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Chinese herbal medicine is a major aspect of traditional Chinese medicine, which focuses on restoring a balance of energy, body, and spirit to maintain health rather than treating a particular disease or medical condition. Herbs are used with the goal of restoring balance by nourishing the body.

How is it promoted for use?

Chinese herbal medicine is not based on conventional Western concepts of medical diagnosis and treatment. It treats patients’ main complaints or the patterns of their symptoms rather than the underlying causes. Practitioners attempt to prevent and treat imbalances, such as those caused by cancer and other diseases, with complex combinations of herbs, minerals, and plant extracts.

Chinese herbal medicine uses a variety of herbs, in different combinations, to restore balance to the body (Astragalus, Ginkgo, Ginseng, Green Tea, and Siberian Ginseng). Herbal preparations are said to prevent and treat hormone disturbances, infections, breathing disorders, and a vast number of other ailments and diseases. Some practitioners claim herbs have the power to prevent and treat a variety of cancers.

 What does it involve?

In China, there are over 3,200 herbs, 300 mineral and animal extracts, and over 400 formulas used. Herbal formulations may consist of 4 to 12 different ingredients, to be taken in the form of teas, powders, pills, tinctures, or syrups.

Chinese herbal remedies are made up of one or two herbs that are said to have the greatest effect on major aspects of the problem being treated. The other herbs in the formula treat minor aspects of the problem, direct the formula to specific parts of the body, and help the other herbs work more efficiently.

With the increase in popularity of herbal use, many Chinese herbs are sold individually and in formulas. In the United States, Chinese herbs and herbal formulas may be purchased in health food stores, some pharmacies, and from herbal medicine practitioners.

Before choosing a mixture of herbs for a patient, the traditional Chinese practitioner will typically ask about symptoms and examine the patient, often focusing on the skin, hair, tongue, eyes, pulses, and voice, in order to detect imbalances in the body.

What is the history behind it?

Native cultures all over the world have traditionally used herbs to maintain health and treat illnesses. Chinese herbal medicine developed with Chinese culture from tribal roots. By 200 BC, traditional Chinese medicine was firmly established, and by the first century AD, a listing of medicinal herbs and herbal formulations had been developed.

The classic Chinese book on medicinal herbs was written during the Ming Dynasty (1152-1578) by Li Shi-Zhen. It listed nearly 2,000 herbs and extracts. By 1990, the latest edition of The Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China listed more than 500 single herbs or extracts and nearly 300 complex formulations.

As Western conventional medicine spread to the East, some traditional Chinese medical practices began to be regarded as folklore. However, since 1949, the Chinese government has supported the use of both traditional and Western medicine. Chinese herbal medicine first came to wide-spread attention in the United States in the 1970s, when President Richard Nixon visited China. Today, at least 30 states license practitioners of Oriental medicine and more than 25 colleges of Oriental medicine exist in the United States.

What is the evidence?

Some herbs and herbal formulations have been evaluated in animal, laboratory, and human studies in both the East and the West with wide-ranging results. Research results vary widely depending on the specific herb, but several have shown activity against cancer cells in laboratory dishes and in some lab animals.

There is some evidence from randomized clinical trials that some Chinese herbs may contribute to longer survival rates, reduction of side effects, and lower risk of recurrence for some cancers, especially when combined with conventional treatment. Many of these studies, however, are published in Chinese, and some of them do not list the specific herbs that were tested. Some of these journal articles do not describe how the studies were conducted completely enough to determine whether they use methods comparable to those used in Western clinical research. However, there are some notable exceptions, such as the PC-SPES, a mixture including several Chinese herbs that has been studied in considerable detail in US clinical trials. More controlled research is needed to determine the role of Chinese herbal medicine in cancer treatment and prevention.

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It is estimated that about two million people die every year from malaria. Since 1981 between 20 and 40 million people have died from the disease - this compares to about 2.5 million deaths caused by the AIDS virus in the same period. Malaria is caused by a parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, and is usually treated with quinine or quinidine. Unfortunately, it appears that P. falciparum is developing resistance to quinine making this drug less effective. Chinese scientists discovered 25 years ago that extracts from the herb qinghaosu (wormwood) are highly effective in treating malaria. These extracts have been used in China and Vietnam for several years as an alternative to quinine. Now teams of Vietnamese and Dutch researchers report that the wormwood extract artemether is as effective as quinine in treating severe malaria in adults and cerebral malaria in children. As a matter of fact, the artemether cleared the parasites from the blood quicker than did quinine and resulted in significantly lower mortality rate. So far the quinine-resistant parasites have only surfaced in Asia, but they are expected to become established in Africa within five years and at that time malaria deaths in Africa are estimated to rise to seven million a year. Dr. Piero Olliaro of the Tropical Diseases Research Program in Geneva believes that the use of artemether could avert the crisis, but that people in Africa may not be able to afford the $20 cost of the treatment that could save their lives. Dr. Olliaro goes on to say that "drug firms have been slow to develop artemether, because they cannot apply for patents on a drug that is already used in traditional Chinese medicine...."


Source:
Van Hensbroek, Michael Boele, et al. A trial of artemether or quinine in children with cerebral malaria. New England Journal of Medicine, Vol. 335, No. 2, July 11, 1996, pp. 69-75
Tinh Hien, Tran, et al. A controlled trial of artemether or quinine in Vietnamese adults with severe falciparum malaria. New England Journal of Medicine, Vol. 335, No. 2, July 11, 1996, pp. 76-83
Hoffman, Stephen L. Artemether in severe malaria - still too many deaths. New England Journal of Medicine, Vol. 335, No. 2, July 11, 1996, pp. 124-25
Day, Michael. Malaria falls to herbal remedy. New Scientist, July 13, 1996, p. 4

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