ACUPUNCTURE could be the key to turning off a running nose.
“An Australian study has found the ancient Chinese needle therapy can significantly reduce the symptoms of nasal allergies, including sneezing, blocked noses, nasal itching and a runny nose.
The study by the World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre of Traditional Medicine at RMIT found acupuncture could be a safe and effective treatment for persistent allergic rhinitis, which affects 16 per cent of Australians.”
China’s spas boom
“ALONG the Shanghai street, choking haze draped the buildings and gridlocked traffic like a damp blanket. Vendors screamed out prices for water and postcards, and pedestrians hacked into handkerchiefs and covered their faces with masks. Construction workers in torn, dirty jeans bored a hole into the sidewalk, geysering dirt everywhere.
But inside Three on the Bund, overlooking this chaos from a restored 1916 structure that once housed the Mercantile Bank of India, China’s urgency and insanity seemed far away. In the cavernous front room of the Evian Spa by Three, which rises several stories and lets in beams of light from its portholelike windows, the only noise was the tinkling of soft music. Spa attendants led guests past polished wood Chinese sculptures and into private rooms, where they could wallow in giant bathtubs and choose from an exhaustive menu of rubs and facials.”
The incidence of chronic fatigue syndrome among Chinese office workers is rising at an alarming rate.
Ancient Chinese remedies are used for treating fatigue
“Zhang Qian reports on how Traditional Chinese Medicine fights the condition.
It’s said that the morning scene at a Metro station is the best image of Shanghai as a busy modern city. The long-term stress of a busy work life can break the balance in a human body easily and result in various fatigue illnesses.
Eye strain and neck ache are common illnesses among office workers as their jobs require long-term concentration on the computer screens while sitting still at the desks.”
A trip to Boston’s historic Chinatown
“There are plenty of organized trips to neighborhoods such as Beacon Hill and the North End, but Chinatown has yet to be explored by many Boston residents, who only think of the neighborhood as a place to stop for dinner.
Of the many packages being offered by the new InterContinental Hotel, one caught our eye: a culinary weekend with a personalized tour of Boston’s Chinatown led by someone “in the know.”
Presumably, the weekend hotel package, which costs about $1,000 is meant for out-of-towners, but we wondered, who was this insider? What secrets did he/she know about the neighborhood behind the big gate? Are there hidden treasures or little-known attractions that await?”
Chinese herb supplement for asthma
“Today more and more asthma sufferers are turning to use more natural ways of treating asthma rather than relying on the medications that their doctor prescribes. In the USA most herbal supplement for asthma treatment that are now available today have been both evaluated and then endorsed by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration). Plus you will find plenty of reports available from those who have used them and have found them to be effective in treating their asthma.”
Chinese medicine identifies the source of the illness
“Why you should know more about Chinese Medicine?
If you understand why Chinese medicine is superior to occidental medicine, you will be able to solve a lot of problems beside debts.
Chinese medicine:
Identify the source of the problem ==> Make The Patient Conscious about these problems ==> Eliminate the problem ==> Explain to the patient how to avoid this problem ==> Explain to the patient what to do to put this problem far away for him”
As anyone who has ever taken some Chinese remedies can attest, Chinese herbal treatments can be unappetizing. Some clinics in Hong Kong are trying to change that:
“Traditional Chinese medicine, the ancient art of healing using natural ingredients that are often boiled or powdered, is getting a modern dose.
Thousands of plants, fungi and animals — some endangered and controversial — are used to make traditional Chinese remedies.
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But some practitioners in Hong Kong are trying a new approach, transforming the plants into soluble granules and tablets, and attracting younger patients with the convenience.
“What we are doing now is we are making every single herb into soluble granules, just like instant coffee,” said Abraham Chan, President of the Modernized Chinese Medicine International Association in Hong Kong.
“Now after you have got the prescription, just go to the dispensary, the pharmacist there will mix up the granules and you will go home having one little sachet. It saves a lot of time.”
Traditional Chinese medicine is increasingly seen as an alternative to, or a complement for, pharmaceuticals.
It is believed to have less side effects than western medicine, another reason for its growing popularity among Westernized professionals and health-conscious youth.
“Kids don’t like Chinese medicine because it tastes bitter, so the pills are more convenient,” said 22-year-old Katie Yeung. “
Goathead pods, a poisonous weed, is useful in Chinese remedies, and the Medicinal Herb Consortium is promoting it as a cash crop in New Mexico:
“This is a great opportunity for kids to earn some cash for school and to learn about underutilized plant species,” Martin said. “Puncture vine or goathead is just one of many plants we consider to be weeds that have medicinal properties and therefore could be cash crops if more people just knew about them.”
The right time to pick the goathead pods is when it is in its green, ripe stage, not brown, over-ripe or moldy. “Not when it is a woody sticker that attaches itself to anything it comes in contact with, including shoe soles or bicycle tires,” he said, adding that the large whole pods are preferred.
Giblette said Tribulus terrestris is listed in the “Divine Farmer’s Materia Medica,” the oldest record of herbs used as medicinals in China. The book includes a wealth of historical information about early descriptions and usages of approximately 300 Chinese herbs. The ancient publication was created by Shen Nong, the Divine Farmer, who legend says, taught his country about agriculture and medicinal herbs. Giblette said the ground, dried goathead pod is included in many of the Chinese medicine formulas used to address pathogenic changes in internal organ functions.
The use of Tribulus terrestris as a dietary supplement became recognized in Western countries after the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, where it was revealed that the gold medal weightlifting team from Bulgaria had used the herb for a natural endocrine system stimulant to boost testosterone production and thus increase their muscle mass. It boosts the endocrine system in both men and women.
“You see it on the market at health food stores selling for around $20 for a bottle of 60 capsules,” Martin said. “That’s why I am encouraging people to collect this plant as a cash crop. This is just one of many under-utilized plants we are trying to develop into a product with economic value. It’s a matter of raising people’s awareness to the potential that is out there.”"
To attract a younger, less traditional clientele, some traditional Chinese medical clinics in China are fine-tuning and updating their image:
“Practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine are upgrading the 4,000-year-old healing method to improve its image. They are trying to make it more palatable to a new generation who are accustomed to visiting spas and “wellness” clinics. Most young Chinese use western-style GPs as their first port of call when they are sick but still believe that swallowing tortoise shell, deer pizzle, centipede, scorpion or sea horse, or sticking needles into their skins can treat a wide range of illnesses, as can the vast array of herbal remedies. However, traditional Chinese medicine has an image problem – the potions taste awful and smell even worse.
Boutique owner Huang Zhaohe, for example, said she had great success using traditional Chinese medicine to help her lose weight, but admitted it was a struggle. “Once, when I saw what went into the medicine, I felt sick but now I am used to it,” she said. “There are some strange things in Chinese medicine.”
Zhang Xiaoting, a student from Shanghai, began using traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) when she was a teenager, to regulate her menstrual cycle and clear up her acne. She was pleased with the effects but found the concoction hard to swallow. “My mum boiled it at home in the evening,” she said. “The bitter taste made it very difficult to drink but the acne went away and my skin cleared up.”
TCM is still popular in China because evidence suggests the old remedies are effective. Many poor people in rural areas rely on it because they have no access to western-style healthcare. Yet even the wealthy, modern Chinese like to complement western treatments with a holistic approach.
The rising incomes of young urban professionals have seen spas pop up all over Beijing, many of them offering therapies inspired by TCM. These are said to have fewer side effects than western drugs.
Stroke patients are often given acupuncture as part of their treatment. Indeed, the practice of inserting needles under the skin has even become more common in GPs’ surgeries. About 3,000 Chinese hospitals provide TCM and see 234 million patients each year. The industry, worth £64bn annually at the last count, is growing by 20 per cent a year.”
