About Herbal Medicine

A recent survey (2007) by the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that use of alternative medicine is common and growing in the USA. The survey found that 1 in 3 adults and 1 in 9 children and were taking herbal supplements or other forms of alternative medicine. Herbal supplements were the most popular form of alternative medicine and 1 in 5 adults indicated they had taken a supplement in the previous 30 days. Vitamins and mineral supplements, folk remedies and religious healing were not counted as alternative medicine. The study included 23,000 adults who spoke for themselves and 9,000 adults speaking for themselves and on behalf of their children. One of the study's authors, Richard Nahin said "Some facets of conventional care is not satisfying, and they're looking at other options."

American & Chinese Cultures Merging

Historically, the Chinese and American approaches to healthcare have been worlds apart. Today, both cultures are embracing many facets of the other country's healthcare and they are merging. For example many Chinese who have worked for international companies disdain Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and seek western style healthcare. American people who are disillusioned with American style healthcare are embracing TCM even though most primary care physicians don't approve of or understand the treatments. Which is understandable given that gaining American board-certification requires great effort for American doctors and TCM is likley not a high priority for them.

Chinese Medicine

Herbs have been used in China to treat medical conditions for thousands of years and they have been refined continually. TCM knowledge has passed down over the centuries and has spread to the USA but, it is largely prescribed by Alternative Medical Practioners (AMPs) who are not licensed Medical Doctors. In America, AMPs do not enjoy the lofty cultural status of MDs and consequently TCM is often viewed with less esteem. Potentially a hybrid approach to healthcare treatements will emerge in the coming years.

Treatment Approaches

Patients going to MDs often have blood tests, x-rays, examinations etc. to diagnose conditions. After a confirmed diagnosis, patients are instructed in follow-up visits to take "FDA approved" drugs that will hopefully cure or manage their conditions. When these treatments fail, patients often need to live with their diseases and take painkillers, antidepressants or try psychotherapy to help them live with their conditions. Conventional medicine tends to treat conditions with FDA approved drugs but when they fail, patients are not often prescribed alternative medicine treatments and they are usually sent to other doctors for long-term care. Many patients turn to herbal treatments without the guidance or consent of their primary care physicians.

Patients going to AMPs are questioned about their symptoms based on Chinese Medicine theories. Their tongue, pulses, eyes and bodies are examined to learn their energy patterns and confirm a diagnosis. AMPs then typically perform acupuncture, prescribe herbal formulas and instruct patients which foods to eat and those to avoid. The goal is to harmonize the body organs to release maximum energy based on the patient's symptoms. When patients return for follow-up visits, symptom changes or absence are noted and new herb formulas and diets are often prescribed to refine their treatments. AMPs tend to treat patients symptoms, refine them and provide preventative medicine treatments that MDs do not commonly prescribe in the USA.

Health Risks & Benefits

Both MDs and AMPs provide patient benefits however, conventional medicine usually costs more and includes greater risks. Pharamceuticals commonly cause adverse side effects and many are new flavor-of the-day drugs which manufacturers promote heavily because they are extremely profitable. Even though recent reports indicate that new drugs are not always adequately tested which puts patients at risk.

When AMPs prescribe herbs patients may start low cost treatments immediately, and expect very few side effects so the risks are minimal. Because herb formulas are readily available, it is quite obvious that people with health problems would try them first.

Isolated Bio-Active Compounds

As the east-west healthcare cultures continue to merge, purified Chinese herb extracts have become identical to western drugs. In the past many TCM formulas contained raw herbs which could have varying strengths and possibly reduce the effectiveness and predictability of treatments. Chinese herb manufactureres then began producing standardized extracts with known potencies to make them more predictable and effective. Todayl, Chinese researchers have identied and isolated the bio-active compounds in many herbs and are purifying them to be to very pure, predictable adn effective for an array of health conditons These potent extracts are being injected into patients in China just like synthetic drugs sold in America but they produce far fewer adverse side effects.

Salvionolic Acid II B is a bio-active isolated extracts from the herb Salvia Miltiorrhiza, In China this extract is injected into patients to treat stroke and heart attacks and Chinese researchers report it has high efficacy. Oxymatrine is another Sophora Root extract Chinese researchers inject into Hepatitis patients as an alternative to Interferon therapy. Oxymatrien is reported to have similar efficacy to Interferon but it produces far few side effects.

Salvianolic Acid and Oxymatrine are not used by injection in the USA because they would be considered new drugs and be required to go through rigorous FDA testing to be used. Both compounds are currently classified as supplements and may be taken as oral treatments in the USA with effectiveness reported to be similar to injections. Patients with acute conditions wanting to inject these compounds for treatments need to leave the country for treatments. If they remain unavailable in the future, patients will likely go abroad for these treatments which is happening with greater frequency due to provincial US regulations.

Chinese Research

Chinese Medcines almost always contain multiple herbs to produce synergistic effects that make them more effective than single herbs. Now that pure bio-active extracts from China are available in the USA, it is logical to believe that they will be combined in herbal extract formulas to produce even greater effectiveness. Because herbal medicine is mostly prescribed by AMPs in the USA, mainstream Americans are hesitant to recognize its benefits. Chinese researchers must increase their credibility with the American medical establishment to make herbal treatments more attractive to mainstream Americans.

Chinese researchers face an uphill battle to gain credibility with the clubby American medical establishment. One glaring reason is that Chinese researchers mostly translate their esearch documents into poor English which tends to reduce their credibility even though they may be sound on many levels. Another reason is that Chinese researchers often don't use identical study protocols to Americans who often complain that their success rates are far too high. Which is understandable when you consider that Chinese treatment approachs are often very different to those of their American counterparts.

Alternative Medicine Thumbs Up

Based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey results, momentum is on the side of alternative medicine. People using herbal supplements often report they realize equal or greater health benefits when comparing them to western drugs. If Americans vote with their Dollars then alternative medicine has gotten a big thumbs up becase they are spending an estimated $23 to $36 billion annually on supplements. Obviously, they must be realizing health benefits from supplements or they wouldn't be spending so much money on them.