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General Development of Chinese Herbal Medicine

2009-1-16 12:58:00

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Types of Chinese herb

The system of herbal medicine in China differs from European herbal medicine in several key ways. The most obvious difference is that the Western herbal tradition focuses on “simples,?while traditional Chinese herbal medicine (TCHM) makes almost exclusive use of herbal combinations. More importantly, these formulas are tailored specifically to the individual according to principles of traditional Chinese medicine. For this reason, TCHM is potentially a profoundly holistic healing approach.

TCHM is widely used in Asian countries, both in its traditional holistic form and in a simplified disease-oriented version. A few scientific trials of TCHM were designed, even though evidence is inadequate. In addition, there remain serious safety concerns to be resolved.

Chinese herbal medicine has a long history. Ancient herbology in China highlighted potions. Only by about the 12th century A.D. were the deeper principles of Chinese medicine fully applied to herbal treatment which is a method that can be called TCHM. This was further refined and elaborated during various periods of active theorizing in the 14th through the 19th centuries. The incoming western disease concepts in the 20^th century led to further changes in TCHM.

Today TCHM is used together with conventional pharmaceutical treatment in China. Tremendous attempts have been made to subject TCHM to scientific evaluation.