July 10, 2003

Alternative treatment in the form of Chinese herbal medicines is proving to be more effective than allopathic drugs, writes Shabnam Nasir

Traditional Chinese medicine is gaining popularity very fast in Pakistan, and an increasing number of people are seeking relief from their illnesses by opting for Chinese herbal treatments.

There seems to be an alarming increase in the number of sufferers of asthma and allergies amongst the residents of Islamabad and people who have undergone treatment for these ailments by using these alternative medicines, claim amazing results.

When I went to visit Dr Li Huan Wu at his clinic, I came across a mother who had brought her five-year-old son for a check-up. She told me that she was living in America and her son had been suffering from severe allergic asthma but he was not responding to the treatment that doctors were giving him there.

“I brought my son to Pakistan seven months ago for a change in climate,” she said. “That did not really improve his condition, but when I heard of these Chinese medicines that were achieving great results in curing allergies and asthma, I brought him here immediately. Now, I am really happy to say that my son has shown great improvement and has almost fully recovered after six months of treatment.” This concerned mother was now returning to the US, and was taking two months of medicines with her.

Dr Li Huan Wu is a qualified acupuncturist and chief executive of the China Far-East Health Services Centre, who arrived in Pakistan from China in 1996.

“I came to Pakistan to practise Chinese herbal medication because I knew that Pakistani people are very interested in our herbs and our acupunctural therapy. I am really pleased to say that I have enjoyed an extremely encouraging response from the patients I have treated, and our herbal medicines are gaining confidence amongst many Pakistani citizens,” said Dr Wu.

Dr Wu added that many of his patients have now recovered from asthma and are without symptoms, which is a major achievement due to the increasing number of allergy and asthma sufferers increasing within Pakistan. “According to the World Health Organization, asthma should be cured worldwide by the year 2010, so this shows that it is a fully curable disease,” he said.

Chinese herbal medicine is one of the oldest and most comprehensive forms of internal medicine, and has been practised in China for almost 5,000 years. The healing properties of plants and other natural substances is one of China’s biggest contributions to modern medicine. In fact, many pharmaceutical companies have benefited immensely from knowledge acquired from the effectiveness of Chinese herbal medicines.

The reason why Chinese medicines are gaining popularity is because they offer a natural form of therapy, that is often free of many side-effects commonly experienced when taking allopathic drugs.

Another benefit in taking Chinese medicine is the fact that herbalists have evolved a method in which herbs are combined to enhance the maximum beneficial effects they may provide.

Chinese medical specialists rely on traditional herbal formulas that are designed to treat a wide variety of common imbalances, and every individual will receive a different combination of herbs to suit his own requirements.

Chinese medicines also work by creating a balance in the body, by strengthening and supplementing parts that have become weak, or are not functioning at full capacity. The use of tonics to boost the immune system and enhance the functioning of the body’s organs is one of the most effective methods of treatment.

“I started suffering from nasal allergies shortly after my marriage and the weather in Islamabad made things much worse,” said Humaira Sumbul. “My asthma was always aggravated in each of my pregnancies and to prevent me from having severe attacks I was given steroids to control my condition.”

Humaira’s attacks became worse three years ago. “I started to get severe attacks regularly and I was using my inhalers the whole year round. This led to me often lying awake the entire night and getting really depressed about my deteriorating condition. After all this suffering, it was a few months ago that I heard of a Chinese herbal treatment that has been really successful.”

Humaira started using herbal medicines and says that she has shown great improvement. “I am amazed at my improvement. I think I can safely say that I am nearly cured, and even though my husband is a doctor I have personally found this herbal remedy more beneficial.”

“There are various types of asthma. They are allergic, bronchial, cardiac and asthma due to the effects of tuberculosis and subsequent lung damage,” stated Dr Wu.

For pollen allergy and asthma, Dr Wu treats patients with a mixture of ‘Asthma A and Asthma B’ doses. According to Chinese medicine there are four ‘breathing points’ in the body, and acupuncture methods can cure patients fully. It is however important that treatment be administered only by experienced professionals, as carelessness is liable to cause death.

In addition to asthma, Dr Wu regularly treats patients with rheumatism, arthritis, diabetes and hypertension. “When I receive diabetic patients, I always tell them that diet control is the best form of medicine. However, when a person is unable to control sugar levels by diet, then herbal remedy is administered.”

Dr Wu went on to say that due to the changing environment and demanding lifestyles, diabetes is on the increase. “Anxiety, stress, worry, anger and high protein foods are all contributors to developing diabetes. It is a good idea to eat brown bread, cucumbers and watermelons to keep diabetes at bay. The current trend of drinking too many soft drinks, especially during the summer, is also a bad habit and leads to increasing levels of sugar. We are also witnessing an increase in sufferers of this disease in China,” he concluded.

Dr Wu has four branches of his clinic in Peshawar and has over 3,000 registered patients. He has been given an award for Alternative Medicine in 2001, which was presented to him on the‘38th Anniversary of Medicina Alterniva, Sri Lanka.

“My herbs have been tested by the National Institute of Health drugs control division, and are completely steroid free. I order my herbs fresh from China which usually arrive monthly or weekly depending on demand,” he stated.

In addition to his work at the clinic, Dr Wu has donated 20,000 Chinese herbal medicines at various free medical camps that were held throughout the country. He also actively participates in organizing other free medical camps all over the country, where he treats people according to his methods of alternative medicine.

“I love interacting with the Pakistani public and I am happy to say that I have made many friends here, and my main motto is ‘honesty is the best policy’. Whenever I feel that a patient will not benefit from my medicines I tell them that, so neither their time, nor mine is wasted.”

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