China :: Health :: Medicine

The Herb Salvia Miltiorrhiza Used in an Extract Helps Osteoporosis. New evidence now exist about the Chinese herb, Salvia Miltiorrhiza. This herb has been used for thousands of years and has been praised for its benefits for cardiovascular disease. The latest study on Salvia Miltiorrhiza indicates that this Chinese herb can also be beneficial to those suffering with osteoporosis, a thinning of the bones or loss of bone density over time. The recent osteoporosis study results showed Salvia Miltiorrhiza (also known as Dan Shen) "significantly reduced the decrease in bone density." The researchers believe the preventative effect of this Chinese herb was "due to its anti-oxidative stress via modulation of osteoclast maturation and number." The researchers went on to say it "appears Salvia Miltiorrhiza could be a promising new osteoporosis therapeutic natural product." As women age and go through menopause they often begin to worry about their bone density. Ch...

Hey folks, Ive got a few articles on particular Chinese herbs from the archives coming your way cleaned up and ready for consumption. But in the meantime, I wanted to let you know that the newest issue of Chinese Medicine Quarterly is up. This time, writers were asked to think about the concept of Wind in Chinese medicine. Who hasnt considered Wind as they study Chinese medicine? Such a strange concept do we really mean WIND? And whats with the association with wood? So many types of wind! How do we defend against it? What happens when a person is impacted by it? Ive always had so many questions I cant guarantee your questions about wind will be answered with this issue, but you will enjoy yourself nonetheless. If youre interested in reading more about the issue, just click this link. Oh, and this time around you can get your issue in print, if you so desire. Thats new! Thanks for reading, Eric

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...