Chinese Medicine and the Coronavirus

Chinese Medicine and the Coronavirus

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With the recent COVID-19 pandemic I have seen many post on FB which are targeting a larger audience. Often they simple claim that a certain formula is superior for the treatment of the Coronavirus over another, advocating their efficacy from being used in the epicentre of the outbreak in Wuhan, or being attributed to famous doctors of the past.

To my dismal only in rare cases is it pointed out that these are formulae are to be taken when one has already protracted the virus. At that stage I sincerely hope the person in question is already in quarantine or under the supervision of the authorities. To gain access to Chinese herb at that time will be multiple times more difficult and for many situations this scenario of ingesting Chinese herbs has become unrealistic and unfeasible. Many people who are not trained in some form of Chinese Medicine are mislead that these might have any preventative benefit, which as the TCM community knows is false; the same seems to have been happening with over the counter Western medicine drugs for the common flu, which people blinded by fear have been reported to take as a measure for preventing being infected by the coronavirus.
Posting such formulae outside of TCM forums and groups is not only negligent and careless, but I would honestly categorize it under the umbrella of malpractice, unless you stated crystal-clear and beyond any doubt or misinterpretation that a formula is only useful when one has already contracted the virus.

If you, as a practitioner, were treating patients in severe conditions, those formulae would potentially be life-saving, yet a lot of pharmacies succumb to the temptation of money selling large quantities of herbs under the cover of prevention, which I have heard directly from sources; this is not a rumour. When I hear about a prevention formula, I would like to ask, “what it good for?” Is it for Qi deficiency, blood deficiency, Yin or Yang deficiency, or is it even more drastic purging and clearing heat? How could it be beneficial across the board? I truly believe we would be better off recommending patients to keep stress levels down, eat healthy, meditate and do some form of heath maintenance regime such as Tai Ji, Qi Gong or Dao-Yin exercises.

On the other hand I do understand that when a health system is brought to its knees, the detailed patterns differentiation may have to be amended or modified to cater for the urgency of medical treatment in very large numbers. In that case the most common patterns could be summed up and summarizes, so signs and symptoms could be matched easily and quickly with the pertaining pattern(s). [such a chart has been published by the Journal of Chinese Medicine: https://www.jcm.co.uk/news/covid-19-and-chinese-medicine/]
We, as medical Chinese medicine practitioners, have the duty and responsibility not to tar all patients with one brush, but to apply the art we have learnt for several years – to treat individuals and not biomedical diseases. Furthermore we must inform the general public of how Chinese medicine works and even more how it does not or we will be doing ourselves a major disservice in the long run.

I want to conclude the concerns I could not help by voice by quoting Zhang Jing Yue from Chapter 10, entitled ‘Determining a Treatment’ 論治篇十, as a reminder what should never be forgotten regardless how grim of a situation we might face:

凡看病施治貴乎精一，蓋天下之病變態雖多，其本則一，天下之方活法雖多，對證則一。故凡治病之道，必確知為寒則竟散其寒，確知為熱則竟清其熱，一救其本諸證盡除矣。故内經曰：治病必求其本。是以凡診病者。必須先探病本然後用藥，若見有未的，寧為少待再加詳察，旣得其要，但用一味二味便可拔之，卽或深固則五六味七八味亦已多矣。然雖用至七八味，亦不過帮助之導引之，而其意則一也，方為高手。

Upon diagnosing and treating diseases, it is indispensable to be refined and focused.

Even though there are many transmutations and appearance of all diseases under the heavens, there is only one root. There are many permutations of all formulas under the heavens, there is only one [formula] that matches the pattern. Thus, this is the way to treat diseases. It is only after truly knowing that it is a cold, that one disperses the cold. It is only after truly knowing that it is heat, that one clears the heat. Once the root is relieved, all signs will be eliminated.

Therefore, the Nèijīng states, “To treat diseases, one must seek the root.”

So, for those who diagnose diseases, they must first explore for the root of disease and subsequently utilize medicinals. If the insight is lacking, then it is preferable to wait for a little and further examine in detail. Once the crux of a disease is found, one only requires one or two ingredients to uproot it. Even if [the disease] is deeply consolidated, [one only needs] five to six ingredients, with seven to eight ingredients already being excessive. Even if one utilizes up to seven or eight ingredients, [these ingredients] only serve to assist or guide, with only one focused intention. Only then is one an expert

-Translated [working draft] by Allen Tsaur from [Zhang] Jing Yue – Complete Compendium Vol,1-3 [景岳全书], forthcoming publication August 2020.