Jingduan Yang, M.D. (The Epoch Times)
Chinese herbal medicine is not quite an accurate description of this modality because it employs herbs or plants, minerals, insects (silkworm skin, for example), sea creatures (oyster shells), and animal products such as tiger bones.
People who seek help from a practitioner of Chinese herbal medicine are very often confused by what medicines might do to them, how they work, and how they are prepared.
One of the common misperceptions of Chinese herbal medicines is that they are chemical agents like other medications or vitamins. Indeed, there are a lot of chemical agents in each of the individual herbs. Sometimes, they contain extracts, which are particular chemical components that are made into medicines.
For example, malaria can be treated with extracts from Qinggao (Artemisia apiacea). However, in the pure practice of Chinese herbal medicine, the ingredients are not chosen based on their chemical components, but on the energy output of the whole ingredient.
For example, a commonly used Chinese herb Huangqi (Astragalus) is somewhat sweet, mildly warming, and has an affinity for the lung, spleen, and kidney meridians. Because spleen “qi” is the major energy for food absorption, metabolism, and immunity, Huangqi is effective for mal-absorption, slow metabolism, and prolapsed organs, for modulating immunity and preventing infections from bacteria and viruses.
Kidney qi regulates urination; therefore, Huangqi is also effective for urinary dysfunction caused by an enlarged prostate. For treating different kinds of illness such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, stroke, and the side effects of chemotherapy or radiation therapy, it is often used in combination with other herbal ingredients.
People often think they can take the same Chinese herbal remedy forever as they take other food and nutritional supplements. The body’s energy status changes as result of herbal medicine treatment, so the ingredients and their dosages need to be modified every one or two weeks or periodically, depending on the individual's situation.
Herbs are natural substances, but they are medicines. They have minimum side effects when taken at the right time for the right condition. Otherwise, they can be harmful. For example, Huangqi taken alone should be used with caution in those who have high blood pressure or high fevers due to acute infections.
Dr. Jingduan Yang is a board certified psychiatrist on the faculty of the Jefferson Myrna Brind Center of Integrative Medicine, Philadelphia. His Web site is Taoinstitute.com
