The site has the potential to be an excellent resource for practitioners, but it can succeed only if users also become contributors.

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Entering a New Case History

The case history information is entered into a standard form which allows the material then to be interrogated by means of key words including disease category, Chinese medicine diagnosis, herbal formula or an individual herb.

The form asks for topic and conditon . Topic refers to broad disease categories, chosen from the following: cancer; cardiovascular; dermatological; digestive; ear, nose and throat; eye conditions; gynaecological; immune disorders; liver and gallbladder; mental and emotional; metabolic (eg diabetes and thyroid conditions); musculo-skeletal; neurological (including headaches, stroke and multiple sclerosis); respiratory; rheumatological; urinary and genital. This list is not set in stone and will be reviewed in the light of experience. Condition asks for a narrower term within the broader disease category, which may be either a western medicine or a Chinese medicine term (eg 'asthma' or 'wheezing' within the broad category of respiratory disease; 'irritable bowel syndrome' or 'abdominal pain' within the broad category of digestive disorders). Since western medicine disease categories are very frequently used among Chinese medicine practitioners, and users would be likely to search under 'asthma' or 'irritable bowel syndrome', it would be useful to include the western medicine terms where possible.

The form then includes details of the practitioner , age and gender of the patient , presenting history , Chinese medicine diagnosis (limited to 100 characters) and treatment . A great deal of text is allowed in the ‘presenting history' field, but users are encouraged to be as succinct as possible. In the ‘treatment' field there is a description of treatment and outcomes in chronological order, with full details of formulas used including dosage, and any accompanying treatments. This field also has as much space as anyone is likely to need, but again users are encouraged to be succinct.

Note that once you have submitted a case, you cannot change the text, thus it is important to check your material very thoroughly before clicking 'submit'. If you find nevertheless that there are mistakes that need correction, you can communicate with the administrator, who will be able to make amendments. The administrator reserves the right to edit or omit any material, where this is deemed necessary to maintain the integrity of the database.

Search, Display Cases and Comment
The Search page provides a box in which you can enter key words (at present with a limit of 27 characters), then click on 'new window' or 'view' and relevant cases will be displayed. A comment box attached to each case allows you to ask questions or comment on the case, thus providing for discussion as well as creating a pool of searchable information. Under 'Display Cases' among options, you can see a list of cases by date and topic, and select 'view' to see details of each case.

Ethical Conduct
All material and comment upon it must be presented in a way which complies with the normal rules of conduct among professionals. The administrator reserves the right to remove any comment which is construed as unprofessional. At all times the anonymity of the patient will be preserved, nonetheless users are advised to request permission from patients for use of the material.

For queries about the site please contact the RCHM office.