Expatriate females with sleeping disorders can now receive whole-life medical support, covering puberty, adulthood, pregnancy and child-delivery, menopause and old age at a local maternity hospital.
After opening the city's first clinic for pregnant women with sleeping disorders covering their sleeping problems in before, during pregnancy and after-birth stages as well as babies with sleep problems in 2023, Shanghai International Peace Maternity and Child Health Hospital announced on Friday it will provide a TCM-based clinic on sleep disorder for women at any life stage.
Sleep, sports and nutrition are the three important issues for proper development and health, and sleep is fundamental for both physical and psychological health.
Since the hospital opened its pre-natal sleep disorder clinic in 2023, it has offered guidance and medical help to nearly 10,000 pregnant women and gradually expanded the service to a perinatal and after-birth comprehensive and continuous sleep renovation and medical system. This features perinatal medicine, child care, and psychological medicine.
Now the hospital has further expanded the service and introduced TCM for sleep disorders.
According to a report released by China Sleep Research Society about 48.5 percent of Chinese adults have sleeping problems. The incidence among female is 51.1 percent, higher than males, and the problem is rising along with age. As high as 73.7 percent of women aged 65 and older have sleep disorder. This can impact life quality and induce or deteriorate diseases like ovary function failure and immunity disorders.
"TCM has a different theory from Western medicine, as we believe sleep disorder is a symptom of an imbalance of organ function," said Dr Jin Furui, director of the hospital's TCM gynecology.
Dr Jin Furui, from Shanghai International Peace Maternity and Child Health Hospital, checks the pulse of a woman with a sleep disorder.
"Western medicine usually prescribes medicines to inhibit the central nerve system to help people to sleep. Which can cause dependency and drug resistance in the long term. People can suffer more serious symptoms if they stop the medicine."
"TCM views a person as a whole system. By using herbal medicine and herbal tea and techniques like acupuncture, comprehensive and individualized TCM therapy can help balance yin and yang, better organ function and energy, to help regain a natural and stable status. Such measures can treat sleep disorders from their source and usually has no side effects."
Expatriate patients with sleep problems are welcome, as the hospital has a connection with all major commercial medical insurance companies and its medical staff have bilingual abilities.
The hospital is building an English version for online medical service reservation through its WeChat public account.
TCM sleep disorder clinic
Tuesday afternoons, Thursday afternoons, and Saturday at Xuhui branch (1961 Huashan Rd)
Wednesday afternoons at Fengxian branch (168 Wanghe Rd )
Perinatal sleep disorder clinic
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, and Wednesday mornings at Fengxian branch (168 Wanghe Rd)
Both of the branches have international department for on-site reservation and offer bilingual reservation and consultation through 021-6447-0399, 6407-4887, 6426-5988.