Chinese herbs are a godsend and nothing short.

If you ever get diagnosed with kidney stones or arthritis-like conditions, keep them in mind!

Many are being turned INTO western medications, and we as herbalists are fighting the pharmaceutical companies from taking total control over our field. Do you like mint? I’m surprised there isn’t a corporate patent on it…lol right? I’m actually not kidding!

..Herbs in natural form are rarely dangerous, but super-doses can be–when the individual ingredients are pulled apart and synthesized for pill-type concentrations favored in western medicine.
Example in point: EPHEDRINE is concentrated from the grassy herb Ma Huang, a wonderful asthma herb to dilate the bronchi and throat and increase ventilation in cases of ACUTE ASTHMA ATTACKS; in concentrated form the pill-form stimulant chemical was sold as a dietary supplement for increased wt. loss and energy and was responsible for deaths! But the doses prescribed for weight loss were FAR beyond the traditional doses used –the bulk herb (leaves, sticks and twigs used to make tea). Death was the result; improper dosing was the cause. And banning of the import of the Chinese herb Ma Huang was the ultimate bummer.
Unfair! Now, herbal specialists cannot use this herb for asthma, as it is hard to get a hold of! Further, meth production using the concentrated pills of Ephedrine-containing cough medicines (produced in the USA) is exacerbating the debate over the herb Ma Huang.

We herbal fans are fighting just to regain the use of this UNREPLACEABLE asthma herb! We need the public’s help to keep our herbal access doors open. If one by one, all the strong herbs that are the basis for our formulas are taken from us, we will not be able to treat using traditional methods.

But the most interesting issue for me is that in Chinese hospitals herbs and also acupuncture are used alongside, and often in place of western pain-killing and other medications to great effect. East-meets-West is the very very best medicine.
Chinese clinics are proving this!

People who are allergic to surgical anesthesia often NEED acupuncture to deaden the pain during surgery, and this use is catching on in the USA.

When acupuncture-herbs are used in surgery, often only 1/2 the med levels are needed! Amazingly safer bec. ‘going-under’ is always risky….

In the future, you may just receive a magical eye-of-newt potion with your pain pills…..
but drink-up, there are literally thousands of years of clinical trials to back up the use of these herbal formulas.

Dried Gecko is a popular herb, by the way, and is ground up, boiled and drank as a strange sort of tonic tea for chronic cough and weak-type lung conditions, basically. Also for low libido. The dry lizards on the cabinet in your photos look to be a pair of geckos–male and female. This herb is often used in this manner; as the different sexes have different herbal effects on the body.
Gecko or Ge Jie is a vital essence, yang and qi tonic for low immunity, impotence and asthma. It really works! Animal herbs are STRONG, compared to most PLANT-based herbs. Many chinese herbs are also mineral substances or fungi; hard to stomach for many Americans but very effective clinically.
The Asian cultures all tend to base their cooking around the use of spicy and also medicinal herbs. Vegetables and meats are all forms of herbal medicine; diet therapy is a major division of Chinese Medicine clinically especially in America.

Finally, you should know that
Classical Chinese medicine focuses LESS on modern research than traditional chinese medicine (TCM), and classical approaches use only ancient formulas written by what are the ‘mozarts’ of chinese healing long ago….

Different states have very different rules about the practice of herbs and acupuncture for money, and some don’t even have rules, so be sure to choose a licensed practitioner with lots of passion and experience–preferably one with a Master’s degree or even a Doctorate in Acupuncture (D.A.O.M.).

Different practitioners have very different skill levels when it comes to Chinese herbs–many ARE NOT trained at all or didn’t do very well in school and practice anyways…so pick a skilled practitioner in Chinese Herbs IF you want good results.

Self-diagnosis and non-supervised use of bulk herbs and harsh (strong, bitter) formulas is NOT recommended, as you can damage your body through imbalance in a relatively short period of time if using the wrong formula.

But if you have FIRE because you are going through menopause, you NEED that strong thick bitter fire-draining formula to get good results…for example. But you may need a little Gecko added in on the side to warm the formula a bit and add a tonic swing.

Hope this was enjoyable and reached somebody special.

My envy for your living in China…WOW…what an herbal experience that must have been …

live and love life a.m. in Oregon

I don’t know how it is in China, but in Korea you have to be careful with medicines and vitamins. They aren’t always what they claim to be!
.-= Marsha´s last blog ..Uniform, schnuniform =-.

Can the same herbs and remedies be purchased at the pharmacy without a prescription if the patient, through study or experience requests a particular remedy–just as I can purchase most herbs independently, or are they controlled like pharmaceuticals are here in the West?
.-= Dell´s last blog ..Radish Pods and Other Delights =-.