What's the difference between Chinese medicine and western medicine?

Traditional Chinese Medicine: Traditional plants, animals, minerals and their finished medicines used in China are called traditional Chinese medicine.

Western medicine: organic chemicals, inorganic chemicals and biological products are called western medicine.

Patent medicine: according to the commonly used prescriptions with obvious curative effects, the drugs are made into preparations with certain specifications and given popular names. Patients can buy and use directly without a doctor's prescription. This medicine is called patent medicine.

The sources of traditional Chinese medicine are plants, animals and minerals. It is generally believed that the basic contents of TCM theory include four qi and five flavors, ups and downs, reinforcing and reducing meridians and their compatibility taboos.

1, four qi and five flavors: the "qi and taste" of traditional Chinese medicine is actually the nature and taste of drugs. "Four Qi", also known as "four natures", refers to the four properties of drugs: cold, hot, warm and cool. This is related to the cold and heat properties of the diseases treated. Generally speaking, cold medicine has the functions of clearing away heat, purging fire and detoxifying. Heat-warming drugs have the functions of dispelling cold, supporting yang, warming and dredging collaterals. In addition, there is another kind of drugs with mild nature, which is called sexual equality. "Five flavors" refer to five different flavors of drugs: pungent, sweet, sour, bitter and salty. Wei Xin's medicine has the functions of sweating, promoting qi circulation and promoting blood circulation; Sweet medicine has the functions of relieving depression, harmonizing and tonifying; Sour medicine has astringent and astringent effects; Salty medicine has the effect of softening and resolving hard mass. In addition, drugs also have astringent taste and mild taste, and astringent taste is similar to sour taste, which can be classified as sour taste; The light taste is conducive to the role of water penetration. Because light taste is understood as tasteless, it is customarily called "five flavors" instead of "seven flavors".

2. ups and downs: ups and downs refer to the upward, downward, divergent and catharsis trend of drugs after entering the human body. Generally speaking, drugs with buoyancy tend to be upward and outward, which have the functions of rising yang, publishing, dispelling cold, inducing vomiting and penetrating rash respectively. Sedimentable drugs tend to descend inward, and have the functions of subduing yang, astringing, clearing away heat, descending adverse flow, promoting diuresis, purging and calming the nerves respectively.

3. Tonifying diarrhea: tonifying deficiency, that is, supplementing the loss of the body, enhancing the function of the body, improving the disease resistance and improving the symptoms of weakness. Such as invigorating qi, nourishing blood, and nourishing yin and yang. Diarrhea means purging excess, that is, eliminating pathogenic factors, adjusting body functions and preventing the development of diseases. Such as relieving exterior syndrome, stopping diarrhea, benefiting qi, inducing diuresis, resolving phlegm, inducing stagnation, inducing vomiting and promoting digestion.

4. Meridian tropism: Meridian tropism refers to the selective therapeutic effect of drugs on diseases in different parts of the human body. It is based on the theory of zang-fu organs and meridians, and some drugs can treat diseases of zang-fu organs and meridians of a certain meridian, so these drugs are classified as meridians. In addition, the five flavors of drugs also have a certain relationship with the five internal organs, that is, pungent into the lung, sweet into the spleen, sour into the liver, bitter into the heart, salty into the kidney, which can also be used as a reference for drugs to enter the meridians.

5. Compatibility: Compatibility refers to the selection of two or more drugs according to the needs of illness and drug performance. The predecessors used "seven emotions" to express the compatibility of traditional Chinese medicine. That is, one-way, mutual need, mutual cause, mutual fear, mutual killing, mutual evil and opposition. There is only one medicine called "single line"; The combination of two drugs with similar effects to enhance the curative effect is called "mutual demand"; Two drugs with different effects are used together, one is the main drug and the other is the auxiliary drug, which can enhance the curative effect of the main drug and is called "mutual assistance"; The inhibitory effect of one drug on the toxicity of another drug is called "mutual fear"; One drug can eliminate the toxicity of another drug, which is called "killing each other"; The destruction of the efficacy of one medicine to another medicine is called "mutual evil"; When the two drugs are used together, they can have harmful effects, which is called "opposite".

6. Taboos: Contraindications of traditional Chinese medicine mainly include compatibility contraindications and pregnancy contraindications. Contraindication of compatibility means that drugs that are antagonistic to each other are generally not suitable for combination. The so-called opposite means that the two drugs can produce toxicity after being used together; The so-called mutual fear means that after the two drugs are used together, the efficacy can be reduced or disappeared. In addition, the contraindications of traditional Chinese medicine also include disease contraindications and drug and food contraindications. In contraindications, if the disease belongs to yin deficiency and yang hyperactivity, pungent, warm and dry drugs should be avoided; Those with excessive diseases should not use astringent drugs. Taboos of medicine and food are commonly known as "taboos".

Chinese patent medicine: it is the raw material for processing Chinese medicine and preparing Chinese patent medicine. It must be processed to be ready. Formulations of Chinese patent medicines: Chinese patent medicines can be divided into pills, powders, ointments, pills, gels, medicated liquor, lotions, teas, buccal tablets, granules, tablets, dripping pills, syrups, injections, capsules, etc.

Misunderstanding of Chinese patent medicine;

1, the toxicity of Chinese patent medicine is small, and the dosage can be large or small. The toxic and side effects of Chinese patent medicines are less than those of western medicines, but not all Chinese patent medicines are non-toxic, so the dosage cannot be increased at will. Many Chinese patent medicines contain toxic ingredients, so don't take them blindly.

2. Chinese patent medicine is slow to take effect and needs long-term use. Some Chinese patent medicines contain heavy metals such as lead and mercury, which will accumulate poisoning in the human body after long-term use. Traditional Chinese medicine pays attention to "correcting deviation", that is, correcting the "bias" of human body with the "bias" of drugs. Long-term application of Chinese patent medicine will inevitably lead to overkill of suppositories and lead to new diseases. Therefore, no matter what kind of Chinese patent medicine is not suitable for long-term use.

3. Chinese patent medicine is slow to take effect and cannot be used for first aid. Many people think that Chinese patent medicine is not suitable or even can't be used for first aid. Actually, this view is one-sided. Many Chinese patent medicines are good medicines for rescuing critically ill patients, such as heatstroke with ten drops of water.

4. Chinese patent medicine has no shelf life and can be taken after long-term storage. At present, because the working group on the expiry date of Chinese patent medicines is relatively backward, the expiry date of most Chinese patent medicines has not yet been determined, but this does not mean that these medicines can be used indefinitely. In order to ensure the quality of drugs, the pharmaceutical administrative department stipulates that the "five-year inspection system" should be implemented for the management of expired drugs.