TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) is now popularly being promoted as an effective solution to Covid-19 Coronavirus treatment solution in China. This, as expected, has met many criticism, skepticism and doubting Thomases.
The "lung-clearing and detoxing soup," as the herbal compound used to treat Covid-19 Coronavirus infection in China is called, was part of the Chinese government's push to use Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in the fight against the novel coronavirus outbreak.
"We are willing to share the 'Chinese experience' and 'Chinese solution' of treating Covid-19, and let more countries get to know Chinese medicine, understand Chinese medicine and use Chinese medicine,"
Yu Yanhong, deputy head of China's National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, said at a press conference last week.
"By adjusting the whole body health and improving immunity, TCM can help stimulate the patients' abilities to resist and recover from the disease, which is an effective way of therapy," she said, adding that traditional medicine had helped fight viruses in the past, such as the SARS pandemic in 2002 and 2003 that killed hundreds in China.
So far, more than 50,000 novel coronavirus patients have been discharged from hospital, and the majority of them used TCM, Yu said, citing it as evidence for the efficacy of using Chinese and Western medicine in tandem.
In a clinical trial of 102 patients with mild symptoms in Wuhan, patients with combined treatments compared with the control group of patients receiving only Western medicine, Yu said. Their recovery rate was 33% higher, she added.
In another study of more serious cases, patients receiving combined treatments also left hospital sooner than the control group and had greater levels of oxygen in their blood and a higher lymphocyte count -- an important indicators of the health of recovering patients, according to Yu.
"Traditional Chinese medicine has played an active role in improving the recovery rate and lowering the fatality rate among patients," he told a press conference late last month.
Is it safe?
Nevertheless, public health experts say it could be a long shot for China to convince other nations -- especially Western countries -- to adopt TCM treatments to fight the coronavirus outbreak.
"I think the effort to promote TCM worldwide is likely to make way in certain regions, like
Africa. But unless the development and marketing of TCM (conform) to the modern standards, like what was done to artemisinin, it is unlikely to be so well-received in the Western world," said professor Huang from the Council on Foreign Relations.
The safety and effectiveness of TCM is still debated in China, where it has both adherents and skeptics. Though many of the remedies in TCM have been in use for hundreds of years, critics argue that there is no verifiable scientific evidence to support their supposed benefits.
"Almost all TCM products in China do not go through the rigorous procedures Western modern medicine typically goes through. That's partly why people don't trust TCM in the Western world," Huang said.
For the coronavirus, the WHO originally advised against using TCM on its website, saying those with Covid-19 should avoid "taking traditional herbal remedies."
But that line was later removed.
Based on the CNN.com report: Beijing wants to promote traditional medicine to treat coronavirus, but not everyone is on board
https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/14/asia/cor ... index.htmlTCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) is now popularly being promoted as an effective solution to Covid-19 Coronavirus treatment solution in China. This, as expected, has met many criticism, skepticism and doubting Thomases.
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The "lung-clearing and detoxing soup," as the herbal compound used to treat Covid-19 Coronavirus infection in China is called, was part of the Chinese government's push to use Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in the fight against the novel coronavirus outbreak.
[quote]"We are willing to share the 'Chinese experience' and 'Chinese solution' of treating Covid-19, and let more countries get to know Chinese medicine, understand Chinese medicine and use Chinese medicine,"[/quote] Yu Yanhong, deputy head of China's National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, said at a press conference last week.
[attachment=0]images (4).png[/attachment]
"By adjusting the whole body health and improving immunity, TCM can help stimulate the patients' abilities to resist and recover from the disease, which is an effective way of therapy," she said, adding that traditional medicine had helped fight viruses in the past, such as the SARS pandemic in 2002 and 2003 that killed hundreds in China.
So far, more than 50,000 novel coronavirus patients have been discharged from hospital, and the majority of them used TCM, Yu said, citing it as evidence for the efficacy of using Chinese and Western medicine in tandem.
In a clinical trial of 102 patients with mild symptoms in Wuhan, patients with combined treatments compared with the control group of patients receiving only Western medicine, Yu said. Their recovery rate was 33% higher, she added.
In another study of more serious cases, patients receiving combined treatments also left hospital sooner than the control group and had greater levels of oxygen in their blood and a higher lymphocyte count -- an important indicators of the health of recovering patients, according to Yu.
"Traditional Chinese medicine has played an active role in improving the recovery rate and lowering the fatality rate among patients," he told a press conference late last month.
[attachment=1]images - 2020-03-15T045240.040.jpeg[/attachment]
Is it safe?
Nevertheless, public health experts say it could be a long shot for China to convince other nations -- especially Western countries -- to adopt TCM treatments to fight the coronavirus outbreak.
"I think the effort to promote TCM worldwide is likely to make way in certain regions, like [b]Africa[/b]. But unless the development and marketing of TCM (conform) to the modern standards, like what was done to artemisinin, it is unlikely to be so well-received in the Western world," said professor Huang from the Council on Foreign Relations.
The safety and effectiveness of TCM is still debated in China, where it has both adherents and skeptics. Though many of the remedies in TCM have been in use for hundreds of years, critics argue that there is no verifiable scientific evidence to support their supposed benefits.
"Almost all TCM products in China do not go through the rigorous procedures Western modern medicine typically goes through. That's partly why people don't trust TCM in the Western world," Huang said.
For the coronavirus, the WHO originally advised against using TCM on its website, saying those with Covid-19 should avoid "taking traditional herbal remedies."
But that line was later removed.
Based on the CNN.com report: Beijing wants to promote traditional medicine to treat coronavirus, but not everyone is on board
https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/14/asia/coronavirus-traditional-chinese-medicine-intl-hnk/index.html
