ABSTRACT
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is one of the oldest forms of medicine in the world. As indicated in Chapter 1, TCMs are fundamentally different from Western medicines. For example, As indicated in Chapter 1, most TCMs contain several active and/or inactive components whose pharmacological activities are usually unknown. Chinese medical theory believes in global dynamic balance or harmony among organs. Once the imbalance occurs, signs and symptoms of the specific organs will show that there are potential problems. The basic principle of TCM is to readjust and balance the elements in the human body so that the body will return to a normal and healthy level. Western medicine, on the other hand, is like a key to a lock. The mechanism and the compound are very clearly and precisely designed to hit the target (e.g., specific organ) to fix the problem. In practice, there are several blind areas (diseases) in Western medicines that might be solved by alternative medicine such as filterable virus, most chronic degenerative diseases (diabetes, hypertension, and kidney failure), most mental diseases (depression), most self-immune and allergy diseases (asthma, rheumatoid, and leukemia), and most kinds of cancer and stubborn dermal diseases (World Health Organization [WHO] 1998).
