A well-known Taiwanese doctor gave five speeches in early April on how to prevent bird flu spreading in the mainland using Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).
With 16 people now dead of the 77 reportedly infected, the new H7N9 virus is spreading from the east of the country, most recently to Beijing and central China’s Henan Province.
Dr. Hu Nai-Wen went on a speaking tour in the mainland from April 5 to 9. He reminded people to take precautions while traveling to China to avoid being infected with the H7N9 or H1N1 viruses. “In China, when there is actually news about H7N9 being exposed, the situation is already quite serious,” he said.
After specializing in study of the nervous and endocrine systems at university, Dr. Hu conducted research in Western medicine for over 10 years. He then began studying TCM, when he discovered acupuncture works well without side effects.
Dr. Hu also mentioned using aromatherapy to prevent bird flu, based on six herbs easily found in local medicine stores. “Get equal amounts of Notopterygium root (qiang-huo), Rheum palmatum (Turkey Rhubarb; da-huang), Bupleurum root (chai-hu), Atractylodes lancea (cang-zhu), Asarum (wild ginger; xi-xin) and Tetradium ruticarpum (wu-zhu), grind them into a powder, and wear the pack on your chest,” Dr. Hu said, explaining that it can mobilize the body’s immune system via the hypothalamus to produce antibodies. “These aromatic herbs work much better than ginseng and reishi mushroom, according to a research.”
Another expert, Dr. Tsai Hui-Jun at Lianhua Chinese Medicine Clinic, also said that carrying an aroma-pack can improve immunity, China Times reported.
She suggests using a pack containing Agastache (hummingbird mint, huo-xiang), Eupatorium fortunei (pei-lan) and argy wormwood leaf (ai-ye), and to inhale the vapor twice daily for at least three minutes each time, as well as placing it besides one’s pillow at night. The contents need to be changed once a week.
Translation by Hsin Yi. Written in English by Cassie Ryan.
Read the original Chinese article.
