BEIJING, China – As COVID-19 rips by means of China’s huge inhabitants, making thousands and thousands sick and fueling a scarcity of medication, many are turning to old-school conventional medicines to battle the aches and pains of the virus.
President Xi Jinping has promoted conventional Chinese medication (TCM) for the reason that begin of the pandemic, whereas well being officers have hailed its “important role” in combating the coronavirus.
Encompassing a spread of remedies from natural treatments and massages to acupuncture and diets, TCM has been used for hundreds of years to deal with all method of illnesses.
Critics say it’s pseudoscientific and ineffective in treating precise sickness, and there may be little peer-reviewed knowledge to again claims of its efficacy.
But thousands and thousands in China use it, typically along side trendy medication to alleviate signs.
Beijing marketing consultant Yu Lei, 38, had a fever after catching COVID-19, so he made a natural tea with reputed anti-inflammatory properties that includes cassia twig — a form of Chinese cinnamon — peony roots, liquorice, jujubes and ginger.
“In our family, we often use Chinese medicines,” he instructed AFP, including that his fever subsided after consuming the brew.
According to followers like Yu, TCMs have fewer unwanted effects and work slower to manage the physique, quite than Western medicines that “fight the symptoms but rarely the source of the illness”.
Beijing has urged native authorities to “actively and objectively publicize the role and efficacy of TCM brews in the treatment of COVID-19”.
However, Ben Cowling, chair of epidemiology on the University of Hong Kong’s School of Public Health, instructed AFP: “We don’t know whether these treatments are effective or not, because they haven’t been studied in clinical trials.”
“I wouldn’t rule out the possibility that some of them are effective, but I also wouldn’t rule out the possibility that some of them might even be harmful.”
The World Health Organization solely recommends COVID-19 remedies which might be based mostly on chemical medication. When contacted by AFP about TCM, the physique stated it suggested nations to “gather reliable evidence and data on traditional medicine practices and products”.
‘Same logic’
Western medication stays the popular mode of care in China, however proponents of TCM say combining the 2 is efficient in treating COVID-19.
Liu Qingquan, director of the Beijing Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, says they “complement each other and can solve fever, sore joints, fatigue, sore throat, cough and other symptoms”.
Experts have taken to tv to reward TCM for the reason that begin of the pandemic, with one product particularly — Lianhua Qingwen — benefiting from intense promotion by authorities.
Many customers are satisfied of its usefulness, with some research suggesting it could possibly assist alleviate signs.
Capsules of the medication got to all Hong Kong residents when a COVID-19 wave hit town final yr.
But some on-line critics in China cost that Lianhua Qingwen is not any more practical than peaches in syrup — a staple consolation meals for sore throats in China — and social media customers have complained of being handed the TCM as an alternative of ibuprofen or paracetamol.
Lan Jirui, a health care provider of Chinese medication in Beijing, instructed AFP: “It’s the same logic as Western medicine.
“If the drug is purchased on the prescription of the physician, it should in all probability be efficient. If it’s purchased randomly from the pharmacy, then perhaps not.”
‘Cannot kill the virus’
Throughout the pandemic, TCM doctors and self-taught practitioners have taken to the internet to share recipes and health protocols.
Li Wen, a 68-year-old retired acupuncturist, has been pricking himself with needles to combat his flu-like condition. He also bought two Chinese medicines, including a bamboo-based anti-fever remedy.
“I complement that with a nutritious weight-reduction plan of pears, turnips and ginger,” he told AFP.
“Chinese medicines might be useful to combat the virus, however can not kill the virus,” he said.
“But I stay cautious about Western medication. Their unwanted effects shouldn’t be neglected.”
Hoping to treat a cough and sore throat, Danni, a 39-year-old Beijinger, has been taking Pei Pa Koa, a syrup derived from plant extracts.
“It’s not as a result of I am unable to discover Western medication,” she told AFP, “however as a result of it is efficient and soothing.”
“I additionally make myself a scorching soup of pears and scorching water with lemon, to spice up vitamin C and my immunity.”
Some people AFP spoke to were unconvinced.
“We younger folks know little about conventional medication,” said Grace Hsia, a 30-year-old director. “We often choose Western medicines as a result of they’ve instant outcomes.”
Li Na, a 36-year-old Beijing woman, said: “I took paracetamol for a fever and it labored in a short time.
“Chinese medicines are ineffective. People take them more to reassure themselves that they are taking something.” — Agence France-Presse
