Traditional Chinese Medicine

Herbology

Chinese herbology is the art of combining medicinal herbs . It often incorporates ingredients from all parts of plants, the leaf, stem, flower, root, and also ingredients from animals and minerals.

Each herbal medicine prescription is tailored to the individual patient . The practitioner usually designs a remedy using one or two main ingredients that target the illness. Then the practitioner adds many other ingredients to adjust the formula to the patient's yin /yang conditions. Sometimes, ingredients are needed to cancel out toxicity or side effects of the main ingredients. Some herbs require the use of other ingredients as catalyst or else the brew is ineffective. Unlike western medications, the balance and interaction of all the ingredients are considered more important than the effect of individual ingredients. A key to success in TCM is the treatment of each patient as an individual.

Chinese herbalism classifies herbs according to the Four Energies, the Five Tastes, the Four Directions and their relationship to the 12 Internal Organs.

This pertains to the degree of yin and yang , ranging from cold (extreme yin), cool, neutral to warm and hot (extreme yang). The patient's internal balance of yin and yang is taken into account when the herbs are selected. For example, medicinal herbs of "hot", yang nature are used when the person is suffering from internal cold that requires to be purged, or when the patient has a general cold constituency. Herbs that have a cold energy are used to treat inflammatory and toxic conditions.

Five Tastes

The five tastes are spicy, sweet, sour, bitter and salty, each of which have their own functions and characteristics. The flavors of herbs do not always relate to the actual perceived flavors but are used to indicate the actions of specific herbs. For example, spicy herbs are used to generate sweat and to direct and vitalise qi and the blood. A sweet-tasting herb often tonifies or harmonizes bodily systems. Some sweet-tasting herbs also exhibit a bland taste, which helps drain dampness through diuresis . Sour taste most often is astringent or consolidates, while bitter taste dispels heat, purges the bowels and get rids of dampness by drying them out. Salty taste softens hard masses as well as purges and opens the bowels.

Four Directions

Herbs have lifting, lowering, floating and descending properties. These may also be interpreted as upward, downward, outward or inward directions in terms of their ability to influence physiological processes.

Lifting refers to herbs that stimulate Yang Qi. Lowering or inward means to sedate or penetrate more deeply. Floating means to extend outward to the surface and usually includes diaphoretic properties. Downward means to purge or treat the lower part of the body. Herbs with a lifting energy are used for diseases associated with a collapse of Qi, prolapse of various internal organs, coldness, depression, low energy and fatigue. Herbs with a floating energy have diaphoretic properties and are used for the initial stages of colds, flus, fevers and eruptive skin diseases.

Herbs with a descending energy are used to treat diseases whose symptoms express themselves upward including symptoms of cough, vomiting and asthma. Herbs whose energy is downward have the ability to purge or promote circulation in the lower part of the body. Herbs also have heavy or light qualities. In general, flowers or leaves are light while roots, seeds or fruits are heavy. So that light herbs a commonly used for treating acute, feverish diseases while heavy herbs are used for deeper, more chronic conditions.

The Meridians/12 Internal Organs

In more recent Chinese medical history, herbs have been classified as entering or affecting one or more of the 12 Internal Organs. Since the internal organs in Chinese medicine refer not only to the specific organ but also to the acupuncture channel or meridian that belongs to that organ, specific herbs are known to have a more or less specific effect on the corresponding organ meridian. Many of the relationships are obvious and correspond with some exceptions to the relationship of the flavors to the Five Elements.

Herbs with a sweet flavor typically belong to the Earth element and therefore enter the Spleen-pancreas and Stomach organ meridians. These commonly have a nutritive and tonifying energy. Those with a spicy flavor belong to the Lungs and large intestine, which is part of the Metal element. At least in terms of the lungs, these have the ability to promote diaphoresis and lessen mucus. Herbs with a salty energy belong to the Kidney-adrenals and bladder, which belongs to the Water element. These have the effect of lubricating and moistening bodily tissues. Herbs that are sour enter the Liver and Gall Bladder meridians, which belong to the Wood element, and these aid in inhibiting and regulating bodily secretions. Finally, herbs that are bitter belong to the Fire element, which includes the Heart, Pericardium Small Intestines and Triple Warmer. These are detoxifying and help to clear and improve the circulatory passages.

Because herbs often have complex biochemical properties, they may have more than one flavor and thus affect and enter more than one organ meridian. A somewhat minor theory based on Five-Element correspondence is the use of herbs according to their colors. Thus green herbs enter the Liver, red colored substances enter Heart, yellow colored herbs enter the Spleen, white colored herbs enter the Lungs and Black colored herbs enter the Kidneys.