For those of you who are unfamiliar, I am going to give a very short but very sweet description of how Chinese Medicine works. In regard to hepatitis, in mainland China, this is the area of internal medicine, which means herbal therapy.
Chinese Medicine recognizes a number of pattern and symptoms, which form a diagnosis. Although we do not recognize hepatitis per se, we do see "evil influences" and "toxicity". I often describe people as being trees, which in childhood generally grow straight up. Life and the environment make the tree bend to the left or right. Our purpose in the medicine is to get that tree growing straight again.
Our herbs are like the proper foods. Although powerful they are so broadly chemically complex that the body has a chance to adapt to their constituents. Our herbs target parts of the body in very specific ways. These herbs are very safe when used by a certified herbalist. Most of the problems we have seen have come from doctors and laypersons that used the herbs in inappropriate ways. However, there when there is evidence that an herb may have a problem then word gets out pretty quickly in the Chinese Medical community. For example, Chai Hu is an herb that has been used for years in a formula to treat hepatitis. When interferon was introduced as a therapy there were about 50 deaths in Japan when patients were taking both together. Tragically, what was found is that Chai Hu mobilizes the natural interferon in the body and combined with interferon therapy patients toxic amounts accumulated in the body. Now any qualified Chinese practitioner knows this and refrains from using Chai Hu when interferon therapy is being used. So we can compare this with the 100,000 or so deaths that occur each year with the known side effects of Western Medicine.
Each prescription of herbs is ideally prescribed for that particular patient who is seen by the doctor once a week or once a month. In nearly all cases a package of herbs is made up of from 5 to 15 herbs grouped together. I cannot think of many cases where a single herb is used in a Chinese medical way. So when we talk about some studies on single herbs this is not to say that the other 14 are not important. ItÕs just a way to illustrate the main functions of the formula.
Current Traditional Medicine in China (TCM) has eight huge categories of disease. The first under which all the rest fall under is Yin and Yang. The next is Deficiency and Excess. A simple cold in an otherwise healthy person is simple excess of either heat or cold. Someone who works too hard has a deficiency of Qi or energy. But Yin and Yang transform into each other, though, so things are rarely this simple. Hepatitis is one of these cases. If we were to see that tree again, then hepatitis would be seen as a hot wind or a bug that has attacked the branches. Eventually if the networks on the leaves fail to transport energy to the roots then the entire tree becomes weak. Because the roots cannot use the water on the ground, the roots themselves become waterlogged or damp.
So in hepatitis we see elements of excess, the bugs, and deficiency, the lack of energy to run the tree properly. Although this may seem simplistic keep it in mind for this combination forms the principal difficulties of treating hepatitis. It is also where Chinese Medicine can be a great help to the hepatitis patient. Western Medicine only sees the disease, the virus, and all of their efforts are to get rid of the virus. This works in Hepatitis C about 40 percent of the time but a great financial and physical cost to the patient. Recent studies show that Chinese Medicine can have about the same results. If Western treatments are used then combined with Chinese Medicine, its effects can be enhanced. This is because our herbs can boost the natural immune system of the body.