Pinpointed treatment

Herbal medicine, the most important department of Chinese medicine:

Chinese Herbal Medicine is the most important single department of Chinese Medicine and is given as sole or primary therapy by Doctors of Chinese medicine to more than 90% of all cases presenting for treatment.  It is a comprehensive medical and pharmaceutical system which takes full account of the individual and combined actions, processing and safety of its large Materia Medica. 

Chinese herbal medicine,  the consummate art of drug combining:

Chinese herbs are almost never prescribed singly, but in formulae, in liquid or pill form, devised according to meticulously defined principles.  These principles take into account all aspects of  every individual case as defined in a  diagnosis  differentiated by Chinese medicine Syndromes, not simply by diseases.

Single herbs in cooking and at home:

However some tonic herbs, such as Huang Qi (Radix Astragali) and Gou Qi Zi (Fructus Lycii), are often used singly in cooking or taken separately to maintain a healthy immune system and strengthen the constitution.  Certain common tonic herbs, such as Ren Shen (commonly referred to as Ginseng), should be approached cautiously due to excessively clogging or heating or cooling properties.  On the other hand many mushroom and fungal herbs have ideal properties of strengthening the body's immune system and naturally erasing disease without any such adverse effects.

© Robert A D Cran 2005