Oriental Herbal Therapy

Herbal Treatment Philosophy.

 A modality used in Oriental medicine is Herbal Therapy.  One of the most appealing qualities of Oriental Herbal Medicines are their low risk of adverse reactions or side effects. 

 Herbal preparations are used both internally or externally as Salves, Lotions, Creams or Poultices. ( a patch applied of a few hours or a day to  an area of the body).

Individual substances are rarely prescribed . Instead a balanced formula of several herbs is prepared for each persons  entire health condition.

In Oriental medicine we assess the patterns of the whole person. In our contemporary medical system , the prescription of a drug is based on the disease that has been  diagnosed.   A disease’s signs and symptoms only account for a percentage of the patient’s entire pattern in a holistic context.

 A medical doctor arrives at a definitive disease diagnosis by identifying  a persons specific set of key signs and symptoms that are synonymous with that disease.  A person usually displays additional signs and symptoms.  These are indications of a patient’s constitution, their present state of  functioning, and their response to the particular disease. These idiosyncratic signs and symptoms are usually not considered when prescribing drug therapy.

 The holistic philosophy requires that an herbal preparation address both disease or disorder and the other signs and symptoms that  a  patient has  presented to the herbal practitioner

 Identifying the whole constellation of signs and symptoms and prescribing a formula for this complete pattern makes the treatment both  safe and effective. Side effects are usually the result of not taking into account the  entire pattern of an individual patient. Although , at times a person may have a sensitivity to a particular herb just as with a food or other environmental source.

Side effects are a sign that there continues to be imbalances in a tissue, organ,  functionality of a bodily system, or its response to the particular disease or disorder.  It may also be from the treatment itself.

Foundations of Herbal Treatment

 Although there are more that 5,000 medicinal herbs in the modern Chinese pharmacopia only about 500 different herbs make up the majority of constituents in  about 90% of the formulas used  in everyday practice.  These formulas are  central to any oriental medical practice.

 Perhaps 200 commonly used herbs determine the major action of most of the formulas. Thus the formulas are easily understood by the examination of commonly used ingredients

Herbs however have multiple uses ( physiological effects ) and therapeutic actions.

 Herbal Formulas

 Chinese formulas are constructed around one or two primary herbs that are the therapeutic heart of the formula, and a group of secondary herbs that function synergistically to support the primary herbs.

Secondary herbs have 4 functions:

 1.      They can be therapeutically similar to the primary herbs which  enhances the herbs healing benefits.

2.      They can. offset unwanted side effects that would inhibit the therapeutic action of the formula.

3.      They can  strengthen and  nourish the body to aid the healing process.

4.      They can act in harmonizing the effects of the other herbs  so that their healing benefits are quickly and thoroughly distributed throughout the body.

 Oriental medicine defines(Zheng) as the total pattern or constellation of  a patients signs and symptoms.  The disease or disorder (Bing) is a smaller group of signs and symptoms  which defines that particular disease in all persons with those specific signs and symptoms.

 It is more important to treat the pattern than to exclusively treat the disease. The pattern encompasses the disease.

This is why the pattern discrimination  methodology used in prescribing herbal formulas is a more comprehensive methodology than a purely disease discrimination prescriptive methodology for herbs.

 In  the holistic approach to herbal prescriptions, two patients with the same disease will receive different treatments if their patterns are different and two patients with different diseases, if their patterns are the same may in fact receive the same treatment.

  We are used to taking one medicine for one disease no matter what else is going on with us. Oriental herbal formulas are treating the person in their entirety and not simply addressing a major complaint or symptom.

 Scientific Discovery

 Scientific research has been used to determine additional uses of traditional herbs. Herbs that have had traditional uses benefit from additional research, like those used to strengthen (tonics) were found to have immune enhancing properties. These contemporary discoveries give us an expanded understanding on how herbs can affect the human body  through the lens of current scientific research.

 Herbs and Drugs : Longevity

 Compared to Chinese herbal knowledge and experience our  pharmaceutical  company drugs are primarily experimental.  A common herbal formula may have first appeared in 200 AD, and  has been in continuous use for 1800 years.   Most drugs are less than 25 years old are far more directed and narrow in their prescribed uses and have the potential to be of greater danger.

 For example, with more than two thousand years of experience in treating digestive problems Oriental Herbal Medicine has developed formulas which improve every aspect of digestion. This includes offering temporary relief,   tonifying digestion and improving assimilation,  and eliminating  long term disorders or reducing  digestive complications dramatically.

Many contemporary drugs if introduced 100 years ago would not have survived to the present day. This does not diminish the value of our pharmaceutical drugs. They are exceptionally powerful and are a necessity in many cases to both save lives in acute situations and help prolong life and ease suffering in many debilitating disease conditions.