| Herbs
Improve Health
The characteristic healing attributes of certain
herbs, and the fact that herbs rarely have toxic side effects, make
them a popular choice for the person who is looking to improve their
health.
If you have ever tried herbs you may have noticed
results ranging from improved health with no side-effects, to no
noticeable improvement at all.
If you have no side-effects and no improvement,
you can simply try a different herb that is advertised for the same
symptoms. It may be that by trial-and-error, you will find an herb
that gives you relief from the symptoms.
Clinical Training in Herbology
The acupuncturist or herbalist who is trained,
uses specific criteria to zero in on only those herbs that are most
likely to help their patient. In this way, the herbalist uses fewer
herbs, with greater results and effectiveness.
Chinese Herbs in the Clinic
Chinese herbs come in a variety of forms. An herbalist
might recommend a formula of raw herbs that the patient takes home
to brew in water and drink as a "tea". In this form the
quickest results of symptom relief might be seen but, these concoctions
can be too strong tasting for some patients. Often, a similar formula
can be found in a patent herb, which comes as an easily taken "tea
pill".
Herb companies are now producing tinctures, either
in alcohol or glycerin, that are added to water, or granular formulas
(also added to water) and taken as a tea. Both these forms are highly
bio-available and are not as strong as a brew from raw herbs.
Some examples of plant and animal products that
are part of the Chinese pharmacopeia are: dried sea horses, woody
funguses, gingko, cocoons, horn, mint, dandelion, rhubarb root,
cattail pollen, fennel, and licorice root. Black pepper, turmeric,
cinnamon, and ginger are common table spices in the West, yet these
herbs originally were introduced from Asia; they too are included
in the Chinese pharmacopeia.
An Herbologists Diagnosis and Herbal Recommendation
Rhubarb root is a common herb in many laxative
formulas, and both the western and Chinese pharmacopeia list it.
Western herbal texts describe its physiological
actions as purgative, peristaltic, cholagogue, sialagogue, hepatic,
and anthelmintic. The indications (conditions for which it is useful)
include: constipation, diarrhea, weakened digestion, abdominal pains
with distended bowels.
Now consider the information about rhubarb root
from the Chinese pharmacopeia: it is bitter in taste and has a cold
action. Its functions include: Drains Heat and moves stool; drains
Damp Heat; detoxifies Fire Poison. Bitter tastes generally tend
to have "draining" and "cooling" effects.
Patient A has dry and hard stools, tends to feel
hot easily, is frequently thirsty, and is easily angered. On inspection
the tongue appears very red with thick yellow coating, and the pulse
is forceful and slightly rapid.
Patient B has a constipation characterized by
severe sluggishness, yet the consistency may be normal. He complains
of constant fatigue, hands and feet becoming cold easily; he is
rarely thirsty and often has indigestion, gas and abdominal bloating.
Overview Analysis: people have constipation; rhubarb
root stimulates peristalsis, which might be helpful in both cases.
In addition, rhubarb root's properties of stimulating digestion
and promoting bile and saliva secretion would seem to be beneficial
for Patient B.
So far, rhubarb root might be more beneficial
for Patient B, but also helpful for Patient A.
But let's make a closer inspection, as an herbalist
would: Although helpful for Patient B, rhubarb will exacerbate the
symptoms of cold, causing more indigestion and the patient will
probably be "drained" of energy.
For Patient A, the rhubarb root would quickly
resolve the constipation as well as the tendency to feel hot and
irascible. This is because all of rhubarb root's properties closely
match the requirements of Patient A's total symptom pattern.
Pay Attention to Your Body Then Listen to
What it Tells You
Perhaps we're too busy to recognize indicators
of health problems so we ignore or suppress symptoms until they
demand our attention; maybe we ignore or suppress symptoms because
pharmaceutical companies offer a quick fix to almost any symptom
you can name; maybe we push through symptoms because our employer
demands that we work in spite of health risks; and finally, there's
the old saw that if we have symptoms that can't be "seen"
by a diagnostic machine, there really isn't one.
Scientific studies have shown that the body's
sensory system approaches or exceeds the sensitivity of state-of-the-art
instrumentation. Our nerve cells provide the basis of sight, touch,
pressure, pain, taste, smell, and hearing (to name just a few of
the sensors in our body).
A person who is consciously aware of his sensory
perceptions can detect health problems long before medical instrumentation
will be able to detect problems.
Traditional Chinese herbology places emphasis on directly perceived
sensory information: symptoms that an individual reports plus the
herbalist's perceptions of that individual (clinical signs). The
latter include tongue examination, palpation of the pulse for rate,
strength and quality, abdominal palpation, and observation of mannerisms,
movement and speech qualities.
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