Functions and efficacy of medical herbal therapeutic preparations

The core value of medical herbal therapy preparations is to serve as a supplement or alternative to chemical drugs on the premise of complying with the processing specifications of drugs/medical devices and matching clinical indications, covering three major scenarios: skin anti-inflammatory repair, chronic symptom conditioning, and auxiliary treatment of infectious diseases. At the same time, there are also controversies about incomplete evidence-based evidence chain and large individual differences. It is by no means a "panacea" or "IQ tax" as spread on the Internet.

To be honest, many people have very polarized perceptions of this type of preparation. They either think it is passed down from their ancestors and can cure anything, or they think it is an unproven "earth recipe". In fact, both of these views are like a blind man touching an elephant, having only touched a corner of the elephant. When I was following up in the dermatology department of a tertiary hospital a few years ago, I met a girl in her 20s. She had been suffering from seborrheic dermatitis for three years. The weak hormone ointment was cured but broke out when she stopped, and her cheeks were as red as a ripe peach. Later, the doctor prescribed a brand name of Artemisia annua and Cortex Bai compound lotion, and asked her to apply it wetly for 15 minutes every day. Even the hormones were stopped. When she came back for a follow-up visit in two weeks, 70% of the redness had disappeared, and there was no rebound. Most of these purified herbal preparations for skin use accurately extract active ingredients, such as α-bisabolol in chamomile and asiaticoside in centella asiatica. Their anti-inflammatory and repairing effects have been clinically proven, and there is no problem of hormone dependence. The advantages are particularly obvious for the long-term maintenance treatment of chronic skin problems such as rosacea and seborrheic dermatitis.

Don’t think that it is only suitable for skin problems. In the context of chronic disease treatment, this type of preparation actually has a stronger presence. When I was doing follow-up work on chronic diseases at a community health service center two years ago, I met an uncle Zhang who had been suffering from chronic bronchitis for almost 20 years. He coughed so much that he couldn't sleep in the winter. After using the regular albuterol aerosol for a long time, the side effects of hand shaking became more and more obvious. Later, the respiratory doctor added medical herbal nebulizer preparations containing aster and root extracts, and nebulized it twice a day. After three months of follow-up, his frequency of nighttime coughs was reduced by one-third compared with before, and the dosage of albuterol was also reduced by half. There are also many patients with diabetic foot who use herbal ointment containing astragalus and angelica for external application. The wound healing speed is nearly 20% faster than simply using iodophor for dressing. These are the effects we have actually observed.

Of course, controversy has always existed, and there is no need to avoid this. Doctors who hold an evidence-based medicine perspective often mention that less than 30% of commonly used medical herbal preparations have completed large-sample randomized double-blind controlled trials, and the adverse reaction columns of many products are still marked as "unclear." There have indeed been herbal preparations that were not labeled as containing tripterygium wilfordii before, resulting in cases of liver damage in patients after taking them. We cannot assume that "herbal = non-toxic side effects". Doctors who adhere to the theory of traditional Chinese medicine believe that herbal preparations are multi-targeted and cannot be verified by the logic of a single chemical. It is also mugwort. The warming effect of preparations extracted from 3-year-old mugwort is several times better than that of raw mugwort. It is also rhubarb. Preparations made from raw rhubarb are mainly for purgation, while those made from cooked rhubarb are mainly for promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis. The difference in processing and compatibility directly determines the effect. The entire category cannot be dismissed because of the problems of some substandard products. Both views are actually reasonable, but essentially they have different evaluation systems for "effectiveness".

Nowadays, there are many pitfalls that need to be mentioned. Many merchants sell herbal skin care products under the makeup brand and antibacterial creams under the Xiao brand as "medical herbal preparations". Many people buy them and use them without any effect. Instead, they accuse these preparations of being useless. This is really unfair. Genuine medical herbal preparations either carry a batch number with the national drug approval mark, or are medical dressings with a mechanical mark. They will not be sold in the Internet celebrity live broadcast room for the benefit of "99 yuan for 3 boxes". When I have facial allergies during seasonal changes, I always keep a machine-sized asiaticoside gel. Applying it on for half an hour can eliminate most of the redness and swelling. But if I encounter severe contact dermatitis, I will still prescribe hormone ointments. To put it bluntly, whether it is chemical drugs or herbal preparations, suitable, compliant, and symptomatic ones are the best. There is no need to label any product as omnipotent or useless.