Order: 877-818-9990
Account
Watch this video with Chris Kilham, discussing the importance, efficacay and safety of herbal medicine over pharmaceutical drugs.
Pacific Herbs Factory Tour – The processing of Chinese Herbs into medicine
Virtually tour our factory and see how Chinese medicine is processed today.
Traditional Chinese Medicine – around the world in 60 seconds
I like t
he CNN news piece called around the world in 60 seconds. It gives you a quick blurb of whats happening around the world. Here’s my take on that theme. The spread of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM ) around the world in 60 seconds.
Hope you like numbers, in regards to TCM here’s some interesting ones. In the past 10 years, TCM has spread to over 160 countries and regions around the world with total exports of TCM products exceeding $1 billion. The treatment, education and scientific and technological communities of TCM have continuously expanded. 70 countries have signed 94 governmental agreements on TCM content. There are currently 47 TCM institutions of higher learning in China and over 600,000 qualified TCM medical practitioners over 370,000 of which are certified TCM physicians.
In America alone, 30 million people have tried acupuncture. The FDA estimates that Americans are spending approximately $500 million per year on acupuncture services. There are about 18,000 acupuncturists in the U.S. and that number increases about 10% each year. Presently there are approximately 50 accredited schools in the U.S. to study acupuncture and TCM. Britain, Israel and Australia all top the list with the highest number of acupuncturists per country outside of the US. Canada and Asian countries.
In the U.S., besides pain management, one of the most studied benefits of acupuncture is IVF procedures. Acupuncture concurrent with IVF treatments increases the chance of becoming pregnant by as much as 65% and provides as much as 91% increased chance in a live birth. Those are some impressive statistics. This is of course only one example of how acupuncture and TCM can improve people’s lives.
A fun fact: cruise ships now regularly have acupuncturists aboard. Public demand is obviously driving that business. On a more academic note, The National Institute for Health (NIH) operates the Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine with a 121 million dollar budget, much of which support acupuncture research studies. Currently our congressmen are discussing a bill which for the first time would include Acupuncture into medicare reimbursement. That’s impressive by itself. The American government is actually considering a form of health care which relies on prevention and wellness.
Things are changing rapidly in the TCM world, stay tuned, we are growing exponentially everyday and that’s my 60 second update.
Another rising star in the Chinese herb medicine cabinet – This time for swine flu
The Star Anise, Illicium verum or Ba Jiao Hui Xiang has been used as a spice and medicine since antiquity. Star Anise is used dried and the seeds have a licorice-like flavor. It’s commonly sold in supermarkets and often used in Chinese cuisine to flavor duck dishes. ( I used it once in my Thanksgiving turkey, it was a hit) It’s also contains the active chemical component in the drug Tamiflu, which is now being stockpiled as a defense against the Swine flu.
Star anise was originally in the spotlight because it’s core ingredient was discovered effective as a flu fighter for the Avian flu. Now it’s being touted for the swine flu. In an announcement in Feb 2006 from the University of Tokyo’s Graduate school of Pharmaceutical sciences, they “ found a way to make Tamiflu without using shikimic acid, which is produced from a spice called star anise” The acid is extracted from the pods which wraps the seeds by using a petrochemical ingredient instead of the plant based ingredient. The group, headed by Prof. Masakatsu Shibasaki said the new method would ensure the stable supply of the antiviral drug in the face of surging demand worldwide prompted by fears of a bird flu (AVAIN) outbreak. Although many believe the best way to produce shikimic acid is extracting it directly from the fruit.
“It (Tamiflu) doesn’t prevent the infection, but may decrease its’ severity,” (although there is no scientific data it will prevent H1N1) according to the Tamiflu website. Tamiflu has been on the market since Oct. 1999 and Roche probably never dreamed that this years orders would top 220 million. In the first three years Tamiflu was on the market only 5.5 million doses sold.
Other information from the Tamiflu website said this: “Influenza viruses change over time. Emergence of resistance mutations could decrease drug effectiveness. Other factors (for example changes in viral virulence) might also diminish clinical benefit of antiviral drugs. Prescribers should consider available information on influenza drug susceptibility patterns and treatment effects when deciding whether to use Tamiflu.” (line 155), It continues elsewhere on the site with this, “Efficacy of Tamiflu in patients who begin treatment after 40 hours of symptoms has not been established” and “ Safety & efficacy of Tamiflu in pediatric patients younger than 1 year has not been studied.”
Star anise sells for aprox. $5.00 or less for a few ounces. The best source I found said a dose of Tamiflu contains the equivalent of approximately 13 grams of star anise. That’s a few cents per dose. Studies on guinea pigs yielded evidence that star anise essential oil had a relaxant effect, antispasmodic and bronchodilatory effect on muscarinic receptors. People have traditionally used star anise to reduces gas, relieve minor digestive problems, for headaches and even to promote vitality.
If your interested in drinking star anise as a tea, a typical dose is .5-1 gram of coarsely ground seeds. Cooked at a slow boil (covered) in 2 ½ cups water for a aprox. 30 minutes and then strained. Ground star anise has been traditionally taken in a dose of 3 grams daily. The essential oil of star anise in a dose of 300 milligrams daily has also been reported. The Food and Drug Administration lists star anise as “generally safe for otherwise healthy adults who are not pregnant, nursing or have a preexisting allergy to the herb.” I hope the swine flu fades quietly into oblivion like the Avain flu. Who knows what will happen once weather changes in the fall and winter when flu season is upon us. In any case, if your considering a dose of Tamiflu your armed with some knowledge. Most importantly keep your immune system as strong as possible to avoid any future viruses that abound and remember grocery store shelves can be very beneficial when you know how to shop.
The difference of government responses to H1N1, the Swine flu
H1N1 has been declared a pandemic by WHO (World Health Organization) and many of us seem to know someone who’s already had the swine flu. 
I just heard from a friend that a cabin full of 12 year old campers were quarantined to their cabin as a result of the swine flu. Now that were getting more comfortable with the first pandemic in our life time, I want to explore the differences in responses from the two most powerful governments in the world, the Chinese and the American.
The U.S. official government response at time of publishing is this: a state of emergency has been declared and well known pharmaceuticals such as Sanofi-Aventis, Novartis, Baxter, GlaxoSmithKline and Solvay are all in the process of creating test batches of vaccines. Government websites are to report updates within 24 hours once new information is released, unfortunately this rarely happens. Not very reassuring considering our elected representatives are currently debating health care reform.
The United States Food & Drug Association, FDA, on one hand has given authorization for use of “unapproved or uncleared” medical products (Relenza & Tamiflu Anti-virals) following this declaration of emergency. On the other hand, FDA has sent out warning letters to websites to cease the selling of any product or making any claims about how to prevent and treat the Swine Flu. I would define this as an aggressive approach I’m in favor of cracking down on websites that scam the public but since neither Tamiflu or Relenza have proven effectiveness or have a scientific basis for this new viral strain, how is that any different from selling a homeopathic product, supplement, air purifier, surgical mask etc etc. that also has no scientific data behind it? This virus strain has never been seen before. How do we know what is the best cure. Will we really need any medicinal at all? For most people a few days of bed rest is the cure. The camp kids are just fine by the way. The official statement from U.S. Centers for Disease Control says “the majority of people infected with the virus make a full recovery without requiring medical attention or antiviral drugs.”
The Chinese Government has taken a different approach to the H1N1 virus. China is also in the midst of searching for a vaccine and is currently in the testing phase. China is expanding it’s capacity for vaccine manufacturing and government sources say “by the end of this year we may produce the amount necessary for 5 percent of the worlds population”. But the Chinese government has gone beyond the vaccine route. The government has also allocated nearly 1.5 million dollars (equivalent) to research Traditional Chinese Medicine in regards to H1N1. Four million will be spent on clinical test and the rest on laboratory research for a combination of Chinese herbs that will best prevent and treat H1N1. Presently, China is reporting 1537 confirmed cases of H1N1 and no fatalities. This is the same government that dealt with a SAR epidemic not to long ago, for which a Chinese herb formula was found successful in treating.
Interestingly, along with this theme, the European Union has just granted 1 million euros for ground breaking research for a project entitled “Good Practice in Traditional Chinese Medicine Research in the Post-Genomic Era.” “Researchers at Kings College in London will review the current status of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) research, identify problems and propose solutions by applying modern methods of investigation as well as providing a forum for the exchange of opinions, experience and expertise among scientists in the EU and China.”
The road map to prevention and cure for this emerging pandemic is being written as we speak. I would like to see the integration of Western and Chinese approaches to medicinal therapies for H1N1, how about you? Which direction should our government lead us or should the medical community take the lead rather than the pharmaceutical companies. I look forward to your comments.
Eating the Afterbirth – Placenta Is A Chinese Medicine Tradition
This blog, about the human placenta may sound “out there”, but more and more women are now calling “a placenta cooking lady” to prepare their placenta into pills to take after child birth. The placenta is attached to the fetus via the umbilical cord. Once the baby is born the placenta and cord are considered medical waste (so we are told) at the hospital. We’ve known for some time the umbilical cord is a source of stem cell research and many wealthy parents now have the cord frozen and stored just in case it is needed in the future.
Recently, this trend is gaining popularity in the West. However, its been widely known and accepted that the human placenta has tremendous value in the East. Chinese Medicine has used human placenta as part of their materica medica for generations. Ingesting your placenta can help a new mother recuperate from childbirth and rebuild lost blood and nutrients.
You can have your placenta cooked, dried and placed into pills to supplement your child birth recovery. Those that have used placenta pills after birth swear they have a shorter recovery from postpartum hemorrhaging, more energy from replenished nutrients, increased milk production and no post-partum depression. In fact, a good friend of mine recently gave birth and she has just finished taking her placenta pills. This was the first time she had placenta prepared into pills and she reported feeling great and said it was a little like a caffeine type energy boost without the caffeine. She had an extremely easy recovery overall and this was her sixth child.
According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, placenta is considered a powerful and sacred yang tonic. Traditionally, the placenta is cooked with herbs and wine. Wine in Chinese medicine has a dispersing action and therefore helps to distribute the placentas nutrients throughout the women’s body. The placenta is full of natural oxytocins which are responsible for contracting the uterus, it also contains hormones which are believed to be the reason it helps with postpartum depression. Historically Chinese Medicine has used human placenta for those who have low energy. Interestingly, it is the only meat that comes from life, not death, and we are the only mammals that do eat their placentas. Maybe the animal kingdom has something to teach us.
Michael Jackson and Prescription Meds: Too many? Too often?
Are American doctors overdosing their patients on prescription mood enhancers, (Prozac) and sleeping pills (Ambien), pain pills, (Vicodin) or is it just the super stars like Michael Jackson? Living in Los Angeles, one becomes accustom to the constant buzz of movie stars and the rich and famous going off to drug rehab centers, but with the sudden death of Michael Jackson everyone’s talking about the same subject like never before.
The drugs MJ was taking and the probable overdose. We’ve seen and heard about it before (Anna Nicole Smith) yet this time the amount of drugs prescribed and the amount needed for so many years seems un-imaginable. Everyday people die from prescription overdose but it’s not news because it’s not a celebrity.
Truth is, for the general public, doctors freely provide prescription medication to anyone who simply shows up at the doctors door with a nominal complaint, “I can’t sleep”, “I’m depressed”, “I just need something to relax me”. The medical establishment willingly prescribes medications with minimal face to face patient interaction. To make matters worse, the doctors don’t have time to ask you if your taking med’s from another doctor. The real danger is both the interactions among cocktails of prescriptions and the amount taken as resistance to drugs grows higher as the body becomes increasing tolerant to each drug.
Now this is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Antibiotics keep getting stronger as viruses become resistant. Uncertainties remain in the risks of prescribing antibiotics freely for conditions such as childhood ear infections which have been proven have no benefit for bacterial infections, Now some say our drinking water and irrigation water is polluted with antibiotics that are not filtered out in water sanitation plants. How do we avoid this tainted water. The long term hazards of antibiotic resistant viruses, could have widespread irreversible impacts on our world, a subject, clearly for another blog.
Today the ease of getting prescription medication is just simply to easy. Every home seems to have a fairly well stocked medicine cabinet of prescriptions. We even see TV commercials warning us to keep prescriptions away from our teens, who are looking to take them or sell them at school.
I am sad that MJ had to die and I believe his death could have been prevented. There are safer alternatives for depression, pain and insomnia. In China and most of Asia, herbal medicines have been the standard. People do not become addicted and over dosing is virtually unheard of. Yet, herbs are effective and provide relief for many of the same conditions for which people choose prescriptions in the West. We simply have not been introduced to these alternatives. I hope with the lose of Michael Jackson the AMA or FDA cracks down on Doctors who abuse prescription writing privileges. I hope MJ’s death opens people eyes to the very real dangers not just of addiction to prescriptions but also dangers of death by drugs.
The Cat, The Birds and The Herbs
Last night I was rudely awakened at 3:00 am by a hungry cat. He climbed up my wind chime which was hanging near a mother dove nesting with her two new babies. Wind chimes don’t suddenly start chiming, normally they start out kind of slow and steady and usually build in volume as the wind picks up. This was not the case last night. The chimes were attacked as were the birds.
I heard a bird take flight and I jumped out of bed to see the culprit. I was too late and it was too dark. Upset by the attack and the rude wake up call, all I could think of was “will I be able to get back to sleep”. Mind not quite awake… I almost forget that I have the perfect Chinese herb formula for sleep. I’m not usually up at 3 AM and almost forgot, a perfect opportunity to use my “I sleep” herb formula in the middle of the night. When I’ve had a particularly stressful day I will use “iSleep” before going to bed. I sleep so soundly I never had the need to use it in middle of my night. Perfect opportunity. So I took one packet at 3 AM.
Happy to report I got back to sleep within thirty minutes, even as I ruminated over the fate of the mommy dove and her babies we’ve been watching for the last two months. Did the cat get all three. Did the babies get away. Could the babies fly yet. My mind finding any reason to chatter on. (This was the second set of eggs this year for our mommy dove or maybe it’s daughter of the first mom. In any case, every year a mommy dove has a nest somewhere in our yard and we are happy to be her hosts.)
iSleep Herb Pac passed the test last night. I slept like a log till 7:00 when there was yet another rude awakening, the alarm clock. I found bird feathers on the ground this morning, it’s a cruel world out there, but at least I slept.
"Empty nest this morning"]
"Mommy dove in nest with 2 babies. (Taken just 2 days earlier)
"Feathers on the ground"
4th of July Fireworks and Chinese Medicine
[wpsc_products category_id=’4′ number_per_page=’6′]
Another July 4th and Americans, including myself, love their fireworks shows. Most people know the Chinese invented fireworks but do they know when? The invention of gunpowder was approximately 800 AD. Gunpowder was used to make signal flares in 1232, later becoming fireworks.
What else was going on in China, in the year 1232? Well, Chinese Medicine was enjoying more popularity than ever with more written text and heavy hitters emerging. In fact, Chinese medicine was enjoying a kind of renaissance. The Tang Dynasty (618–907) already had a claim to an important text on Pulses. The Huang Di nei Jing, arguably one of the most important documents in Traditional Chinese Medicine, had already been around approximately 1000 years, (completed by 220 AD).
This year we celebrate our nations 233rd birthday. Sound pretty young compared to Chinese medical history and the birth of fireworks.
Just as we embrace Chinese pyrotechnics to celebrate our independence we should also embrace another Chinese creation, Traditional Chinese Medicine. Right now were at the birth of showing our independence from Western medicine. With the advent of greater acceptance of Traditional Chinese Medicine we are taking control of our health and well being. Just as we embrace fireworks this 4th lets also embrace the other Chinese innovations.
Fun Fact: (Fire rockets were made by filling capped bamboo tubes with gunpowder and iron bits (shrapnel). These lethal weapons were attached to an arrow, lit, and shot from a bow. These were the first solid-fuel rockets. The Chinese used them to fight the invading Mongol hordes.)
