Posted by Daan on July 31, 2006 under Uncategorized | 
A Kenyan doctor uses herbs to treat malaria:
“he 57-year-old Maseno University organic chemistry lecturer cultivates Artemisia annua – a plant with strong plasmodial clearance power – and teaches postgraduate students how to do research on local plants with traditional medicinal therapy.
Jondiko, Dholuo for a writer(s), pays a lot of tribute to the late Prof Thomas Odhiambo. The two met when Jondiko had made a scientific breakthrough in a research on pyrethrum insecticides at the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (Icipe).
When Odhiambo learnt that Jondiko was the graduate researcher who had developed a chromatographic method for separation of six pyrethrin compounds from pyrethrum extracts, he offered him a PhD scholarship at Nottingham University to study organic chemistry. During his PhD studies he developed a new method of making synthetic pyrethrins.
Jondiko now grows at Maseno University the medicinal plant the Chinese are believed to have used 2000 years ago to treat malaria. The university has provided land to the scholar to grow and process the drug to fight the mosquito plasmodia and discount the World Health Organisation’s belief that it might develop resistance in the near future.”
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Scientists in Taiwan are researching the properties of Chinese herbs in order to make new products:
“”We are researching the medicinal properties of Chinese herbs and looking for ways to make them available commercially. Of course, we have to go through several clinical trials before we could market those items,” said Li, one of the exhibitors at BioTaiwan 2006.
“The future however looks bright for Taiwan’s agricultural biotech specialists. Within the next few years, you will likely be seeing many of these products in the market.”
One of the potentially lucrative research projects being bankrolled by the Council of Agriculture involves “dang-gui.” According to Li, this herb – a traditional “home remedy” – has been extensively used to regulate menses, reduce swelling, and treat skin disorders. The plant has leaves that are similar to coriander and has fleshy roots. Mature plants even produce clusters of beautiful white flowers.
“We got our first plant samples from China and we planted them in a nursery in Hualien. We are now trying to grow them in other parts of the county,” said Li, adding that the “dang-gui” study was launched four years ago.
“Currently, we are conducting trials to prove that ‘dang-gui’ has properties that can cure certain diseases.”
Another herb, salvia miltiorrhiza – often described as Chinese sage or red sage root, is another potential gold mine. The plant, according to Li, possesses properties that can cure coronary diseases.
“The whole plant – from its roots to its leaves – is extremely useful,” he said, adding that each part possesses different medicinal components.”
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Chinese herbal treatments for diabetes has shown some promise with helping alleviate diabetes:
“A TRADITIONAL Chinese medicine said to help patients with diabetes has been given the backing of scientists.
The natural plant product known as berberine has been documented in Chinese literature as having a blood sugar lowering effect in people with type 2 diabetes, but it was not known why it has this effect.
Now an international team from China, Korea and Australia has demonstrated how berberine helps diabetics. In tests on animals, the researchers from the Garvan Institute in Sydney found berberine was interacting with the body chemistry.
They believe the product could be a valuable new treatment, especially where traditional drugs fail, though it would need to undergo properly evaluated clinical trials before entering widespread use.
Berberine is found in the roots and bark of several plants, such as goldenseal and barberry.
It is commonly used for treatments to tackle diarrhoea and to promote wound healing.
Dr Jiming Ye said: “Our studies in animal models of diabetes show that berberine acts in part by activating an enzyme in the muscle and liver that is involved in improving sensitivity of the tissue to insulin. This helps lower blood sugar levels. it seems berberine can also help reduce body weight.”"
Posted by Daan on July 26, 2006 under Uncategorized |
How some people are overcoming their fear of needles to benefit from acupuncture’s healing properties:
” Self-professed needlephobe Debbie Scully says two years ago she never would have believed acupuncture works. Now she is one of the area’s biggest advocates.
“I’m terrified of needles,” she said recently. “It was a great act of courage for me to even step through that door.”
Shooting pain through her legs and back brought her to the offices of Triangle Acupuncture in Chapel Hill several years ago. Although she had seen chiropractors and physicians, no one had been able to give her any relief.
“After four visits I never had that pain again,” she said. “Never.”
No one knows exactly how acupuncture works in terms of Western medicine. But Kosdan said ancient texts describe acupuncture as a way to manipulate a person’s chi — or electromagnetic life force.
The needles work to remove blockages in the chi system — which Kosdan likens to an alternative nervous system. A chart of the human body Kosdan keeps in his office shows which parts of the body are interconnected through chi.
In theory, a spot on the wrist could be connected to the digestive system. So the right placement of needles there could clear up an upset stomach or acid reflux.
If this system of chi and interconnectedness sounds a little out there, don’t worry. Toby Wedgle, an owner of Triangle Acupuncture Clinic, says you don’t need to believe for it to work.
“A lot of people don’t have a frame of reference in order to wrap their minds around the concept of chi,” she said. “For a Westerner to talk about chi isn’t always helpful. If that doesn’t work for your mind, we can always talk about it a different way.” “
Posted by Daan on July 23, 2006 under Uncategorized |
“I thought it was disgusting and cramped,” he said. “I never thought about why things are they way they are.”
Ng, who has lived in San Francisco’s Chinatown his whole life, found an opportunity to learn about his community through the Adopt-an-Alleyway Youth Project (dubbed “triple A”). He now says he loves Chinatown.
Posted by Daan on July 19, 2006 under Uncategorized |
After three years of trying to conceive and three failed attempts at in vitro fertilization, Tracey Carroll, 33, desperately turned to the East for help. She sought the needles and herbs of an acupuncturist.
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Whether it’s the adventure of learning to eat with chopsticks, the freedom of choosing one food from Column A and one from Column B or the promise of good things to come tucked inside a fortune cookie, Chinese restaurants are among our top three ethnic choices, according to the National Restaurant Association.
Posted by DAAN on July 16, 2006 under Uncategorized |
After four years of suffering from the efffects of Crohn’s Disease, such as vomiting every day and severe weight loss, dropping from 170 pounds to 115 pounds, David Fairweather of Redwood Valley sought my help. Before turning to Chinese Medicine, Fairweather had gone to three different specialists who recommended surgery and prescribed medications, including prednison, for treatment of his symptoms. The symptoms always returned when the midication was discontinued.
Posted by Daan on July 10, 2006 under Uncategorized |
An excellent article in the Wall Street Journal (requires a subscription) about the business of traditional medicine:
” After two unsuccessful attempts to have a child through in vitro fertilization, Melbourne resident Michelle Harrison was willing to try anything. So while getting fertility treatments at Melbourne IVF clinic, she also visited the Melbourne Holistic Health Group for a course of acupuncture. The results were two-fold: the birth in January of Caitlin Aleisha Harrison and, unexpectedly, newfound relief from her annual allergy attacks.
“The hay fever treatment was fantastic,” the 35-year-old mother says of the acupuncture therapy. “For the first time in my life, I went through a whole hay fever season without any drugs.”
Helping make babies and cutting down on Kleenex costs are two small parts of the growing consumer appetite for products and services derived from ancient Asian medicines. Researchers from consumer-products companies such as Estée Lauder Cos. and Coca-Cola Co. of the U.S., and Japanese cosmetics maker Shiseido Co. are increasingly mining folk medicine to create modern products and treatments.
“The reality is existing Western medicine can’t meet current medical needs,” says Edmund Lee, executive director of the Hong Kong Jockey Club Institute of Chinese Medicine, which was set up in 2001 and has a $64 million endowment for research into traditional treatments.
Often termed “complementary” or “alternative” medicine in the West, disciplines ranging from Ayurveda in India to traditional Chinese medicine are finding more fans outside Asia. According to data from the alternative medicine division of the National Institutes of Health in the U.S., a 2004 survey showed that more than a third of American adults above the age of 18 use some form of alternative medicine including herbal remedies, acupuncture and meditation. The World Health Organization says that a 2003 survey showed that 75% of people with HIV/AIDS in London and San Francisco were using traditional medicines to augment their standard treatment.
According to figures compiled by the WHO, global sales of herbal remedies totaled more than $21 billion in 2004, the latest year for which data are available. As the number of users of traditional medicines has increased, so have world-wide efforts to regulate their sale. The WHO says that in 1988 only 14 of its member nations regulated the sale of herbal medicines. By 2003, that figure had climbed to 53 countries, with another 42 in the process of developing regulations.”
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Some people prefer to purchase raw herbs for their medicinal needs:
” With an estimated 19 percent of Americans using herbal medicines and other dietary supplements, jars of capsules and tablets crowd grocery and drugstore shelves. But in some areas, particularly in ethnic communities, many people buy their medicinal herbs in raw plant form.
People with roots in China, Latin America, Africa, the Caribbean and the Indian subcontinent often use herbs in this form because of cultural tradition, because they’re less expensive than processed supplements or because some herbs are not available as extracts. Experts say many people also make the mistake of thinking “natural” products are safe, although medicinal herbs can be toxic and are subject to only loose government regulation.”
