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Animal Holistic Health Center |
| Introduction
to Traditional Chinese Herbal Medication |
Chinese herbal medicine is a ancient art dating back
more than 10,000 years and today remains an integral part of the Traditional
Chinese Medicine (TCM) system. Over the thousands of years, herbal
prescriptions have been formulated and used on countless patients in China.
Herbal Medicine is aimed at building & strengthening normal function of the
organ systems and the body as a whole unit. Unlike "Western" drugs which
rely on instant short-term effects, herbs work slowly and heal over time to provide
lasting effects & often without unwanted side effects. In this
way, TCM seeks to correct the root of the disease, not just relieve the
symptoms of disease by blocking abnormal organ function with drugs. In
China, for every person who has been treated with acupuncture, there are at
least ten who have been treated with herbs. |
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Chinese medicine treats the patient, not the disease |
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- TCM herbal medicine differs from Western herbal medicine in that it is
part of a complete medicine system.
- Over 5000 herbs Chinese medicinal herbs have been characterized as to
their energy, direction of action, and part of the body (meridian)
affected
- Formulas cane varying numbers of herbs, from small formulas containing
1-4 herbs to large formulas containing 10-15 different herbs in specified
proportions
- Initially all formulas started out small with only a few herbs to
treat a TCM diagnosis
- Over the hundreds and sometimes thousands or years, Chinese doctors
noted the strengths & weaknesses of these formulas, and continually
modified them to make them more efficient
- As diseases evolved and changed, the formulas were adapted as well to
meet the changing needs.
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| History of
Chinese Herbal Medicine |
- Herbal medicine developed in Southern China where the warm
temperate climate was ideal for growing and processing
medicinal plants and non-plant materials.
- Chinese scholars estimate that herbal medicine dates back
to the 10th century BC
- Earliest known book that still survives
Prescriptions for 52 Diseases (Wu Shi Bing Fang) dates
back to a period as early as the 8th century BC
- Documented use of herbal for nearly 3000 years of
continuous use
- 200 BC Nei Jing, The Yellow Emperor's
Classic of Medicine- discussed TCM, acupuncture &
herbal medicine
- 200 BC, Divine Peasant's Herbal- first book
documenting the medicinal value of individual herbs
- 219 A.D.- Dr. Chang's Discussion of Cold Induced Disorders- formulas are
still being used today- 17 centuries later
- Since Dr. Chang's book,
thousands of books and formularies have been written regarding the uses
&indications of Chinese herbal remedies
- In the
Sung dynasty (982-992), Chinese government cataloged all the know herbal
medications of the day and compiled The Imperial Grace Formulary of the Tai
Ping Era containing 16,834 entries.
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| Herbs & the FDA |
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Although herbal medications have not gone through rigorous laboratory
trials to prove their effectiveness as a "drug", they have endured a tougher test on effectiveness- in essence, a long term "clinical" trial
on thousands of patients and doctors in
China. Medicine that has little effect and doesn't improve a patient's symptoms
will not be continued to be bought or used by doctors and patients. |
- Bias against herbs in the way in which the testing is performed in the
laboratory
- Herbs do not have a wealthy pharmaceutical company "sponsoring " the
research trails. If they did, once they were "approved", the cost
would increase exponentially and become unaffordable for many patients-
similar to today's "prescription" medications.
- Despite vast "clinical trials" in China, the FDA continues to dispute the
medicinal value of herbal formulas
- Kommission E- German regulatory body has approved over 250
herbs to be safe and effective for medicinal use including milk thistle &
ginkgo after a thorough review of available research and a study of
the safety of each herb in the laboratory.
- Digitalis, a
derivative of the herb Foxglove first used by the Egyptians for heart
disease & by allopathic (Western) medicine for the past 200 years. Western
medicine continues to use digoxin & digitoxin, both synthetic derivatives
of digitalis to treat hear disease in the
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| Quality
Control of Chinese Herbal Patent Medications |
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We only use quality herbal preparations originating from legitimate
sources- primarily Plum Flower brand by Mayway, Golden Flower
Chinese Herbs, & Seven Forests Herbal Medicine |
- Mayway, a Cailfornia company that exclusively distributes herbs produced by the
Chinese Lanzhou foci herb company, a licensed herb factory
producing legitimate patent medications
- To be licensed, the Chinese Government requires factories to
follow the Chinese Government Herbal Pharmacopoeia guidelines
of herb quality control for products, production methods,
testing methods, and strict standards for herb quality
- Guideline include: inspection of the herb fields & crops,
ensuring that herbs are harvested properly, tested for heavy metals,
molds, and bacterial contaminants, & that all raw herbs are inspect
for quality, size, smell, taste, and active ingredients.
- Lanzhou factory is GMP certified- (good manufacturing
practices)- guidelines set up initially by the for the US
manufacture of pharmaceutical products. GMP certification
allows products to be exported to the US and other nations with
strict import regulations
- Once the herbs have been inspected, they are processed,
cooked, and formulated into the patent medicines- primarily in the
form of tea pills or "wan" form.
- All pills are tested to ensure that active ingredients are still
in the proper proportions and that the pills dissolve readily in water
within 45 minutes.
| Why are we so
careful where we buy our Chinese patent medications from? |
| An estimated 70% of patent herbal medications
sold in Chinese herbal shops in the us is smuggled counterfeit
herbs. These preps are made in illegal non-licensed factories
with no quality control standards established by the Chinese
government and thus make inferior products copying the packaging
of the legitimate high quality patent medicine. |
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| FYI... Herbal Formulations |
Commercial Herbal Preparations
of Selected Formulas |
- Tang- decoction (soup)
- San- powder
- Wan- pill or pellet made with liquid (Shui wan), honey (Mi wan), or
rice flour paste (Hu wan)
- Plan- coated pill
- Lian- uncoated pill
- Ding- lozenge
- Dan- special formulation
- Gin- alcohol extract
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- Raw herbs
- Ground herbs
- Pressed powders into tabs
- Extract granules
- Patent medicines
- Tinctures
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