In the early 80s, due to the problem of aging population, Japanese authority performed intensive research to explore effective drugs against senile diseases, especially senile dementia. Since Cistanche has well-known effects to treat those diseases, it became one of the herbs for further laboratory experiments.

  In the late 80s, Chinese doctors also did intensive and systemic research about the chemical components in Cistanche Tubulosa. Comparing Tubular Cistanche (Cistanche tubulosa Schenk R. Wight) with Desert Cistanche (Cistanche deserticola Y.C.Ma), researchers discovered that the percentage of effective components in Tubular Cistanche is as 5-10 times as that in Desert Cistanche. Therefore Tubular Cistanche was complementarily recorded in Pharmacopoeia of PRC 2005.