Posted by Daan on July 31, 2005 under Uncategorized | 
The Chinese market is attracting large pharmaceutical companies looking to market western medicine to the Chinese and interested in researching traditional Chinese medical treatments:
“China pioneered drug development. Chinese medicine offers a vast catalog of herbs that proponents claim has undergone trial-and-error testing for two millennia.
For the most part, though, Big Pharma faces little real competition from China’s homegrown pharmaceutical industry, hobbled as it is by a lack of funding and an underdeveloped infrastructure.
Large Western pharmaceutical companies are not content just to outsource research and development, drug screening, and testing to China. Offshoring has accelerated in the last year, too: Novartis, Pfizer, and Roche have all launched new R&D facilities in Shanghai. Pfizer China, headquartered in Shanghai, now employs some 1,500 across China. The global drug giants also want in on what will be, if current trends continue, one of the five largest drug markets in the world by 2010.”
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The Ontario province in Canada is now regulating traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture practioners:
“Ontario will become the second province in Canada to regulate traditional Chinese medicine including acupuncture, herbs and tai chi as medical therapy.
“We owe it to the people of Ontario to ensure they are protected,” Health Minister George Smitherman said Friday in making the announcement.
“But at the same time, we have to realize traditional forms of medicine have helped a great number of people for a very long time.”
A new report will give the province guidelines on what forms of treatment will be regulated and what type of rules are necessary, said Smitherman.
Tony Wong, a Liberal member of provincial parliament who helped write the report, said traditional Chinese medicine has five branches: herbs, acupuncture, tai chi, tuina, and qigong. Tuina is a pressure point massage and qigong is a series of breathing exercises meant to help focus the energy in the body.
Tai chi is a form of gentle meditative exercise also used to focus energy in the body. Wong said its use would only be regulated for medical treatment, not as a form of exercise.
Wong said there is a very strong need for regulation in the province.”
Posted by Daan on July 26, 2005 under Uncategorized |
Good reminders that herbal remedies should be taken with care:
“However, he said, if women choose to use herbal medicines, they should do so cautiously because the quality of these medicines varies, and the safety, especially with long-term use, is uncertain. He said that women should choose only high-quality products from reputable sources and to be sure to inform their health-care providers about their herbal medication use, because many herbal supplements can interact with other treatments.”
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The Chinese government is going to increase basic research into traditional Chinese medicine:
“There will be three sub-projects focusing on herbal medicine prescriptions, using modern science to study traditional medicine, and research into acupuncture and Jingluo — a traditional classification of ‘channels’ connecting different parts of the body, which combines the nervous and blood systems.
Cheng Jinpei, vice-minister of science and technology, said on 15 July that the variety of remedies and of branches of traditional medicine, meant that long-term research had failed to draw many scientific conclusions about it.
By including traditional medicine in the 973 Programme, the government would support systematic research into its central theories, said Cheng.”
Posted by Daan on July 25, 2005 under Uncategorized |
Good article about some of the herbs you can use to alleviate the symptoms of menopause as well as some behavioral modifications that can help:
” “Chinese medicines like ginseng and dong quai are also used for menopausal problems. My colleagues in Hong Kong and China use a lot of Chinese medicine,” he said.
“I am sure there are also traditional Malay and Indian medicines for menopause but I think we don’t have the expertise to develop them fully. This conference will give us more exposure on traditional medicine and perhaps learn something from it,” he said.
Right diet, active lifestyle
BEFORE you reach menopause, there are some things you should do to help reduce its symptoms. “Try the holistic approach,” said Dr Ong Hean Choon said.
1. Take a lot of soya in your diet to reduce menopausal symptoms.
2. Drink plenty of milk to get enough calcium to help protect you from osteoporosis.
3. Exercise and lead an active life. “Research shows that women who exercise regularly are very unlikely to get osteoporosis,” says Dr Ong. You can also indulge in hobbies like gardening, writing a book or volunteering.
4. Include a lot of vegetables in your diet.
5. Reduce loneliness and boredom as this can lead to depression. Avoid from getting bored by continuing with your job, if you can.
6. De-stress yourself. Life in cities like Kuala Lumpur is stressful. Meditation, yoga and praying may help in de-stressing. You should listen to music or do something that relaxes you.”
DAAN carries Dong Guai and ginseng.
Posted by Daan on July 19, 2005 under Uncategorized |
A good article on the history of Chinese medicine:
“Chinese healers began the development of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) more than 3,000 years ago. As a comprehensive health system, it has a range of applications from preventive health care and maintenance to diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic disorders. Its treatments and diagnostic methods focus on balancing internal and external energies through diet, herbal treatments, acupuncture, and breathing techniques. Chinese healing practices have also spread, with variations, throughout other Asian countries, particularly Japan, Korea, Tibet, and Vietnam. In a few millennium of practice, TCM practitioners have evolved a system both subtle and dramatically effective, and one that, in China, is given as much if not more respect than Western medicine.”
Posted by Daan on under Uncategorized |
Some studies show Chinese herbs can help with hay fever:
“As an alternative to antihistamines and steroids in Western treatment methods, let’s look at how Chinese medicine approaches the cause and treatment of hay fever. It is said that the Wei Qi or Defensive Energy is weak, not unlike a weakened immune system. According to Chinese medicine practitioner, Dermot O’Connor, “Many patients with hay fever will have a history of being treated with repeated antibiotics as children as well as eating a diet high in sugars, dairy products, fruit juices and yeasted grain products. It is suggested that the immune response of hay fever sufferers has been hampered in some way as a result of these elements.”
Acupuncture is used to balance, unblock or strengthen the Lung Qi (lung energy), depending on the person’s constitution and symptoms. From the standpoint of Chinese medicine, stagnation in the lungs can lead to sneezing, nasal discharge and congestion. Also Chinese herbs would be given to strengthen the underlying energy of the Wei Qi.
In a study in the West, as reported in Allergy magazine, 52 patients between the ages of 20 and 58 all diagnosed with seasonal allergic rhinitis, were randomly assigned to a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) group or a control group.
In the TCM group each person received a weekly 20 minute acupuncture session, based on their personal factors and symptoms. By the end of the study period the severity of hay fever was “significantly less pronounced in the TCM group”.”
You might want to try DAAN’s Sinusitis Pills or Pe Min Kan Wan if you suffer from hay fever.
Posted by Daan on under Uncategorized |
Very interesting article about the history of ginseng in America:
“The Koreans successfully invented ways to cultivate ginseng, and soon, cultivated Korean ginseng began to flood the Chinese markets. Ginseng cultivation was centered at Kaesong, in modern-day North Korea, and the government had monopoly of ginseng exports.
Unfortunately for Korea, it turned out that ginseng plants grow naturally in North America and almost every Indian tribe of North America has been using ginseng in the same manner as the Asians had been using, as written by Jack Waters, author of “History of American Ginseng.”
For example, it is well known that the Cherokees, who called ginseng roots “the little man,” used ginseng roots for colic, convulsions, dysentery, and headaches. Other tribes used ginseng roots for easing digestion, increasing appetite and easing female menstrual problems. Other Indian curative uses are for exhaustion, breathlessness, croup, and preventing the wounded from dying of shock. (Waters, 2003)”
Posted by Daan on July 18, 2005 under Uncategorized |
Tibetan and Chinese legends tell of people who lived century-long lives while retaining the strength and beauty of youth — thanks to lycium. The sweet, red berries of the Lycium barbarum tree are rich in beta carotene, B vitamins, vitamin C and several essential minerals. Lycium — sometimes called matrimony vine, wolfberry, boxthorn and goji — is native to Asia
Posted by Daan on July 5, 2005 under Uncategorized |
Wahaha is the largest drink company in China. Here’s an interesting interview with the CEO:
“Later, people started to question the quality of those medicines, especially if they contained hormones. Meanwhile, I found that Chinese children — who usually don’t have any siblings due to the single-child policy — are too picky about their food. I wanted to develop a kind of oral medicine that could help stimulate their appetite. We invited a professor to do the research and development, and asked experts from around the country to offer advice. At that time, there was no health product specifically aimed at this market, even though China had more than 300 million children. I felt the potential was huge. It turns out that our strategy of focusing our products on children was right.”
