Chinese herbal medicine trace its roots back to the time of the legendary Chinese Emperor Shen Nong, born in 2737 BC. Considered to be the father of Chinese medicine, he discovered the healing properties of over 365 herbs and other remedies by testing them on himself. The earliest known written version of his Classic Herbal was published in the third century BC.
Over the centuries, many talented doctors added their knowledge and expertise to the expanding body of literature on Chinese herbal remedies and treatments. Zhang Zhongjing, established a system for the diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases. Sun Simiao, born circa 581 AD, wrote the first comprehensive encyclopedia of Chinese medicine. His 30-volume work included over 4,500 formulas, many of which are still in use today.
The goal of traditional Chinese medicine is the prevention of illness by maintaining balance in all aspects of life. This rationale differs from the conventional Western idea of treating symptoms of an existing disease. In the Chinese philosophy, the focus is on treating the patient as a whole. Illness is regarded as an imbalance in the patient’s body, mind or spirit. A skilled practitioner of Chinese herbal medicine will choose appropriate herbal formulas to strengthen, nourish and bring the patient back into balance and harmony.
Chinese herbs differ from western herbs in that they are almost always prescribed as a formula containing 5 – 15 herbs. Combining different types of herbs in different quantities helps me to craft a formula to address your specific symptom pattern.
The Chinese materia medica includes over 6,000 individual substances. A typical practitioner will use between 300 and 400 of these substances on a routine basis. Most of these are plants but minerals and animal parts are also used. At Berkeley Acupuncture Center, my commitment to the environment ensures that we do not use any medicinal substance derived from an endangered species or one that involves inflicting pain on a living being.
Traditionally, Chinese herbs were only available in dried form and had to be boiled for many hours to release their active ingredients. However, modern advances have lead to natural methods of extracting the active ingredients so that herbs can be prescribed in more palatable forms such as pills, tinctures and freeze dried granules. These are prepared according to strict Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and subject to high levels of quality control.
I am as much of an herbalist as I am an acupuncturist. My patients get quick results when the two healing modalities are combined.
