Herbal Medical Theories

  • The Theoretical Basis for Herbal Medical Treatment

Strengthening Positive Elements but Never Assisting Negative Constituents;
Eliminating Pathogenic Factors but Never Hurting Constructive Essences;
Facilitating Treatment Processes but Never Interfering Bodily Functions.

There are thousands of years of theoretical basis for treating diseases. Some would argue that there is no scientific verification processes as the basis to support the credibility of the Chinese herbal medication. Nevertheless, we should never ignore that fact that the development of Chinese herbal medicine is virtually a historical process of clinical trials. There were no modern experimental equipment and instruments available for the medical professional. The only choice for them to test their medical approaches is literally testing the efficacy on patients after providing prescriptions and stewing herbal elements. As such, apart from assessing the Chinese herbal medication by standard examination of modern technology, historical experiences are still essential elements and cannot be ignored.

Facing the occurrences and developments of immunity diseases, Chinese medicine professionals argue that it is nothing but the conflicts between positive elements and negative constituents within human bodies. As the positive elements prevail, the human body may have better resistance to diseases so that it will be less prevalent or even not occur at all. Nevertheless, if the positive elements are not sufficient, the natural consequence is the occurrence and development of sickness.

The essentials of treatment therefore are nothing but to alter the balance of relative potency between positive elements and negative constituents. As positive elements can be suitably resumed thus the negative constituents will surely be suppressed, then the ideal of strengthening positive elements and eliminating pathogenic factors may subsequently be fulfilled. While the bodily essence, i.e. Chi, shifts towards positive direction, it virtually implies that the illness itself will eventually move on the way to full recovery. Hence, the crux of integrating Chinese herbal medicine and Western medicine is simply focusing at suitably adopting Chinese medicine to produce supplemental efficacy as patients taking Western medications.

Based on the theoretical basis of strengthening positive elements and eliminating pathogenic factors, to treat significant autoimmune diseases, modern Chinese medical professionals will first observe the progression of growth and decline of positive elements and negative constituents. Obtaining a comprehensive understanding of other medication in order to provide appropriate Chinese herbal medicine as supplements is literally the treatment philosophy called "Facilitating Treatment Processes". As such, Chinese medication prescriptions for treating significant autoimmune diseases mainly follows the principles of "strengthening positive elements but never assisting negative constituents; eliminating pathogenic factors but never hurting constructive essences; and facilitating treatment processes but never interfering with bodily functions," as its basis and behaving accordingly.

Strengthening Positive Elements

Positive elements, also known as positive Chi, are the realization of human illness resistance ability. It is fundamentally the strength that sustains physical health and also can be viewed as the performance of normal human body functions. From a modern medical science point of view, it is a composite of illness resistance, natural recovery ability from disease and environmental adaptability of the human body.

Strengthening Positive Elements: This includes measures such as medication therapy, nutrition, physical exercise and other appropriate means to strengthen positive elements thus enhancing bodily essence to elevate disease resistance and health recovery ability. With these elements, we may successfully suppress pathogenic factors and defeat all dynamics that may cause illness in order to restore the health of our bodies.

There are three features of Western medical theories listed below that may reflect the function of strengthening positive elements:

1. Immunomodulation
2. Physiological Function Modulation
3. Reduction of Side Effects

Eliminating Pathogenic Factors

Pathogenic factors, also known as pathogenic Chi, are the bacterial, virus, physical and chemical dynamic that may cause disease and relative pathological transformations.

Eliminating Pathogenic Factors: This includes measures such as medication, acupuncture, massage, exercise and other suitable means to eliminate pathogenic factors in order to exclude disease-causing factors and relevant effects, confining the development of a disease, and by eliminating pathogenic factors, we may strengthen positive elements and reduce negative constituents to facilitate gradual recovery from illness.

There are eight features of Western medical theories listed below that may reflect the function of eliminating pathogenic factors:

1. Epigenetic Modification
2. Differentiation Induction
3. Apoptosis Induction
4. Cell Cycle Regulation
5. Signal transduction Inhibition
6. Anti Invasion and Metastasis
7. Anti Angiogenesis
8. Elimination of Cancer Stem-like Cells

Facilitating Treatment Processes

Methods for improving the effectiveness of conventional radiation and chemotherapy while reducing cancer cells' drug resistance is in fact a persistent bottleneck in cancer therapy. Traditional Chinese medicine, as a vital segment of adjuvant therapy, promotes the scientific validation of the data so that integrating Oriental and Occidental medicine by "separating wheat from the chaff thus advancing leverage." Elevating the effectiveness of the synthesized therapy measures is the moral obligation of all professionals involved in the task of medical practices and studies.

There is only one feature of the Western medical theories listed below that may reflect the function of facilitating therapy processes:

Reducing Drug Resistance of Cancer Cells and Increasing Sensitization of Radiation and Chemotherapy