Herbology is the
art of combining medicinal herbs.
Herbology is traditionally one of the more important
modalities utilized in
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Each herbal medicine
prescription is a cocktail of many herbs tailored to the
individual patient. One batch of herbs is typically decocted
twice over the course of one hour. The practitioner usually
designs a remedy using one or two main ingredients that
target the illness. Then the practitioner adds many other
ingredients to adjust the formula to the patient's
Yin Yang conditions. Sometimes, ingredients are needed
to cancel out toxicity or side-effects of the main
ingredients. Some herbs require the use of other ingredients
as catalyst or else the brew will be ineffective. The latter
steps require great experience and knowledge, and make the
difference between a good Chinese herbal doctor and an
amateur. Unlike western medications, the balance and
interaction of all the ingredients are more important than
the effect of individual ingredients. A key to success in
TCM is the treatment of each patient as an individual.
Although
acupuncture was the first Chinese method of treatment to gain
wide acceptance in the West, Chinese herbal medicine is quickly
establishing itself as one of the most popular and effective
alternative therapies in the West. In fact, the science of herbs
is central to Chinese medicine. During the last two millennia,
many more books have been devoted to herbology than to
acupuncture. And while Chinese physicians tend to practice both
medical techniques, physicians who practice only with herbs are
more numerous than those who practice only with acupuncture in
China.
Western
folk herbalism usually focuses on one symptom or disease at a
time and use a single herb or groups of herbs for treatment.
Chinese
herbal medicine may include vegetable, animal, and mineral
ingredients, however, the majority of ingredients are from
vegetable sources. Leaves, flowers, twigs, stems, roots, tubers,
rhizomes, and bark are among the parts of the vegetable used.
Chinese
herbalist, after distinguishing a particular pattern of
disharmony in a patient, usually chooses a prescription from a
repertoire of some 500 common classical prescriptions that can
rebalance various disharmonies. These prescriptions are learned
from the great clinical manuals that exist alongside the
pharmacopoeias. Thus, the physician is armed with knowledge that
has been tested
over the past centuries of Chinese medical history. Herbs are
seldom used singly; they are usually combined in prescriptions
containing five to fifteen substances.
The most
common method of taking Chinese herbal medicine is drinking a
liquid, prepared by boiling the selected herbs. There are also
herbal pills, tinctures, and powdered extracts for those who do
not have the time or taste for drinking the more traditional
liquid form.
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