Modern pharmacology was derived in large part from
herbal history. Even today the basis of many medicines is plants. Aspirin
came from willow trees, morphine from poppy seeds, penicillin from fungus,
digitalis from foxglove. Approximately ¾’s of the world’s people still
rely on traditional herbal medicines. In this country, we are turning back
to this, as the extent of side-effects of pharmaceutical drugs are more widely revealed.
Chinese herbal medicine is a highly sophisticated,
time-tested science that has survived for over 2,000 years. Chinese herbs
number over 6000 in their raw forms - plant, animal, and mineral. These
herbs are used, not singly, as western herbalists tend to do, but in
complex formulas developed and written in many books over the millennia.
When a formula was effective, that was noted. When it did harm, that was
noted. The individual herb properties were documented, and the complex
properties of herbs working in formulas were also noted. Herbs with
harmful effects were booked. Herbs that didn’t work well together were
listed. This all became part of the medical system that was handed down
from one generation to the next. Today, this has been translated and made
available to US practitioners for better patient care.
The formulas are very specific for the patient being
treated, not for the western diagnosed disease. For instance, if 5 people
came to me with headache, they might well receive 5 different formulas. It
would depend on their Chinese diagnosis of imbalance and what is needed to
correct that. The same holds true for all conditions. We base treatment on
the person, not the problem. This is also why it is crucial to rely on the
expertise of a trained Chinese herbalist. Taking the incorrect formula
will throw the body more out of balance. (Western herbs also will do
this.) Herbs should not be used lightly. As you would not stop off in the
pharmacy and choose your own prescriptions, neither should you choose your
own herbs without proper knowledge.
Eastern medicine uses the whole herb in these formulas,
not concerned with finding the ‘active ingredient’ as western med might
be. The thinking is that what nature put in the substance for its balance
to thrive and grow must ALL be important. Therefore, to maintain that
healthy balance, it all needs to be part of the formula. This means
Chinese herbal medicines are more bulky than western pharmaceuticals, so
you need to take more. This also means little or no side effects. Another
factor that alleviates unwanted side effects is the combinations used in
Chinese medicine. Some herbs are added to the formulas to balance other
herbs. Western medicine looks for that active ingredient, then disregards
the other parts as ‘inert’ and tosses them. Then, the active ingredient is
condensed and you get much more than nature intended without any balancing
factors. So with Western medications, you get many more side effects. To
say the ‘inert’ ingredients are not necessary is like saying minerals in
the body are not needed because they come in such tiny amounts compared to
total body makeup. Yet with either too much or not enough of these vital
minerals, the body cannot survive. Nature lives and thrives on its
balances – yin & yang.
This knowledge has only come over great amounts of time
and use. Up to 5000 years. Western medicine has been around only several
hundred years. Its like ancient Chinese medicine is the wise old
grandfather, and Western is the teenager – knows everything and knows the
grandfather knows nothing. After a few more years, the teenager turned
young adult realizes the wisdom and experience of the grandfather and
humbly seeks advice. This is beginning to happen with eastern and western
medicine. There is a place for both, for technology and society go
forward, not back. The young keep life moving forward and onward. Age
imports wisdom and attempts to pass that on. We can do much with Western
medication that is critical. Yet Eastern medicine has the weight of
experience and wisdom of time, and we need to give proper respect to that.
Much of the problems in understanding come solely from lack of
information. As Traditional Chinese Practitioners educate and inform, as
the NIH (National Institutes of Health) as well as others reveal
the results of ongoing studies, as we learn and experience more and more,
we will come to see the best uses for both. Hopefully, we will come soon
to a point when the two work side by side for the best patient care
available.
