Traditional Mongolian medicine -- the kind used by Genghis Khan (1162-1227), founder of the vast Mongol empire of the Middle Ages -- has found wider uses both at home and abroad, said medical expert Yu Lianyun.

Attending an annual Chinese Traditional Medicine meeting in Beijing that ended yesterday, Yu, an official with Inner Mongolia Autonomous Regional Health Department, found numerous reasons to feel good about the future of Mongolian medicine.

"When Genghis Khan, born in Temujin, swept through Europe, Mongolian medicine was like the wind beneath his wings," said Yu.

More brother than cousin to CTM, the distinctive Mongolian medicine can be traced back more than 1,000 years. It is famous for its "bizarre" treatment of hypertension with blood-letting and drinking fermented horse milk.

"Mongolian medicine, which helped Genghis Khan conquer high and low in the Asian-Euro continent, has found a place in everyday life of common Mongolians," acknowledged Yu.

Many traditional Mongolian medicines have proved effective in clinical diagnosis. According to the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, at the end of 2004, there were approximately 14,900 traditional medical doctors in Inner Mongolia.

"The web of doctors and clinics links up all the herdsmen who are widely scattered in Inner Mongolia, putting medical services within their reach," Yu said.

Part of the job at the annual meeting of CTM is to explore the new possibilities of traditional medicine, including the medicine of minority ethnic groups.

An offshoot of CTM, Mongolian medicine is easy take, cheap and effective.

Unlike CTM, which is known for its hours of preparation and the attitude that "Bitter medicine treats you well," Mongolian medicine is now in tablet, pill and powder forms to cater to modern habits.

But given the above-mentioned advantages, Mongolian medicine still retains a strong accent -- only finding most of its strong influence in Mongolian areas -- the problem confronting all traditional medicines today.

"Without any exception, all vernacular medicines have shown too much reliance on such materials as musk deer and tiger bone," said Yu.

(Xinhua News Agency January 8, 2005)