what is the point of Chinese 'herbal'

[jelena g]

medicine? Is the Chinese 'herbal' medicine is realy herbal without chemicals?can we trust them?how can it help?

[Markymark]

Many medicines that we use are herbal too.Trouble is, western medicines are put through thorough testing, alternative medicinces don't which is why I don;t trust any of them (homeopathy, reflexology etc etc_

[boojum]

It's really herbal, no artificial chemicals, but plenty of natural ones. God knows what comes out of the various bits of old bark and twigs you have to boil up and drink. Some reckon it works, if you can manage to keep the stuff down.

[fruitybat101]

The same point as all medicine - to make sick people better.

[hazsam]

Some time you can use logic for what you want to choose and use your knowledge , i think you will find out is it working or not.Because all the herbal stuff are come from nature and don't think they are bad, but the only thing that u want to be sure about is the source where you buy it, if you trust the source u can use it?

[Barry K]

Herbal remedies are a dying art and it is important that we keep the knowledge. Fortunately, where I live,Réunion Island there are still lots of herbs made into tisanes, and there are some books written on the subject.The chinese word "tcha" meaning tea was coined when the then Emporer saw a leaf fall into his hot water, took a sip, and pronounced it delicious.

[grayure]

I am a Western herbalist. I know a little about Chinese herbalism too, and i like the model of health it presents, which amounts to systems analysis of bodily function with quaint-sounding terminology. What i'm not sure about is how this translates into practice, and again, how traditional Chinese herbal practice translates into the high street clinics. When i walk past one of their clinics, i see claims made on their windows which, if i made them, would get me thrown out of my professional body for unethical practices. The problems i have with something like listing diabetes, among other serious conditions, as curable, is that it seems to hold out false hopes to someone in a vulnerable position and exploits them emotionally, and that the point is to treat the client, not the condition.I have also heard the rumour that Chinese herbal remedies are adulterated with orthodox medication. I don't know if this is true and really hope it isn't. Therefore, to any TCM practitioner who is reading this, i would be very interested in opening a dialogue with you on the general subject. It may be a cultural difference and i want to believe you are acting in good faith. What is the ethical basis of your approach to publicity? How does quality control work with respect to the remedies?

[Opus]

Laura J claims:"All drugs are derived from plants."False. Not even remotely true, not since Banting & Best (look 'em up!) "Once a natural plant is synthetic, it is toxic. "False. There are many "natural plants" that are FAR more toxic than similar synthetic compounds.As far as your question - yes, many Chinese "herbal" medicines contain unlabeled real pharmaceutic agents. I wouldn't trust them any more than I would trust Laura J's opinion on anything "herbal".

[tantravaya]

What is the point of western allopathic medicine? Pharmaceuticals kills tens of thousands of people each year and hospitalise many thousands more. Chinese medicine is thousands of years old. Pharmaceuticals are very recent, experimental, hit and miss, made from synthetic chemicals and make certain people very very very rich. I know which solution I would reach for first.Herbs are filled with chemicals. Even the lowly tomato has more than 300 chemicals. All plants contain nature made and packaged chemicals. Pharmaceuticals contain man made chemicals which are often toxic and unpredictable in their actions and reactions in the body.