What does medical herbal therapy preparations do

The core role of medical herbal therapy preparations is to achieve targeted symptom relief and body homeostasis regulation through purified or compounded herbal active ingredients on the premise of complying with the clinical standards of modern medicine. At the same time, it can fill in some application blind spots of conventional chemical drugs and provide more options for clinical treatment on the basis of ensuring safety.

A few days ago, I was attending a consultation in the Traditional Chinese Medicine Department of a community health service center and met a little girl who was in her junior year. She had been suffering from recurrent oral ulcers for almost a week. She used to use hormone patches to suppress the ulcers, but she relapsed within half a month after stopping the medication. Moreover, her mouth always felt bitter after the patch was applied, and her food tasted tasteless. I prescribed her an approved brand of Indigo Naturalis herbal spray and told her to spray it 3 times a day and not to be too harsh. On the third day, she sent me a message saying that the ulcer had basically healed and there was no tingling sensation like before. This is actually one of the most intuitive functions of this type of preparation: for local discomfort such as mucous membranes and skin, it is much less irritating than many chemical drugs, and is especially suitable for people with sensitive constitutions, the elderly and children. For example, the medical lithospermum ointment commonly used for eczema in infants and young children, and the repair dressing containing madecassoside for sensitive skin dermatitis, all follow this logic.

Of course, if you think it can only deal with such "small problems", you would be underestimating it. Last month, a 72-year-old patient came to have his medication adjusted. He had been taking dipinephrine antihypertensive drugs for three years. His blood pressure was stable, but his ankles had been swollen and he occasionally felt dizzy. He went to the cardiovascular department several times to adjust his medication, but he still had adverse reactions after changing to two different types. Later, we added a herbal antihypertensive auxiliary preparation containing total flavonoids to him. After taking it for two weeks, most of the edema disappeared and the dizziness disappeared. There are also many cancer patients who have severe bone marrow suppression after radiotherapy and chemotherapy, and their white blood cells cannot rise. With the use of medical preparations based on astragalus polysaccharides, many of them can survive the bone marrow suppression period smoothly without suffering from frequent white blood injections. At this time, it is more like a "cushion" for the treatment plan. It does not compete with mainstream treatments, but it can reduce side effects and improve the patient's treatment experience and compliance.

However, there have been different opinions in the industry regarding the boundaries of the effects of such preparations. For example, I know several clinical doctors with a Western medicine background who only recognize single-flavor herbal preparations with clear purified ingredients, such as artemisinin, ephedrine, and ginkgo leaf extract. Only those with clear large-sample clinical data and a clear understanding of the mechanism of action dare to use them. I feel that the active ingredients of many compound herbal preparations are unclear and the proportion of placebo effects is too high, so they are not recommended for routine use. Most doctors with a background in traditional Chinese medicine recognize the value of compound formulas and believe that the combination of monarchs, ministers and assistants can reduce toxicity and improve efficacy. Many prescriptions that have been used for thousands of years have been made into modern preparations, and their safety and effectiveness have been verified over time. There is no need to focus on the action path of a single ingredient.

I have encountered many patients who have misunderstandings. They think that herbal medicines are purely natural and must have no side effects. They even stop antihypertensive and antidiabetic medicines without permission and try to use herbal medicines. Many of them end up with problems. To put it bluntly, medical herbal preparations are essentially medical products and must be used under the guidance of a doctor. They cannot replace conventional treatment plans, especially in the treatment of acute and severe cases. Antibiotics should be used when antibiotics are needed, and surgery should be performed when needed. Don’t put the cart before the horse.

We in the industry often say that medical herbal preparations are more like "lubricating patches" for clinical treatment. In many cases, they are not the main drug, but when used together, the entire treatment plan can be much smoother. As for whether it is easy to use, in fact, there is no need to get entangled in factions. As long as it is a product that has undergone formal clinical verification and has been approved for marketing, and is used in the right scenario, it can exert its value. After all, no matter what the preparation is, the core is that it can safely solve the patient's problems.