Unit 7: Traditional medicine

Part 1: introduction
Herbal medicine has been used throughout history and within every cultures to
prevent and treat diseases. In any individual culture, the materials used were those
that were available within the geographical location and addressed local health
concerns. In a different culture, a herb would often be used for its appearance,
coloring or taste rather than for any perceived health benefits. Indeed, some of the
herbs such as sage, garlic and cumin, are often referred to as ‘spices’ or regarded as
simple, if somewhat exotic, ingredients of foods from faraway lands. Because of the
strong association among oxidative stress, aging and diseases, there is increasing
interest in the biomolecular effects of herbs, which may be related to antioxidant
action.
Although the term ‘herb’ and ‘herbal medicine’ in traditional medicine are
sometimes used in relation to animal or insect parts, our use of the term is limited to
plants and fungi.
The details of herbal drugs utilization in various Asian countries are different.
Vietnam is one of the few countries in the world (together with China and Korea)
having an ‘integrated approach’ to healthcare, with traditional medicine playing a
substantial role in biomedical education, research and practice. Generally, herbal
drugs are used widely by traditional practitioners and medical doctors (often together
with Western medicines). Some herbal medicines are on the essential drug list of
these countries.
Chinese and Vietnamese traditional medicine are also referred to as Oriental
medicine (Dong y in Vietnamese) because of their close inter-relationship. VTM
(Vietnamese traditional medicine) has been influenced strongly by TCM (traditional
Chinese medicine), but traditional medicines of Vietnam have been incorporated
into TCM as well. The use of medicines plants in VTM slightly differs from TCM
owing to the use of different source of plants. In VTM, there are some typical
medicinal plants used as substitutes for Chinese plants. The Vietnamese name of
these plants usually has an additional word nam (southern, referring to the
Vietnamese origin) at the end (sometimes at the beginning) in order to distinguish
them from bắc (northern, referring to the Chinese origin). For example, Bán hạ nam
(Typhonium divaricatum) substitutes for Bán hạ bắc (Pinellia ternata) and Ngưu tất
nam (Achyranthes aspera) for Ngưu tất bắc (Achyranthes bidentata). TCM and
VTM differ in practice in the sense that traditional Vietnamese practitioners would
use more practical rather than theoretical explanations.
VTM shares with other traditional medicine that it does not separate man from
nature. VTM is characterized by a holistic approach, and considers disease as an
imbalance between âm and dương (TCM: yin and yang), particularly in organs. The
imbalance directly affects the circulation of the body’s vital energy, designated as
khí (TCM: qi). The nature of the imbalance s diagnosed by a physician, who uses
medicinal plants and traditional practices (e.g., acupuncture, coin rubbing, eating
rice soup and deep inhalation of herbal vapors) to restore the balance, aimed at
healing the patient. VTM, like TCM, has a complete theory and philosophy of the
human body and the relations between their organs, symptoms, and treatments.