我對「香蕉」的看法

壹、從中醫的觀點：
一、香蕉的功用
1.【性味】：味甘、性寒
　【綱目】：甘、大寒、無毒
2. 功用主治：
（1.）清熱、潤腸，解毒治熱病、煩渴、便秘、痣血、止渴、潤肺、解酒
　　 每日吃3~5根對治療高血壓、冠心病很有益。
（2.）能產生奇異的智慧與健康。在植物學上的原名是智慧之果的意思。
（3.）能治燥熱咳嗽：
　　　用黃熟香蕉三個去皮切塊，用冰糖加清水一碗，隔水燉足壹小時，取之連　
　　　渣吃下，進食數次很有功效。
（4.）熟香蕉可抗癌
（A.）經科學研究實驗比較香蕉、葡萄、蘋果、西瓜、波羅、梨等多種水果的
　　　免疫活性，發現香蕉效果最好，能增加白血球，改善免疫系統的功能，　　
　　　還能產生攻擊異常細胞的物質 (TNF；促發炎細胞激素)。
（B.）日本科學家發現香蕉越成熟，它的免疫活性物質越多，免疫活性就越高。
二、香蕉之禁忌
1.香蕉性寒，凡脾胃虛弱者、胃疼、腹瀉者應少食。
2.胃酸過多者忌食。
3.骨折的病人少食。
貳、從現代醫學的觀點：
　　香蕉含有三種天然糖份：蔗糖、果糖、和葡萄糖；再加上纖維質。香蕉可即時提升人的功能。研究顯示，兩條香蕉，可以提供足夠能量維持90分鐘劇烈的運動。所以很多世界知名的運動員都以香蕉為首選水果。但是，香蕉不單只提供能量。香蕉還可以幫我們克服或治療很多病症和維持好的身體狀況，使我們必需把香蕉加進每天的重要飲食之一。有很多研究報告顯示，吃香蕉對於很多臨床病症有很大的幫忙，如抑鬱症、貧血、高血壓、增強記憶力、通便、舒緩情緒緊張、胃潰瘍、預防中風等。大家不妨一試。
参、香蕉皮的功用：
一、 蚊蟲叮咬而造成皮膚紅腫，可用香蕉皮內部清擦患處，具有退腫消炎的效
　　 果。
二、 用香蕉皮的內部，直接擦皮鞋，然後用乾布擦拭，可使皮鞋潔亮如新。
肆、重點注意：
　　一般病人常會問我：「我腰痠背痛或咳嗽，可以吃香蕉嗎？」剛開始我認為吃香蕉有很多益處，所以我說：「可以吃。」但後來有一些病人告訴我：「吃了香蕉之後，我的腰痠背痛更加嚴重，或咳嗽更加劇烈。」起先我不以為然，後來有更多的病人告訴我相同的結果，使我不得不作一系列的追蹤，最後發現：吃了香蕉會使病情惡化的病人，多屬於虛寒性體質的人，詳查原因，才發現香蕉的性味是屬於「寒性」，怪不得虛寒性體質的人，吃了香蕉之後，病情會更加惡化（如何判斷虛寒性體質，請看我的部落格2007年8月4日）。

Honorary Professors Appointed

Honorary Professors Appointed

Honorary Professors Appointed by (CMIR 倫敦中醫學院) Chinese Medical Institute & Register

Professor Keji Chen, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Science, researcher and WHO consultant

Professor Tietao Deng, Professor of Internal Medicine, Guangzhou University of Chinese medicine; Consultant to the All China Society of Chinese Medicine

Professor Baoen Wang, Professor of Medicine, Canton University OF medical Science. Honorary President of the Chinese Society for Herpetology

Professor ZhiZheng Lu, Professor of Chinese medicine, China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Member of Board of Directors, International Medical and Health Exchange, Ministry of Health

Professor Puren He, Professor of Chinese medicine. Senior Consultant to the All China Acupuncture Society. Member of the Board of Examiners, International Acupuncture Examination Committee

Professor Wengui Zhang, Former Vice Chancellor of the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine (BUCM)

Professor Yingliang Zheng, Chancellor of the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine (BUCM)

Professor Chung-Gwo Chang, Head of Committee of Chinese Medicine and Pharmacy, Department of Health, Taiwan

Professor Paul Bradley, Founder Member of the Board for Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons in Oral and Moxillofacial Surgery, and Chairman of Royal Hospitals Trust Inter-Disciplinary Surgical Laser GroupProfessor Claus C Schnorrenberger, Director of The German Research Institute of Chinese Medicine. Honorary Professor of China Medical College, Taichung, Rep. China

Professor Youyou Tu, Director of Qinghaosu Research & Development Centre, Institute of Chinese Materia Medica China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine

Professor Xuemin Shi, Director of Tianjin Chinese Medical Institute
Professor Shi Zhe Gu, Professor of Chinese medicine, Acupuncture & Moxibusiton College, Beijing University of Chinese medicine. Senior Consultant of Singapore Chinese Medicine

Professor Xueli Zhang, Professor of Chinese medicine, Acupuncture & Moxibusiton Department, Dongzhimen Hospital, Beijing University of Chinese medicine

Professor Yongxian Zhang, Vice Chancellor of the China Medical University, Taiwan

Beitragende und Kontributoren

Beitragende und Kontributoren

Chang, Chung-Gwo, Professor Dr. sc. Dr. phil. M.D. , Vorsitzender des Ausschusses für TCM des Gesundheitsministeriums in Taiwan, Republik China (COMMITTEE ON CHINESE MEDICINE AND PHARMACY DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH EXECUTIVE YUAN, R.O.C.)

Geboren in Kaohsiong, Taiwan. Nach Abschluß der Studiengänge für westliche und chinesische Medizin Leiter der Abt. für TCM des Stadtkrankenhauses Kaohsiong, Professor und Leiter der Akupunktur und anschl. der Akupunktur-Forschungsabt. am College für TCM in Taichung, danach Leiter der East-West Klinik in Taipei.

Heute ist Dr. Chang u.a. Vorsitzender des Ausschusses für TCM des Gesundheitsministeriums in Taiwan und somit Taiwans höchste Autorität in chinesischer Medizin. Er ist Autor mehrerer Bücher über Akupunktur, TCM und chinesische Ernährungskunde.

The anti-inflammatory effect in rats of Chieh-pu-warn 健步丸, a traditional chinese herbal preparation

The anti-inflammatory effect in rats of Chieh-pu-warn 健步丸, a traditional chinese herbal preparation

Chung-Gwo Chang 1, Ming-Chu Chen 2, Hsing-Yi Yang 2 *

1 Department of Internal Medicine, China Medical College, Taichung, Taiwan, ROC

2 Department of Pharmacology, National Yang-Ming Medical College, Taipei, Taiwan, 11221, ROC

*Correspondence to Hsing-Yi Yang, Department of Pharmacology, National Yang-Ming Medical College, Taipei, Taiwan, 11221, ROC

Keywords

Chinese medicine • Chieh-pu-warn • acute and subacute toxicity • anti-inflammation

Abstract

Chieh-pu-warn (CPW), or Swift-footed pill, is a traditional Chinese herbal preparation for the treatment of weakness, paralysis, or arthritis. Toxicity studies in mice showed that CPW at the maximal tested dosage (25 g/kg, p.o.) exhibited no acute toxicity.

Subacute treatment of CPW with recommended daily dose (2.5 g/kg, p.o. daily for 15 days) showed that the body weight and the water content of lung, heart, kidney, and liver in mice were not changed significantly. The antiinflammatory effect of CPW was evaluated with carrageenin- and Freund's complete adjuvant-induced edematous responses in the hind paws of rats.

It was found that a single dose (2.5 g/kg, p.o.) of CPW had no significant antiinflammatory effect, but consecutive pretreatment with the same dose for three days significantly inhibited the carrageenin-induced acute inflammation and Freund's complete adjuvant-induced subacute inflammation in rats. The present results suggest that CPW has antiinflammatory activities with low toxicities

Wiley InterScience
John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Anti-Hepatitis B Virus Effects of Wogonin Isolated from Scutellaria baicalensis

Thieme-connect / Abstract

Original Paper

Planta Med 2000; 66: 694-698DOI: 10.1055/s-2000-9775

Anti-Hepatitis B Virus Effects of Wogonin Isolated from Scutellaria baicalensis

Ray-Ling Huang1,*, Chien-Chih Chen1, Huey-Lan Huang2, Chung-Gwo Chang3, Chieh-Fu Chen1, Chungming Chang2, Ming-Tsuen Hsieh3

1 Department of Pharmacology, National Research Institute of Chinese Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C.

2 Institute of Microbiology and Immunology, National Yang-Ming University, Taiwan, R.O.C.

3 Department of Chinese Medicine, China Medical College, Taichung, Taiwan, R.O.C.

Abstract

By using an HBV-producing cell line (MS-G2) in vitro culture system, we found that wogonin isolated from Scutellaria baicalensis can suppress HBV surface antigen production

By using an HBV-producing cell line (MS-G2) in vitro culture system, we found that wogonin isolated from Scutellaria baicalensis can suppress HBV surface antigen production without evidence of cytotoxicity. By assaying the endogenous HBV DNA polymerase activity, we found that both the relaxed circular and the linear forms of HBV DNA are significantly reduced in the wogonin-treated group. Wogonin deserves to be further evaluated for the treatment of human HBV infection.

Key words

Human hepatitis B virus - HBsAg - HBeAg - endogenous polymerase activity - Scutellaria baicalensis - Labiatae - wogonin - baicalein - baicalin

The Geomedicine of TCM

Environmental inpact on diagnosis and treatment in TCM

Sun Si-Miao in the Qian Jin Yi Fang states: Although remote areas provide a good environment, the traffic is difficult to handle for a single person, and as soon as many people live there, it becomes noisy and complicated again. One should better live near human settlements, with a wide view and even grounds, mountains behind and water in the front, with the fresh cool air of higher altitudes, fertile ground, and some springwater around. If one can get 10 Mu plain land of this kind, one should live there.

If some has the chance to get more, it should not exceed the size of 20 Mu. If one ones a larger place it will lead to some worries, or if it becomes big like a farming ground for business it will elead to some more troubles. If this ground has some mountain ranges to the left and right and lies in between, it is an ideal ground. If the place for living is chosen well, one will live in harmony, and what else does one need more ?"

In regard to ethnomedicine, some voices stick to the absurd opinion that a medical system like TCM can not be applied to other cultures at all, but the high efficiency of TCM in western patients proofs them wrong. On the other extreme there are a few American therapists, who claim having developed an "new school" of acupuncture and thus completely reject the Chinese approach of TCM to systematic treatment as done in China. This leads to the question: How much do Chinese patients und their counterpart in the West actually have in common?

Recently some reports have been published by Chinese Doctors prakticing in the West. For instance Hu Jinsheng proposed in the World Jounal of TCM that his German patients have a special kind of Migraine, differing from his patients at home. He relates it to the sleeping habits, the weather and the stressfull society in Germany. In another article Yang Deli and Liu Jiaying describing their experiences in Germany notice the high rate of allergic reactions which they relate to the working situation, the fast lifestyle and the struggle in the socitety. All authors report these differences but also that their patients responded very well to the treatment with Chinese medicine. This raises another question,which is: If western and eastern patients have enough in common for receiving good results with Chinese medicine, how much adjustment to the patient is really necessary ? Is the time and space of a patient and his therapist of importance for the treatment or can it be negletcted ? This article is trying to look into these and related questions.

The century old Chinese medical classic Huang Di Nei Jing (Inner Classic of the Yellow Emperor) emphasizes space and time of health: Not only does it tell about diseases and treatment in relation to seasons, hours and periods, leading to the later emphasis of the febrile diseases school on time-related treatment and the Zhi Wu Liu Zhu chronobiological acupuncture method, but it also emphasizes treatments and diseases of different places. Since we life in both, time and space, the loudly touted "individualistic medicine of the 21. Century" (WHO) should concern both influences on the human body. Some attempts have already been made to find links between chronobiology and TCM (i.e. see my article: Schlaf als Schlüssel zum Alterungsprozeß, Zeitschrift für Traditionelle Chinesische Medizin, Vol. 7–1/98), and several books in China and abroad which cover the topic "relations between time and treatment" (see reference list).

Concerning space, western biomedicine has only a few years ago found a new branch of environmental medicine, which researches harmful influences of the environment to the body. But approaches to a wider view of connections between location and health as in geomedicine have been very few so far. The great medical Online-Library MEDLINE lists just two abstracts, and although the ancient chinese geomantic literature (Feng-Shui) is full of hints about ideal places to live, it says little about the effects of the environment to health and the necessesary adjustments of the therapist to these differences. Again the taoist doctor Sun Si-Miao (quoted above) relates to this in his other book the Lue Ji Qian Jin Yao Fang: "The rooms of ones living quarters should be tight, without any small cracks through which the wind can enter. (…) When taking a bath the room must be sealed well, such preventing heat or cold to enter, or else it will lead to many diseases."

This again regards to the direct environment and its influences, but climate, nutrition and the greater invironment have different effects on the individuum, too.

In the taoist book Guan-Zi, said to be dating from the Han Dynasty (2nd Century BC-2nd Century AD), many connections are drawn about the water quality and local inhabitants characters: "The water of Chu (Hunan) is soft, weak and pure;thus the people are light-hearted and self-confident. The water of Yue (Guandong) is turbis and heavy, soaking through the lang,; thus people are foolish, unhealthy and dirty. The water of Qin (Shanxi) is full of sediment, muddy and clogged with dust; thus this people are greedy, deceptive and given to machinations. (..) The water of Yan (Hebei) collects in low places but is weak, slow-moving and turbid; thus its people are simple, chaste, quick and willing to lay down their lives."

Later it relates the quality of the local soil to the inhabitants' constitutions and personalities: "Men who live in places where the earth is solid grow fed, those who live on loose soil are tall, those who live on sandy soil are thin. Fine looking men are produced from places where the earth is fertile, but a poor soil breeds ugly ones. "

Even more information is available from the Nei Jing (Inner Classic of the Yellow Emperor), which describes these realtions in detail:

"The East produces fish and salt, having a warm climate and receiving Qi from heaven and earth. People living near the shore like eating fish and a salty taste, but too much fish causes heat in the body, and the salty taste can consume the blood, so they have a dark skin and a loose texture. This is why the stone needle (for blood-letting and release of pus) was coming from the East, since most common diseases are of the exterior like abscesses.

In the West there are mountains, wilderness and a desert, bearing precious stones, the environment is stringent like weather in the autumn. The people live in stable houses on the hills which can endure the strong wind and tough water and earth conditions. Those people live a plain life in terms of clothing and sleeping, wearing cotton clothes and sleeping on grass mats, but their food is rich and abundant consisting mainly of meat. Since they have strong, obese bodies external diseases invade them seldom, but they often suffer from internal diseases, which can be cured by herbs. This why herbal medicine cam from the west.

In the North, the high terrain is like winter, so people beneath mountains often encounter a cold climate with ice or storm. They live as nomads in temporary houses and drink milk from cows and sheep. They often suffer from the invasion of cold and difficult digestion, so moxibustion came from the north.

The Qi of Yang is strong in the flourishing, warm climate of the South, which is summer-like bearing fog and dew in its low, humid areas. The people here are used to sour and fermented food (due to the temperature) and their skin is bright and red. They are often affected by diseases like stiffness, cramps and stiff extremities. These are suitable to be cured with needles, so the classic nine needles came from the south.

The climate in the middle areas is rich in resources, mild and humid. So people live a quiet life and eat many kinds of (sweet) food. So the common diseases here are atrophy, contravective Qi and fevers. For these Daoyin (kind of early Qi-Gong) and Anqiao (kind of Tui-Na massage) are effective. Therefore Daoyin and Anqiao came from the central plains.

Therefore a skillful doctor can select and combine all methods, according to the patient’s needs."

An even earlier work from the Warring states period around the 3rd century BC, Lü Shi Chun Qiu lists more connections between the environment and its inhabitants and sum it all up in: "If nutrition and dwelling are suitable, the nine orifices, hundert joints and thousand vessels (of the body) will all be unrestricted and healthy."

Modern resarch has also proven, that local variants of plants contain different substances, like our Glycyrrhiza glabra and the Chinese Glycyrrhiza uralensis. Less known is the fact that even samples of exactly the same species grown in different araes show significant differences in their ingredients:

Chinese Glycyrrhiza uralensis coming from six places in China with different soils contained strong variances in their organic and inorganic chemical components. This is even more true for animals and therefore for man as well. If we consider these influences to have an impact on ones constitution and health, it must have consequences for the therapist when diagnosing and treating his patients, too.

During my stays in Taipei, Kunming and Tianjin I tried to confirm this by observation and was finally able to verify the Nei Jings’ old wisdom about "other places – other diseases":

While the temperature on the island of Taiwan is rather high (between 10 and 40 degrees centigrade), it is even more surpassed by the degree of humidity, which is the whole year long around 90-95 degrees. The people eat rich, plentiful food, with a tendency to sweet or bland tastes. Besides the high rate of asthma in children, definitely increased by the high air pollution, I encountered many metabolic inner diseases like diabetes or rheumatic diseases.

From the view of TCM, many pattern syndromes were related to phlegm and moistness, due to the harm done to Spleen by nutrition and climate. The therapies in Taiwan are nowadays varied and plentiful as everywhere in China, with a local tendency to bloodletting, Gua-Sha (scratching) and a slight prevalence of Qi moving herbs, which connects again to the treatment of moistness and phlegm. Since most of the asthma cases were connected with allergic reactions, and the modern TCM links the immune system to the Spleen, some thoughts need to be given to this connection, too.

Kunming, the capitol of the Yunnan province lies also on a plane, but this is about all it has in common with Taipei: The temperature is constantly mild in all seasons (between 16 and 26 degrees centigrade), but the air is very dry with 35 degrees humidity, slightly higher in the summer season. The natives eat very spicy, adding chilies to almost any dish, such preferring a hot, spicy taste.

The most common diseases I saw, were diseases of the respiratory and digestive system, with a high rate of cancer in the terminal segments of the colon. Besides Large Intestine diseases, TCM can observe here the typical Yin deficiency syndromes of the Lung and Stomach, as well as Wind-Bi in older people.

This is said to be due to the dry climate as well as the spicy nutrition. The use of high doses Aconite (Fu Zi Pian) as an ingredient of soups in the winter time is common practice in the local seniors, which also leads to pathogenic dryness. Concerning therapy, the herbal garden is virtually overflowing here, with lots of only locally known herbs, but there is clearly a prevalence of Yin nourishing herbs, which relates again to the prevalence of Yin deficiency and dryness in Yunnan.

Tianjin, Chinas third largest city and major northern harbour, has an extreme climate with hot summers and cold winters (between –6 and +40 Centigrade degrees), while the air is rather dry, between 18 and 40 degrees humidity. Locals previously ate rather plain food, but very salty. In the recent decade fish and meat consumption has strongly increased, while the salt intake is still very high. The water contains a high amount of calcium. Due to these factors, Hypertension and strokes are very common, as well as coronoary heart diseases and other circulation related illnessses. In TCM the salty nutrition also harms the kidney. Extreme heat and cold as it annually occurs here, can lead to bloodstasis.

This may explain the common occurence of the bloodstasis syndrome, as well as the prevalence of wind-strokes even in many middle-aged patients, which is due to Liver-Wind or ascending Yang, and based on Kidney Yin deficiency. Postapoplectic hemiphlegia is treated mostly with acupuncture and bloodstasis with blood invigorating herbs like Radix Salvia (Dan Shen) which grows wild in the local plains.

Obvious diagnostic features like many greasy tongues in Taipei, dry and shrunk ones in Kunming and purple ones with stasis spots in Tianjin were also showing the typical features of the local syndrome/disease tendencies. These experiences with patients from different areas in China clearly hinted that the wisdom of the Nei Jing should not be ignored.

It also should clearly indicate a necessary adjustment to the body and the disease of the western patient, who lives even farther from the land of the Nei Jing. But since my own observation was only brief and therefore could be exeptional or biased, I tried to confirm it with the help of many Chinese doctors, since Chinese medicine emphasizes the close and individual observation of the patient. Listed below, are some of those results:

In his private East-west clinic in Taipei, Chang Chung-Gwo, now the chairman of the COMMITTEE ON CHINESE MEDICINE AND PHARMACY DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH EXECUTIVE YUAN, R.O.C. in Taiwan has treated hundreds of western patients from Germany, France, Switzerland, the USA, Israel and other countries during the past twenty years. Most of them were members of the foreign business community, but I could also observe a couple of patients who came flying especially in from Israel or France for a visit, and went straight back to the airport after their acupuncture treatment, taking the herbal prescriptions for the next few months with them. What made TCM so attractive for them, that they were willing to spend time or money for this treatment ?

Dr. Chang said that most of them tried western medicine in vain and came to TCM by a recommendation of a friend. Common complaints were pain, spine problems, arthralgia, arthritis, and so on, but a lot were coming for infertility, asthma, allergies as well as for treatments to stop smoking or reduce obesity.

As for the effects, Dr. Chang stated, that the therapeutic effects usually surpass their Chinese counterparts, since the local patients have a lower compliance, while the Westerners have a stronger constitution and their body is not used to Chinese herbs from childhood on. I could confirm this observation during two years of apprenticeship in his clinic in the early nineties. So far no differences among patients from different western countries were noted, which might be due to the fact, that most of them were living in Taiwan at this time.

Dr. Lin Yun from Tianjin has been to France in 1990 and 1991, working with acupuncture in a hospital in cooperation with the local physicians. Regarding her own feeling during the needle insertion, western patients’ skin is not basically different from Chinese patients, but while all patients had a feeling of "De Qi", it was expressed in other words than the usual Chinese definition "numb, swelling or sore", describing it instead as "electric, strange, or even painful". Most of them wrote in the query following the treatment that they felt very relaxed or "fatigue" (tired). Interesting is also, that even patients, who knew nothing about the course of the channels, described the feeling of "something" (Qi?) moving along under their skin in the channel direction.

Dr. Wu Gao-Lin from Tianjin has been treating German patients in a small town in the north of Germany, with both, acupuncture and herbal prescriptions. "The Germans are very co-operative and keep strict to their prescriptions, which is very helpful", she said. According to her experience the efficiency of both treatments has been higher than in her homeland. "Maybe there is a psychological factor involved," she said to me, "if you treat patients in Germany, having a Chinese face is definitely an advantage…". She also found that male patients are often more sensitive to the pricking of the needle, in comparison to the female Germans. Some also find the herbal prescriptions hard to swallow, especially if they contain bitter herbs. Nevertheless, most of them show good effects and they are willing to come back and often bring friends and relatives. "I once succeeded in the treatment of stomach cancer of a truck driver, who had no time to go to a hospital and stay there for an operation. I really thought this was above my skills, but I tried hard since I was his only hope, so I thought quite a while about his case and how to keep the price low enough for him (since Chinese herbs are very expensive in Germany). Finally I developed a combination of acupuncture and herbs on a regular basis. I was really surprised, that after a few months he brought me the new report from the hospital, stating that he no longer needed an operation."

Dr Wei, also from Tianjin, has been in Germany at the same place as Dr. Wu for more than one year. He used acupuncture and Qi-Gong as main therapies. He found, that Germans have a thicker skin than Chinese patients, but are more sensitive to pain. Since most patients are used to the common practice of inserting the needle and applying no twisting or other manipulation, he found, that most patients had to become slowly aquatinted to this feeling, which is different to what is experienced with local German acupuncturists, who use thinner needles and no manipulation techniques. But all of them were very fond of his Qi-Gong training, finding it very worthwhile to learn and experience.

TCM-Doctors from Kunming in Yunnan have been treating Spanish patients in Barcelona, Tarragona and Madrid for many years. Among them Dr. Xia Hui-Min, the famous head of the "Tui-Na-Department in the Yunnan TCM-Hospital" using acupuncture, Tui-Na and herbal prescriptions on more than thousand patients. Dr. Xia said, it was a pity, that most patients did not know how well his kind of massage works for the "frozen shoulder-syndrome" in the elderly, even better then acupuncture when the shoulder joints are already connected. Since most Spanish patients thought it a kind of common massage, they massively underestimated it. Another obstacle was the belief, that physicians having a higher status than a physiotherapist, and therefore do not touch or massage their patients.

Dr Zheng Jin, the head of the TCM faculty and former head of the diagnostic department in the Yunnan College of TCM wrote down many of his experiences during his three-year stay in 1995 to 1998 with more than 1000 Spanish patients:

Physical constitution: Since in Chinese males the body structure is built stronger than in females, the physical constitution is stronger biased to the Yang/Heat nature, while in female Chinese the physical constitution tends more to a Depletion/Cold nature. In the observed western Patients the difference between male and female patients was less, since in both sexes a tendency to Yang/Heat syndromes could be found equally.

2. Diagnosis - In Chinese traditional diagnosis the following differences were found:

While in Chinese male Patients the pulse had a stronger tendency to pulses like the excessive, big, long and stringlike (wiry) pulse, in Chinese female patients it more common to find pulses like the deficient, weak, soft and short pulse. Also this difference could not be found in significant numbers in his western patients, who both had often excessive (full), slippery, stringlike (wiry) pulses.

Although the facial color of "white" people tends to be more white than in Chinese, there is still an amount of yellow present, which relates to the normal expression of the stomach Qi. Therefore individual physiological skin colors and pathological skin changes to red, yellow and white, can be observed and interpreted in the same way as in Chinese patients.

The fact, that in western patients the bone structure is built stronger and the muscles and flesh is usually fuller than in Chinese stands for a stronger development of the spleen and stomach function (which govern the flesh and muscles) and the kidney qi (bones).

Since a higher ocurrence of strong body odors was noticed in many Spanish patients (which might be due to a diet which comparatively higher in animal proteines and climatical influences) the presence of damp-heat can be assumed to be more common in this area of Europe.

In regard to the answers of the patients during the diagnostic inquiry, local patients in Spain had none such habits as paying detailed attention to i.e. color, shape, smell of their excretions or body fluids like phlegm, urine or faeces and did not discriminate between preferences in eating or drinking i.e preference of hot beverages over cold ones or aversion against cold foods, as comon in China. Thus the inquiry needs to be adjusted to these habits or their absence.

Diseases: The following diseases occurred more often in Spain than usually found in China: Depression and other mind-related diseases, psoriasis, neurodermitis and other skin diseases and allergies, as well as hepatitis C and sexual diseases.

Syndome patterns: The following diseases occurred more often in Spain than usually found in China: emotional related stagnation of the liver qi (gan qi yu jie), deficiency of the kidney, internal accumulation of phlegm-heat (tan shi nei zhu). Besides that, in many of the Spanish vegetarians syndrome patterns of spleen-stomach deficiency or Yang-qi deficiency were found.

Therapy: It appeared, that western patients responded more sensitive to the needle sensation in acupuncture as well as to the effects of herbal medicine prescriptions. Therefore it is recommended, to have patients always lying down during acupuncture in oder to prevent psychogenic shocks, besindes the manipulation of the needle should be less strong than in China and the dose in the herbal prescriptions can be reduced until they are adjusted to the patients reaction.

These experiences of Chinese doctors with patients from Europe hinted not a few necessary adjustments to the different cultural background, nutrition and life-style habits, environmental and climatical influences and maybe even to genetic differences.

They felt, that Chinese medicine - from acupuncture and Tui-Na-Massage to herbal prescriptions and Qi-Gong - was applicable to non-Chinese patients, but also noticed some differences in the diagnostic expressions of the diseases as well as in the reaction to the treatment. They all were quite satisfied with their remarkable success, which seemed even surpass their experiences at home. Thus the question whether TCM is recommendable to western patients seems to be a definite "yes." Still, we have to ask us questions about some necessary adjustments like these:

Herbs: If the acupuncture insertion depth is reduced - as many western books recommend - to which degree can the dosage of the prescriptions also be reduced, achieving the same results ?

Acupuncture: When are strong manipulation techniques indicated – as applied in China for hemiphlegia etc. and how can they be reduced for sensible patients, achieving the same results ?

Diagnosis: What are the differences in the appearance of syndromes and symptoms in western patients, compared to what is found in China ?

General treatment: Which diseases are more typical in western countries, differing from China in terms of nutrition, weather conditions and genetics – and how can the treatment be adjusted to the maximum therapeutic effect, as described in the Huang Di Nei Jing (Classic of the Yellow Emperor) ?

Geomedicine: To which degree do we need to distinquish between patients from different countries or even locations in their county ? If i.e. prevalence of damp-heat is typical in Taiwan and in Spain, how about England, France and Germany ?
.
The question about the necessary degree of adjustment in TCM to the western patient seems to present a problem that can not be solved by observation only. Nevertheless, it is our generation which is technically and by present knowledge able to make such a pioneering effort to find an optimum adjustment of Chinese medicine to non-Chinese patients, in this way paving a road in ethnomedicine and geomedicine. Those results can even provide principles for other medical systems (India, Tibet, etc.) with the potency to merge with or contribute to a future medicine for all mankind.

For this reasons the research of variations and congruity between the diagnostic results and reactions to treatment with TCM has been chosen by Dr. Yeh and myself as a new research ground and content of our doctoral thesis. Since the Chinese government has given full support to this field of research, the clinical studies following the theoretical foundations of this research will begin in 1999 in both continents, Asia and Europe.

G.R.Neeb

喝茶的好處

喝茶的好處

一、飲茶的歷史簡介
飲茶具有保健防病、延年益壽的作用，我國自古以來就有飲茶的良好習慣。唐代陸羽著過『茶經』三篇，所以賣茶的人奉他為茶神，因此有人說飲茶始於唐朝。事實上，茶葉在我國應用於醫療上也很早，『神農本草』（大約成書於西漢，即公元前二O二年至公元五年）中云：「味苦寒……久服安心益氣……輕身耐老」，『神農食經』中亦云：「茶葉利小便、去痰熱、止渴、令人少睡……」。

又云：「茶茗久服，令人有力悅志」。
二、茶的性味及作用：

性味：味甘苦、性微寒。 作用：

1.有消食下氣、瀉熱清神、明目益思、除煩去膩、祛暑止渴、利尿解毒的功效。

2.茶葉含有芳香油能刺激胃液分泌、幫助消化、增進食慾、清除胃中積垢之功。

3.相傳「神農嚐百草，日遇七十二毒，得茶而解之」。

4.可抑制和預防癌細胞的產生，據統計茶區的人很少患癌症。

5.對於老年人的脾胃虛弱、頭昏目暗、記憶減退，經常飲茶，能幫助消食去膩、提神醒腦、降火明目、寧心除 煩。夏季常飲茶，有防治腸炎、痢疾等疾病的作用。

6.因含有維生素C與維生素P，對增強人體血管壁的彈性機能、防止血管硬化、腦充血等，均有一定的效能。

三、茶葉的種類：

茶葉的分類，係根據其製法和茶葉的品種而定，主要可分為四大類：
1.綠茶　　── 不發酵
2.烏龍茶　── 半發酵
3.紅茶　　── 全發酵
4.緊壓茶　── 僅為少數地區民族所樂用

從醫學角度來說，綠茶性質偏涼，消炎解毒的功用較好；紅茶經過發酵，性質偏溫，有溫胃止瀉和幫助消化的效能；半發酵的烏龍茶介在綠茶和紅茶之間。因此，解毒消炎喝綠茶為宜，溫胃止瀉喝紅茶較適合，半發酵的烏龍茶可供日常飲用，緊壓茶則為少數民族調和乳酪之飲料，有幫助消化及消脂肪之功。

四、飲茶的時間：

飲茶的時間以白天口渴疲乏之時，工作休息之餘為宜。古人還主張飯後用茶漱口，既可去煩膩又不損脾胃。然飯前或剛用過飯時不宜飲茶，乃由於茶葉中所含鞣酸遇到蛋白質會凝固成顆粒，影響消化吸收；飢餓時亦不宜飲茶，因為茶能促進胃的蠕動，使血管擴張增加饑餓感，並使胃酸增多；睡前不宜飲茶，因為茶內的咖啡因、茶碱、柯柯碱都有興奮作用，會影響入睡，且茶碱有利尿作用，會造成夜尿過多，影響睡眠。

五、飲茶的副作用：

飲茶過量或濫飲、強飲對人體有害，如每天喝一升以上的茶水，可能會出現維生素B1缺乏症，這是因為鞣酸會與維生素B1結合，使其含量下降。勉強飲茶可能增加胃的負擔，引起消化不良。咖啡因會增強胃液分泌，所以胃潰瘍病人不宜多飲茶。

六、那些人不宜多飲茶：

1.發高燒的病人服退熱藥時，不宜飲茶，因茶碱能提高體溫，有抗阿司匹林作用。

2.高血壓、心臟病、產婦、習慣性便秘的人不宜多飲茶。因茶有升高血壓、加快心跳、減少乳汁分泌以及收斂的作用。

七、服用哪些藥物時應忌茶：

據「本草綱目」記載，服用土苻苓時不能與茶同用。服用中藥人參、黨參等補養藥及西藥奎寧、鐵劑、麻黃素、阿托品等時，不宜用茶送服，以免減低療效。此外，以不飲用涼茶和隔夜茶為宜。茶葉不應與韭同食，『壺居十食忌』載：「苦茗久食羽化，與韭同食，令人身重。」，『本草綱目拾遺』又載：「換癆損得失血過多之人，腹胃必寒，最忌食茶」。

八、結論

1.飲茶有幫助消化、解除油膩的功效，吃過多脂肪、身體肥胖者，飯後喝茶為宜。宋代有一句諺語說：「清晨一杯茶，餓死賣藥家」，主要還是對多吃油膩的人而言。

2.茶葉含有微量的氟化合物，長期喝茶或每晚臨睡前用濃茶漱口，可以防止蛀牙。茶葉含有單寧，凡肉食在齒間，以濃茶漱口，可使肉絲收縮，不必用牙籤。