What are the medicinal herbal therapeutic preparations

The medical herbal therapy preparations currently approved for sale in China cover multiple treatment areas such as respiratory, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular, skin, analgesia, etc. Common ones include artemisinin antimalarial drugs, Lianhua Qingwen series preparations, Pudilan anti-inflammatory preparations, Ginkgo leaf extract preparations, Asiatic glycoside cream ointment, acetate preparations, etc.

Artemisinin should be the benchmark herbal preparation that everyone is most familiar with. The active ingredient extracted from Artemisia annua is now the core anti-malarial drug in the world. It has saved the lives of millions of malaria patients. There is almost no controversy about its efficacy endorsed by the Nobel Prize. When I was supporting influenza prevention and control at a community health service center, I encountered many patients with mild upper respiratory tract infections who only had sore throat, fatigue, and low fever. They did not need to prescribe antibiotics. After evaluation, they prescribed Lianhua Qingwen Granules or Pudilan Anti-inflammatory Oral Liquid. Most patients reported that their symptoms were significantly relieved in 2-3 days. These two are commonly used herbal preparations in the respiratory department that people have the most daily contact with.

It is not only taken orally. There are quite a lot of differences in the varieties commonly used in different departments. For example, the asiatic glycoside ointment commonly prescribed by dermatology departments is the total glycoside extracted from Centella asiatica, a plant of the Umbelliferae family. It can be used by girls who are afraid of red marks after encountering moles before, and patients who are recovering from deep second-degree burns. If you insist on applying it for 1-2 months, the probability of pigmentation and scar hyperplasia will be much lower. The ingredients are mild and non-irritating, and it can basically be used on sensitive skin. There is also aconitine tablets commonly used in orthopedics. The active ingredient extracted from Dianxi Wuli has an analgesic effect similar to that of conventional ibuprofen, but it has much less irritation to the gastrointestinal tract. I used to treat an old arthritis patient who had chronic gastritis for ten years. His stomach was so burned that he could not eat after taking ibuprofen. After switching to aconite, the problem has not occurred again, and the analgesic effect has not been compromised. The same goes for Ginkgo biloba extract preparations commonly used in cardiovascular and cerebrovascular departments. Whether it is injection or oral tablets, it has been used for decades. It has a clear effect on improving dizziness symptoms caused by cerebral infarction recovery and insufficient blood supply to the brain.

Of course, there is a lot of controversy about this type of preparations. Some scholars in the industry believe that the large-sample multi-center evidence-based medicine evidence for some herbal preparations is insufficient, and the adverse reactions of many early approved varieties are not clearly labeled. In the past two years, the instructions for Pudilan preparations were revised to include nausea, vomiting and other adverse reactions and warnings about contraindications for pregnant women. In fact, the regulatory level is making up for the shortcomings in this area. On the other hand, many people think that herbal preparations are "all natural and have no side effects." This is actually a very wrong perception. As long as they are medicines, they have corresponding indications and contraindications. For example, herbal cold preparations containing ephedra should not be used casually by patients with high blood pressure. The wrong dosage may even cause a spike in blood pressure.

Finally, I would like to mention that the medical herbal preparations we are talking about are all approved drugs that have been approved by the State Food and Drug Administration. Those health products on the market under the banner of "herbal health" and folk homemade herbal prescriptions do not fall into this category. They cannot be confused. It is best to consult a professional medical staff before taking medicine, and do not buy it blindly.