Chinese Herbal Medicine
Chinese herbal medicine is one the of major components of TCM. It equals the Pharmacy in the conventional Western medicine. The difference is that in the ancient time, there were no synthetic drugs, and all the drugs then came from nature. They were collected, processed, and tested for medical use. The bad and ineffective ones were eliminated, and the successful ones survived during the thousands of years practice in history. There are 493 commonly used herbs that can be classified into 20 different categories. The greatest work in Chinese herbal medicine was published in 1578, named “Ben Cao Gang Mu“. This book collected 1,892 herbs with 11,096 remedies, and is sometimes referred to as the Bible of Chinese Herbs. “Pu Ji Fang“, the biggest book of herbal remedies in history described 61,739 remedies that covered treatments for almost all the known diseases at that time though there are approximately 236 primary remedies with 186 amended ones that are commonly used.
Although Chinese herbs are not purified synthetic compounds as most Western medicinal products, some commonly used herbs are as effective as claimed, if used properly. Certain herbal formulas are well established based on thousands of years of experience. A better known example comes from the current standard therapy worldwide for falciparum malaria, which is the artemisinin-combination therapies. The major component of the combination is the artemisinin, which is a compound isolated from a TCM herb, artemisia annua, that has been used for antimalaria therapy in TCM practice for over a thousand years.
One of the special expertise in addition to acupuncture in our Clinic is the highly proficient, exquisite and sometimes unique use of Chinese herbs. As a unique Traditional Chinese Medicine doctor in Kansas City, Dr. Fung is not only an NCCAOM certified Chinese Herbologist but also a top skilled Chinese herbal medicine expert in Kansas City. In combination of acupuncture, the effectiveness has brought in many surprises for patients. Contact her if you would like to try.