There are no products in your shopping cart.
| 0 Items | $0.00 |
An Introduction to Chinese Herbal Medicines
Traditional Chinese medicine considers all of our daily food as medicines also. There is a saying in Chinese medicine that “the medicinal substances and food share the same resources”. Therefore one must be aware of compatibilities and incompatibilities between herbal medicines and our daily food as well as interactions and conflicts between natural medicines and modern western drugs.
Each nation has its own traditional medicine in history, but no other nation’s traditional medicines can parallel the Chinese in:
- Its systematic medical theory,
- Its number of medicines being used,
- The ways to process,
- The experience and knowledge regarding their actions and indications,
There has been more modern scientific research done on traditional Chinese medicines than other traditional medicines worldwide.
Chinese medicines are predominantly herbs, although animal parts and minerals form a part of many as well. More than 5,767 kinds of natural medicines have been applied in Chinese medicine including approximately 4,773 kinds of plants, 740 kinds of animals, 82 kinds of minerals and 172 others. About 500 kinds of medicines are most commonly used.
At our AcuCentre clinics, we have over 300 kinds of single herbs and about 100 patent medicine products to choose from to meet all your general healthcare needs.
The majority of Chinese medicines are native in China however there are a few medicines which originate in places such as Southeast Asia, India, the Middle East, Russia and the Americas.
Chinese medicines have been used for treatment and prevention of diseases for over 5,000 years. Generally Chinese medicines are effective and safe to help treat most common health problems and maintain general well-being.
For virus infections, like cold and flu and most gynaecological problems, Chinese medicines work better than chemical drugs;
- For mild and medium severity of bacterial infections, Chinese medicines work just as good as chemical antibiotics;
- For severe bacterial infections, chemical antibiotics are superior to Chinese medicines;
- For crucial life- threatening conditions, chemical drugs must be first choice;
For chronic and difficult conditions, Chinese medicines are effective and more suitable for long-term use.
Most commonly used Chinese medicines are safe with little side-effects and suitable for long-term use. This is one of their advantages in comparison to chemical drugs.
Some Chinese medicines (which do have severe side-effects) are only allowed to use temporarily and for a short period of time. Therefore you should always be prepared to ask questions if you don’t understand what you have been offered.
There is no statutory regulation on the natural medicine profession in New Zealand at present so it is very important that your chosen Chinese medicine practitioners are well trained and experienced because some current practitioners have only limit training.
We recommend that your practitioner is :
- Trained in Traditional Chinese Medicine (not in medicine in China)
- Theyhave Bachelor and Postgraduate Degrees of traditional Chinese medicine
- or They have at least a diploma or equivalence to three years full time training specifically in Traditional Chinese herbal medicine.
For the most commonly used Chinese herbal products to assist with a range of symptoms please visit our store!
MuZu :: 965 Colombo St, St Albans, Christchurch :: Phone +64 3 3777 668 :: Email: footspa@muzu.co.nz
© MuZu 2009
