Eric Brand recently reported on his participation in an ongoing research project regarding authentication of herbs.

Authentication is a multidisciplinary specialty within Chinese herbal medicine that focuses on the correct identification of medicinal products.

Over the centuries, many different regional substitutes and adulterants have been introduced into the herbal marketplace, and many herbs that have similar names and appearances are easily confused. To achieve reliable therapeutic results and avoid potentially harmful substitutes, it is essential for Chinese medical practitioners to use correctly identified herbal medicines.

Many commonly used herbal formulas are very old – some have been in use for thousands of years. And this is because they work! But some of the problems today stem from either the lack of herbal formula ingredients or particular ingredients ave been banned – so substitutes have to be found and tested.

You may recall the withdrawal of ephedra or ma huang several years ago. Ephedra was associated with kidney failure and several deaths in Europe. Now Herbalists and Oriental Medicine Doctors were not the ones prescribing ephedra for weight loss – - it was Western Medical Physicians! In TCM – weight loss is not an indication to use ephredra.

Correctly identified herbal medicines improve therapeutic results and assure the authenticity of a given herbal formula.

What this research and collaboration of multiple sources means to you is that there will be more safe guards in place to assure the ingredients of an herbal medicine are what they should be and are what the label says it is.  Read more... (300 words, estimated 1:12 mins reading time)

Tags: authentication of herbs, Blue Poppy, Eric Brand, herbal formulas, Herbalists, Herbs, Oriental Medicine, TCM, What's New In Herbal Medicine

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What conditions can Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine help me with?

A. A natural or Traditional Chinese approach to your health may help anyone in any state of health or disease. Any problem you would consider asking your family physician about, or any disease found in a textbook of internal medicine can benefit from a holistic approach.

Q.   Are the herbs dangerous, are there any risks to taking herbs?

A. When prescribed by a trained professional, such as a Doctor of Oriental Medicine (D.O.M.) there are no risks to taking herbs. I have treated thousands of patients and only on a few occasions did a patient report to me that they felt a little upset stomach from the herbs.

Q.   How often will I need a follow up evaluation?

A. Generally, the first follow-up is at 10 days (this is included with the initial cost), again 30 days later (at which point you have the option to switch to capsules), and then between every 30 to 90 days. Some level of improvement in a condition is expected to have begun by around day 45.  We look to continue to build on that improvement over the next several months, gradually tapering your dosage of herbs and modifying the components of the formula. Eventually the herb dosage is reduced to nothing.

Q.  How long will I have to take the herbs for?  Read more... (765 words, estimated 3:04 mins reading time)

Tags: allergies, Cancer, faq, frequently asked questions about herbal medicines, herbal formulas, Herbs, nursing, pregnancy, Uncategorized

By Christine Hasinger, DOM

Are Hot Flashes & Night Sweats Keeping You Up?

Women will often experience hot flashes and night sweats during menopause leading to trouble sleeping.

Frequently, these sleep symptoms will interfere with a decent nights sleep, often for months on end.   The hormone fluctuations of menopause and perimenopause are a common cause of sleep problems and insomnia.

An estimated 75% of menopausal women suffer from hot flashes.   The hot flashes can be mild to severe.  Sometimes the hot flashes can be so severe, you feel as if you are burning up.  This is called “steaming bones” in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).

Night sweats follow the hot flashes.  Again these sweats can be mild to severe.  I’ve even heard of women complaining that their nightclothes are soaked or the bed linens are drenched in sweat.  Many have to get up and change their nightgown or sheets in the middle of the night, and then have difficulty getting back to sleep.

Once a sweat passes, your body gets chilled and that’s what tends to wake most women up.

I frequently hear my patients complaining of insomnia without realizing that their hot flashes and night sweats are a major contributing factor in their sleep disturbances.

The hot flashes and night sweats can start years before the onset of menopause and generally are the first symptoms of your body changing.  These can occur during the day as well.  Read more... (882 words, estimated 3:32 mins reading time)

Tags: disturbed sleep, herbal formulas, Herbal Medicine, hot flashes, insomnia, menopausal sleep problems, menopause, night sweats, sleep disturbances, sleep problems, trouble sleeping, Uncategorized

Herbs & Herbal Formulas

I want you to be comfortable with your herbal treatment.

Remember herbs take a while to be effective. It does take from one to three months before you start experiencing positive changes and this depends on your age, how many health problems you have, and the severity of your health problem(s).

Instead of setting a predetermined price for your herbal needs, we’ll first determine what type or delivery system you feel you’ll be most comfortable and compliant with. Compliant means that you will take it as prescribed.

Please review this information because I will be asking you about your preference for your herbal treatment. There are several options for herbal formulas:

Tea pills Tea pills look like little black B B’s. Teapills are sugar coated to make them very easy to swallow. You can see a close up picture of the tiny teapills to the left. You wind up taking a large number of the teapills. A typical dosage could be 12 teapills twice daily. This option usually costs the least of all of the herbal formulas available.

Tablets Tablets  may have slight variations in size, about ½ the size of the end of your little finger. Tablets are ground up herbs pressed into this shape. Pros – Most tablets are easy to swallow. You take fewer in number than the tea pills. They may cost a little bit or a lot more than the tea pills depending on the formula. Drawbacks are you may smell and taste the herbs but it’s not usually bad.  Read more... (516 words, 6 images, estimated 2:04 mins reading time)

Tags: herbal formulas, herbal medicines, herbal treatment, Herbs, Uncategorized