« Medical Equipments | Home | Executive Desks »
Preparation of Chinese Herbs
By peace | August 23, 2007
Chinese Medicine is actively practised inside China. Outside China, in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore, it is also practised, where the population is predominantly ethnic Chinese. The practice is also seen in countries where the population has a significant percentage of ethnic Chinese, like in Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand or even Indonesia, or anywhere else in the world where there are large pockets of ethnic Chinese, as in Europe and the Americas. Countries such as Japan, Korea, and Vietnam also practise this form of healthcare, although much modified to suit their own national requirements.
Most of the raw materials needed by these countries come from China, although Taiwan, and maybe even Hong Kong, may supply some of them. Local materials, where available, may be used as substitutes, or added to the long list of products.
A prescription usually involves a main ingredient and many supporting ingredients, the latter playing varying roles for preserving and flavouring to colouring. Herbs are usually prescribed as a decoction. This needs preparation as the herbal mixture needs to be boiled over a low fire in an enamel or earthernware container in twice the required amount of water. Once the volume of the mixture has been reduced by half, the decoction is poured off and drunk when sufficiently cooled. The remaining herbal mixture in the container can be reused once. Boiling allows the drugs to be dissolved into the water and sometimes for any toxic substances, which can cause side effects, to be deactivated. It also has the advantage of sterilizing the mixture.
Herbs can also be prescribed as powder or pill. In the case of the former, the mixture is ground and dissolved in hot or warm water. Pills are the most convenient to take as they come in ready-to swallow forms. Usually, a pill is bound with honey or jujube meat to give it an agreeable flavour. Ointment can also be made by boiling the drugs until the liquid thickens, when sugar is added to get a thick paste. This form is mainly used for external applications.
Source: An Illustration of Chinese Medicinal Herbs
