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In the past five thousands years, herbal medicine has been an important method for Chinese people to conquer diseases. In the United States, it has become more notably recoginized for it's remarkable advantages.
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Firstly, herb is a natural plant. It is just like a vegetable or a fruit, and so it has no side effect. After many years of researching and experimenting, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends the use of herbs as a type of food therapy.
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Every herb has its own natural taste. There are seven herb tastes: pungent, sweet, sour, bitter, salty, bland and astringent. Pungent herb can expel pathogenic factors from human's body. Sweet herb is a good tonic for weak people. Sour or astringent herb has the function of astringency, and can treat diarrhea, enuresis, spermatorrhea, bleeding etc. Bitter herb has cooling and descending functions, so it can treat diseases caused by heat (e.g. high fever) and asthma etc. Salty herb can soften mass; it can treat a boil, cyst, tumor, etc. Bland herb can help urination, so it can treat edema, urine retention, etc.
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Secondly, Chinese herbal medicine can be a very effective supportive therapy for western medical treatment.
Some western medical therapies are very successful in treating the disease but may produce a bad side effect. For example, hormonotherapy or radiotherapy. An effective alternative is to treat serious diseases with a combination of western medical therapy and traditional Chinese medicine. When treating diabetes, for example, the patient can take western medicine at the beginning for treating the symptoms of the disease because it can drop the blood sugar very fast. Meanwhile, we can also use Chinese herbs to regulate the patient's internal body condition for treating the root of the disease. As the body gradually regains normal condition, the patient can gradually reduce the western medical dosage. At the end of treatment, the patient can function without medicine completely.
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The only downfall of using Chinese herbal medicine is the taste of the herb. It is not a particulary delicious flavor. But the Chinese believe that "good medicine is bitter but good for treating disease, the more bitter the better!" Thankfully, we have modern techniques to make the taste more flavorful. As a result, Chinese herbal medicine can be a perfect therapy.
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