China :: Health :: Medicine

Using Acetaminophen (Tylenol) for menstrual cramps has overdose risks Acetaminophen also known as Tylenol, causes severe liver toxicity and slightly too much can be fatal A study released on Nov. 22, 2011 in the UK showed repeated doses of "slightly too much acetaminophen" can be fatal. The study was published online November 22 in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. "On admission, these staggered overdose patients were more likely to have liver and brain problems, require kidney dialysis or help with breathing and were at a greater risk of dying than people who had taken single overdoses," senior author Kenneth J. Simpson, MBChB (Hons), MD, FRCP (Edin), from the University of Edinburgh and Scottish Liver Transplant Unit in the United Kingdom, said in a news release."They haven't taken the sort of single-moment, one-off massive overdoses taken by people who try to commit suicide, but over time the damage builds up, and the effect can be fatal,...

FDA just approved a subligual Ambien for "insomnia in the middle of the night followed by difficulty returning to sleep" It has taken a few years, but the FDA has now approved Intermezzo, a low dose drug with the same active ingredient as Ambien. Zolpidem tartrate will now be in a sublingual tablet form rather than the sleeping pill, Ambien. A rose by any other name would smell as sweet, said Shakespeare and in this case Intermezzo is still Ambien and the side-effects are the same. For people who have difficulty staying asleep and can't fall back to sleep we recommend an herbal sleep aid that has been used for centuries, safely. If you are looking for a completely safe and natural sleep aid that can be taken in the middle of the night and works without side-effects you owe it to yourself to try Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine. The herbs in our iSleep Herb Pack have been used safely and effectively for hundreds of years and clinically tested on thousands of patients...

The results of a study by the Guttmacher Institute were just released. It tells an interesting story about why American teenage girls are choosing birth control pills for noncontraceptive reasons. The study points out that little data has been gathered previously on the use of oral contraception for purposes beyond that of preventing pregnancy. The federally funded survey done from 2006-2008 titled the "National Survey of Family Growth" examined the reasons why women and teens are using the pill for noncontraceptive reasons. The Guttmacher Institute estimated from this survey that 1.5 million women in the U.S. are using oral contraception for noncontraceptive purposes. This includes reasons such as acne, primary dysmenorrhea, prevention of migraines, fibroids, excessive pelvic pain, bleeding and other "side effects" of menstruation. The Guttmacher institute says "The reliance on birth control pills for noncontraceptive reasons is highest among pill users who ...

Todays blog Im looking for some feedback, because, people on all continents, for thousands of years have used the power of herbal remedies. After all these years of use, and thanks to modern chemistry, we know which plants produce what compounds that makes it effective as an herbal sleep aid , an herb for energy, an antimicrobial or for whatever therapeutic results is intended. Today we farm these herbs all around the world, including in California as my last post described the growing of Da Zao, the Chinese herb well known for digestion. But, is there a difference between an herb (Chinese herb or Western herb) which is farm raised compared to one which grows naturally in the wild? Wild crafted herbs were historically the only ones used for healing benefits. Agriculture is a fairly recent event in the 60,000 years since Neanderthal man. Plants growing today in nature obviously live in a more hostile environment than those living on a farm. Farm raised herbs are protected by the farme...

A slightly unusual yet inspiring story appeared on the front page of the LA Times today. It is about a farmer in California's Central Valley near Fresno, who has been growing out of the ordinary produce. He is growing one very common Chinese herb called Jujube fruit. This fruit is fetching higher than average prices within the Asian community who understand the value of this Chinese date. It's a touching story, I'm just surprised it made the front page of the LA Times. Used in many traditional Chinese herbal formulas, Da Zao as it's referred to in Mandarin, is often added to improve the digestability of other herbs in formulas. Jujube is used in Traditional Chinese Medicine to improve digestion, improve energy and to nourish the blood. This is one reason you can find it in our Energy Booster Herb Pack. It can be eaten right off the tree or dried and used in a tea, congee, (hot cereal) or used to sweeten rice or other foods. Jujube like many Chinese herbs doubles as bo...

The health benefits of Lycium fruit, otherwise known as Goji berries are nearly unmatched by any other berry. While Western countries are just recently discovering these incredible antioxidants, Chinese medicine has been using them for centuries. Many foods and herbs overlap in Traditional Chinese Medicine, (TCM) and goji berries is one of these, a food used in herbal remedies. Today we are finding goji in energy drinks , energy bars and as a stand alone dried fruit in many health food stores. A recent study at the University of Basel in Switzerland showed lycium to have " antioxidative properties and some interesting pharmacological activities in the context of age related diseases such as atherosclerosis and diabetes."1 Lycium berries have a long history of use in Chinese medicine. They are commonly seen in cooking recipes from soups to congee (hot cereal) to stews. Goji berries are known as a tonic herb for the blood, considered a liver protector and especially beneficial...