Currently the number of recorded Traditional Tibetan Medicine
(TTM) has already hit 2,294. Approximately over 300 are widely
used, among which, 200, or 70 %, are of plants and herbs; 40, or
12% of animals and 40, or 14% of minerals. One third out of the
commonly used TTM utilizes the same raw materials as the
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) while more than half of the
TTM contains herbs native to Tibet. The features of TTM are
elaborated as below: The TTM is highly integrated into the
practical utilization. The TTM is categorized in accordance to
their distinct natures, tastes and functions including 8
natures, 6 tastes and 17 functions. The use of multiple
medicines in a single prescription constitutes another important
characteristic of TTM: some TTM contain about 25 ministerial
medicines; for some others, the number of ministerial medicines
even exceeds 100. In most cases the TTM has its substitute in an
attempt to remedy the inadequacy of some precious raw materials.
For each sort of TTM there may acco