Fight against swine flu (H1N1 flu) by Chinese medicine

Since swine flu (A/H1N1) is attacking Mexico and USA, and it is also spreading to other countries over the world. Every time when a severe epidemic disease occurred in China, everybody tried to use Chinese herbal tea to prevent the widespread of the epidemic condition, also the patients were treated by TCM. First, let us see what Chinese people did in the fighting against SARS in 2003 to get some valuable information.

Viewing the comparative advantages of traditional Chinese medicine in fighting against SARS.

In April of 2003, a medical research team made an investigation in the effect of Chinese medicine for treatment of SARS. The global average mortality rate caused by SARS was 11%, mainland China was 7%, Taiwan was 27%, Hong Kong and Singapore was 17%.

The mortality rate caused by SARS in mainland China is much lower than all the others. One important reason is traditional Chinese medicine. Combination of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Western Medicine has played a special role.

The main functions of Traditional Chinese Medicine combining with Western Medicine are

1. decreasing the mortality rate

There were more than 50 SARS patients in the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of TCM, no death and no infection of health-care personnel. There were 117 patients admitted in May 2003 treated by Academician Zhong Nanshan (the chief medical leader of this campaign against SARS in China), 10 patients were dead. Among those patients, 71 cases accepted TCM treatment and there was only one death. Guangzhou Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine was the pioneer to use traditional Chinese medicine and mortality rate was less than 4%, which was the lowest across China. The mortality rate was about 7% in China. 

2. decreasing the cost of treatment 

The average treatment cost for one SARS patient by western medicine was 50,000 to 100,000 Yuan (about US$7,142.00 to US$14,285.00). However, traditional Chinese medicine as the main treatment method was used in the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of TCM just cost 5 thousand Yuan (about US$714.00) at most for one patient.

3. decreasing the sequelae

Because of large use of hormone medicine, above one third of patients developed pulmonary fibrosis and osteonecrosis. However, there is no sequela happened to the patients mainly treated by traditional Chinese medicine.

The special function and significance of Chinese medicine for treatment of SARS are recognized by (WHO) World Health Organization experts. In October 2003, they all agree that the scientific research of Chinese medicine and its clinical application rescued many lives of the SARS patients at the "International Seminar on Combination of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Western Medicine for SARS Treatment".

In the prevention and convalescent treatment, there is no specific method so far in western medicine but traditional Chinese medicine has its unique way. Experts unanimously recommended that we should put TCM treatment into public and urgent event clinical treatment system, set up research network, make emergency and research preplans.

Thanks to the comparative advantages of traditional Chinese medicine, TCM treatment presented such a particular effect and great contribution in the sudden disaster of SARS.

With the difference from western medicine's allopathy, although there is no microbiology theory in Chinese medicine it has its own way to solve viral diseases based on perverse qi theory. TCM treatment attaches great importance to regulate and take care of right qi instead of anti-virus. In this way evil cannot overwhelm the right qi and be eliminated.

Among the patients treated by western medicine, nearly half of them get necrosis of the femoral head.

Chinese medicine repeatedly performs outstanding contribution in epidemic prevention. In the Eastern Han Dynasty Jian'an Reign (about 2,000 years ago), typhoid happened and at that time Zhang Zhongjing put forward Treatise On Febrile Diseases and stopped spread of the disease effectively. During the period of epidemic diseases in late Ming Dynasty (about 400 years ago), with the formation and perfection of febrile disease theory based on TCM Dr. Wu Youke's febrile disease theory combined with  the theory of "defense qi, qi, construction fluids and blood" presented by TCM Dr. Ye Tianshi, TCM made a big step in overcoming infectious diseases.

Smallpox was once the terrible infectious disease in history, human vaccination was invented to prevent against smallpox in Northern Song Dynasty (AD 960- AD 1127). Afterwards it was introduced into Europe and improved it as vaccinia.

China has never experienced millions of deaths caused by infectious diseases like western countries, an important reason for this is that Chinese medicine has played a special role.

There are also remarkable effects to prevent and treat major diseases with traditional Chinese medicine in recent decades. Since the 1950s encephalitis B and measles were prevalent in China repeatedly. Effects of Traditional Chinese Medicine surpasses the world level and there is no sequela. The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) made the statistics and comparison for mortality rate between the traditional Chinese medicine as the main treatment for HBV/HAV in Shanghai 1988 and conventional western medicine for similar diseases from 1983 to 1988  in US. By comparison, it was showed the effective rate for those who treated with Chinese medicine and western medicine was 0.05% : 11.7%. That is to say, the comparison of mortality rate in China and America is 1:234. The effect of traditional Chinese medicine in prevention and treatment for SARS in 2003 was recognized and highly praised by World Health Organization (WHO).

Therefore, we suggest the corresponding medical hospitals which are treating swine flu patients to pay attention to adopting TCM to coordinate with western medicine treatment so that more patients will recover better from this condition.

In the mean time, in order to help healthy people to fight against the possibility of being affected by this condition, we prescribe a herbal formula and you could use it as a daily tea. It is simple to use and just put it into boiling water and drink the tea.

The strategy of our tea is to strengthen the qi and detoxicate, including expelling external wind evil, clearing heat and transforming dampness, etc. The ingredients include honey suckle, licorice root, wild chrysanthemum flower, lotus leaf, etc. We put the daily tea into a gauze pack so that it is convenient for you to use.

One month herbal tea is US$100.00, we will air ship to you and the delivery is within one to two weeks. You could order one month or two months each time for each person.

Please contact us for ordering our tea.Our pleasure to be of assistance.

Huaihua Red Cross Hospital, Hunan Province, China.

May 8, 2009.