China: a new medicine born of tradition
Wen, W.
Unesco Courier 7: 25-27
1979
PMID: 12309932 Document Number: 447758
Highly effective medicinal herbs are being used successfully in China to treat malaria, for example, using Ching Hao Su, an extract from wormwood. There are 5000 varieties of medicinal herbs cataloged, some more effective than western drugs. China's barefoot doctors investigate diseases and collect effective drugs, one of which is Muching which has been highly effective in treating chronic bronchitis. Salvia miltiorrhiza, used in ancient times to activate blood circulation, is used to treat coronary artery diseases and has proved effective in 87% of angina pectoris cases. Medicinal herbs are used to treat burns, hypertension, and cancer and, although the herbs are readily available and inexpensive, they work slowly. Using medicinal herbs, a Shansi Medical College affiliated hospital successfully treated over 800 cases of extra-uterine pregnancy and, in 90% of the cases, no surgery was performed. Treatment showed medicinal herbs checked bleeding, improved circulation, and eradicated blood clots. Research is being conducted with herbal prescriptions to find safer, more effective and convenient contraceptives for men and women. A breakthrough for the Institute of Medicine of the Chinese Academy of Medicine Sciences was seen in the successful cultivation of gastrodia elata which has been used for 2000 years to treat dizziness, headaches, and infantile coma.