Herbal Medicine

Chinese Herbal Medicine, an integral part of Traditional Chinese Medicine, is an incredibly rich and powerful system that has been created and practiced in China over the past 3000 years. During this time, classical herbal formulas that are effective for many health concerns are developed. Today, the use of Chinese herbs has spread all over the world for the treatment of acute and chronic illnesses, for balancing mental and emotional health, for eliminating pain and other symptoms and for the preservation and restoration of health. Through clinical use, classical study and scientific research, Chinese Herbal Medicine has become a very complex and sophisticated healing modality.

Reader Reactions

This week's reader reaction quote on the Education & Careers channel comes from a discussion on Adventures in Ethics about the challenges of dialogue about animal research.

It's amazing how things so human can appear so alien. But then again, at that magnification, most things do appear that way.

ScienceBlogger PalMD wrote about the suffering endured by those who live with Somatization disorders:

So what can be done for these folks? Let's remember, these are often reasonably normal people, who suffer from discomfort, but not from any life-threatening illnesses.

There is some literature out there, but since this is a very diverse group of people, no one rule applies. OK, one rule does apply---they really hurt, and that must be acknowledged (malingerers are usually fairly easy to spot, as they don't have the same chronicity of symptoms). The pain is real, and must be treated as such.

Medicine & Health and Brain & Behavior Weekly Update

Welcome to another Channel Update. In this post, you will find the large versions of the Medicine & Health and Brain & Behavior channel photos, and also the contextualized versions of the reader reactions from the aforementioned channels.

What to Expect from Herbal Therapy?

During the course of treatment Chinese herbal remedies may be prescribed. They may be in raw forms, in pills, capsules, granules, tinctures, or herbal extracts. According to the California Acupuncture Board, acupuncturist in California are the only licensed health care professionals to be trained and tested for competency in prescribing herbal medicine. Herbal remedy has been practiced safely and effectively for centuries and has the greatest beneficial results when prescribed by a trained professional. If you have an allergic reaction to any herbs, it is best to inform your herbalist.

What Is Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine?

Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine developed about 5,000 years ago and inseparable from Huang Di Nei Jing, said to be the bible of traditional Chinese medicine. The key principle of acupuncture and herb medicine is to balance “Yin and Yang” in a human body. Yin and Yang is a relative term and yet philosophical Chinese concept which is
still foreign to most of western culture. The general theory of acupuncture is that good health depends on the circulation of Yin (nutrients, substances) and Yang (invisible energy called Qi) through a network of “meridians or channels”. According to the theory of Chinese medicine, pain and illness developed when there is a blockage caused by many factors such as disease, pathogens, trauma, injuries, side effects of medication, and unhealthy lifestyle. Acupuncture treatment is to remove such blockage from the channels and to restore Yin and Yang balance through manipulations of acupuncture needle.Risking very low side effects and expecting high benefits, more and more people seek help from acupuncture and herbal remedies. You may find the evidence or endorsement from NIH (National Institutions of Health) or WHO (World Health Organization) regards to effectiveness of various types of acupuncture treatments if you wish to look furthermore.

Name Brand Pain Relief

Pain in the sense of physical pain,^[1] is a typical sensory experience that may be described as the unpleasant awareness of a noxious stimulus or bodily harm. Individuals experience pain by various daily hurts and aches, and occasionally through more serious injuries or illnesses. For scientific and clinical purposes, pain is defined by the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) as "an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage".^[2][3] Pain is highly subjective to the individual experiencing it. A definition that is widely used in nursing was first given as early as 1968 by Margo McCaffery: "'Pain is whatever the experiencing person says it is, existing whenever he says it does".^[4][5] Pain of any type is the most frequent reason for physician consultation in the United States, prompting half of all Americans to seek medical care annually