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Chinese herbal medicine also has a tradition stretching back over 2000 years, although it is less well known in the UK than acupuncture. In many Chinese hospitals it is used alongside Western medicine as an integral part of healthcare treatment.
Modern processing techniques mean that herbs no longer need to be prepared at home. They are now professionally processed and available as powder or as sachets which can be easily mixed into a drink.
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Herbs are very safe when prescribed correctly by a properly trained practitioner.
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Prescriptions are not generic. They are individually written according to the specific needs of each patient, and typically might contain 10 or more herbs of different doses. The combinations and doses are carefully selected, and great care is taken to ensure that they will not interfere with any medication.
Gerard has a post-graduate qualification in Chinese herbal medicine and is a member of the Register of Chinese Herbal Medicine, the main professional body in the UK. The Register maintains an inspection scheme to ensure that the herbs used by our approved suppliers meet high standards of quality and safety.
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Did you know?
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Qing hao, known in the West as artemesinin, is a Chinese herb that has been used to treat fever for over 1700 years. It has now become the mainstay of treatment for malaria across the globe. According to the World Health Organization "Artemisinin, used in combination with other drugs, is now considered the world�s best treatment against malaria". Note that artemesinin is not used to prevent infection with malaria, rather it is used to help treat those who are unfortunate enough to have already caught it.
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Tamiflu, the antiviral drug used to reduce the effects of flu, is synthesized from a small evergreen fruit known as Star Anise. Its Chinese name is da hui xiang, and it has long been used to treat people suffering from cold. Star Anise is one of the constituents of Five Spice powder, famously joked about by Michael McIntyre (watch the clip).
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Many common pharmaceutical drugs are based on herbs. Perhaps the best known is aspirin, whose active ingredient is found in plants such as willow trees and meadowsweet. Over 2000 years ago the Greek physician Hippocrates, famed for the Hippocratic Oath, recommended a brew of willow leaves for labour pains. The name aspirin comes from the old botanical name for meadowsweet, spiraea ulmaria.
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