TCM Herbs Lesson #1
It All Begins Here
History
As you all know, Traditional Chinese Medicine utilizes herbal/phytomedicine. Phytomedicine is probably 50% of the medicine itself taught at most Chinese Medicine programs, and practiced by many practitioners in clinical and private settings, in the East and West.
Traditional knowledge of Chinese herbs, as well as their combinations as prescriptions, is built upon thousands of years of folk testing, and now pharmacological research, including identifying their natural compounds with improved clinical efficacy for the treatment of a wide range of diseases.
Scientific Literature
Active Compounds & Applications
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) provides a rich basis for modern drug discovery and development. To date, 97 FDA-approved drugs have been derived from TCM herbs. Read More Here
For example, ephedrine, which is derived from the TCM herb Ma Huang (Herba ephedrae), is used as an anti-asthmatic & increase blood pressure drug. Artemisinin, derived from the Chinese herb Qing Hao (Herba Artemisiae annuae), is now a first-line drug for malaria.
Other examples such as Huang Qi (Astragalus), Yin Yang Huo (Epimedium), Bai Shao (Paeoniae Radix Alba), and Mai Men Dong (Ophiopogonis Radix) which belong to many classical formulas, have been found to enhance immunity by increasing antibody function cell in the spleen, and the CD4/CD8 T-cell ratio in the peripheral blood. Read More Here
The multiple applications of Chinese Herbs in various conditions, along with their specific cell & gene targeting, is becoming widely researched, thus commonly used within “western” supplements & drugs.
A popular herb database, in China, for researching Traditional Chinese Herbs, compounds and their selective binding to specific tissues in our body (lung, liver etc), can be found Here.
We will be discussing many applications of TCM herbs in the future, so stay tuned!
This blog is intended for educational purposes only. Always consult a licensed professional before integrating new treatments.