News of the Use of Vinegar to prevent spread of SARS

[Guest guest]

Here is a little known information that was kept out of the mass media

the folk medicine in China used vinegar to prevent spread of SARS. As

an added bonus, I also have a herbal medicine for treatment of SARS

below.

 

 

SARS: A tale of three cities

Xiaoxia Gong, Ph.D.

11/28/2003

 

In February, merchants in Shanxi Province in northern China found a

new way to make quick money. A whisper of the good news flowed around

town: a mysterious flu-like disease was spreading in Guangdong, the

richest province in the country. This disease could be prevented, or

even cured, by a common product: vinegar. The price of vinegar, as a

result, went skyrocketing.

 

Shanxi, a poor province in the west, produces plenty of vinegar. In

fact, the Shanxi brand of vinegar, Shanxi Chencu, is the best known in

China. Grasping the opportunity, merchants traveled between Guangdong

and Shanxi, more frequently than ever, with vinegar and with other

goods. Few people from Shanxi cared about the disease, since the media

were reporting only that the epidemic was under control.

 

In late February, Ms. Yu, a jewelry merchant in the Shanxi capital,

Taiyuan, had a bad fever. Ms. Yu had recently returned from a business

trip in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong. She visited several local

hospitals but found no cure. So she did what the well-heeled in

Taiyuan often do when they fall ill: She took a taxi 350 miles to

Beijing.

 

Beijing has the best-equipped hospitals in the country, and its

military hospitals are the cream of the crop. Under Mao Zedong, only

privileged cadres and military officers were admitted to such

hospitals. But times have changed, and now anyone who can afford the

fees is admitted to these top-notch hospitals. So Ms. Yu checked

herself into the No. 301 Military Hospital on March 1. A week later,

doctors were convinced she had SARS.

 

After a lengthy investigation, a Chinese magazine Finance concluded

that Ms. Yu was the first SARS case in Beijing. She infected

approximately 20 people in Shanxi, including her own parents, both of

whom died. Doctors and nurses who treated her, five in Shanxi and

unknown number in Beijing, were also infected.

 

Spreading from Guangzhou to Taiyuan and then to Beijing, SARS began to

take a heavy toll—initially in China and then worldwide. And Guangzhou

and Beijing are now the Chinese cities no one wants to visit.

 

The speed of this turnaround is stunning. Guangzhou has long been a

Chinese Mecca of economic reform. It has over the years drawn a

" floating population " of millions: money-hungry northerners, desperate

migrant laborers, international speculators, and officials.

 

This Gold Rush lasted for two decades, until SARS—traveling in from

the nearby countryside—cast a pall over the southern port city in

early 2003.

Beijing's tale is more overtly political.

 

The central government had pooled the best resources from all over the

country to turn the Chinese capital into a showcase—with the best

medical facilities, the best specialists and equipment, and the best

access to the global medical information network.

 

Moreover, most of the great facilities here were not even subjected to

the authority of the Beijing municipal government, as most hospitals

in the rest of the country would be under their own local governments.

No. They all answered to higher authorities in the ministries of the

central government. The military, of course, took the best. The

education ministry also had the advantage of utilizing the best

medical-faculty brains to establish its own facilities. It was a

privilege, even an honor, to be admitted to such a facility. No wonder

the wealthy people in Taiyuan sought treatment in Beijing—this would

telegraph their wealth and social status for all to see.

 

When the now fired Beijing mayor claimed that the municipal government

didn't cover up the SARS epidemic, he might not be telling a lie. It's

quite possible that he didn't know of the actual figure. Hospital

cadres may not have been reporting to the mayor's office. But who

would believe him? Top Communist Party leaders might also genuinely

have been in the dark—mainly because the Party has cultivated a

subordinate workforce that prefers to suppress bad news.

 

The irony of dictatorship is that while the " iron fist " can ably

persecute dissidents, it's never managed the affairs of the nation

with any great degree of effectiveness or efficiency. During Mao's

Great Leap Forward, it took top party leaders two years to learn that

40 million people had already starved to death. When the World Health

Organization criticized China for hiding the truth about SARS, they

might have gotten it wrong: Maybe top leaders just weren't told what

was really going on. As far as which looks worse—hiding the truth, or

simply being ignorant of it—it may be a wash.

 

China at the dawn of the 21st century is a study in jarring contrasts.

 

In the big port cities of Shanghai and Guangdong, college students

chat on mobile phones while their parents dash from high-rise offices

to Starbucks and then to the gym. In the central and western regions,

meanwhile, millions still don't have running water. And the capital,

Beijing, is struggling to keep a lid on dissent and discontent from

the hundreds of millions of workers for whom economic modernization

has meant only misery and pain.

The tale of SARS in three cities—in three distinct regions of China—

doesn't end here, with hundreds of deaths in Guangzhou, Taiyuan, and

Beijing.

 

Terrified workers trying to avoid the virus were suddenly as eager to

flee Beijing and Guangzhou as they once were to migrate there. Rumor

said that anyone with a fever would be sent to a SARS hospital, where

he would definitely contract SARS if he wasn't already infected. Once

again, people boarded trains, this time heading home.

 

But their hometowns didn't welcome them back. At every stop, local

police would get on the train and ask: " Anyone coming from Beijing or

Guangzhou? " No. They were not wanted.

 

*Xiaoxia Gong comes originally from the People's Republic of China.

She holds a Ph.D in sociology from Harvard University, and is

currently a free-lance columnist.

 

 

 

Source : http://www.happyherbalist.com/sars.htm

 

 

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome

 

 

SARS treatment with .

 

 

 

SARS virus considered a mutant form of Corona virus.

 

 

 

atypical pneumonia of unknown aetiology, was recognized at the end of

February 2003.

 

 

 

The World Health Organization (WHO) is investigation and is

providing epidemiological, clinical and logistical support.

 

 

Recommended Prevention and Treatment

 

 

 

herbal preparations according to the Nanfang Daily Newspaper, China.

 

 

 

TCM Principles

 

 

 

 

Herbs for Prevention

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5214a1.htm

 

 

 

 

Chinese Formula

therapeutic action of clearing heat, detoxifies and tonify the Qi

 

 

1.

Raw Huang Qi 15 gm

2. yin hua 15 gm

3. chai hu 10 gm

4. huang qin 10 gm

5. ban lan gen 10 gm

6. guan zhong 15 gm

7. cang zhu 10 gm

8.

 

raw yi ren

15 gm

9. fang feng 10 gm

10. raw gan cao 5 gm

11. huo xiang 10 gm

 

standard preparation is to cover the herbs with water plus 3 cups.

 

Bring to a rapid boil, reduce heat and continue to cook until 1 cup of

liquid remains.

 

Strain This produces one daily dose.

 

 

 

May have to take for several days or longer.

 

follow procedures outlined below

 

 

 

note: the customary Chinese dosage is much higher than the Japanese

which typical is only about 1/3. The American and British dosages are

on the average about 1/2 - 1/3.

 

 

Prevention and Treatment

 

preventative measures including those not yet afflicted by the

disease.

 

 

 

1. Physical exercises to increase ones immune resistance and enhance

one's

 

adaptability to the environment.

 

2. Improved ventillation in homes and workplaces. " Ventillation is the

best

 

disinfectant " for the flu virus is spread through the athmosphere.

 

3. Reduce huge collective activities. Avoid crowded places.

 

4. Pay attention to changes in climactic temperatures and wear

appropriate

 

clothing.

 

5. When going outdoors wear face masks.

 

6. To prevent being afflicted by the disease , boil 15 grams each of

the

 

herbs ban langen, guan zhong, da qing ye, and jin yin hua . Drink the

 

decocttin for 3-5 days . For children use half of the dose.

 

7. Flu vaccination for those who have weak immune resistance such as

elderly

 

people, children and those suffering from chronic nephritis, diabetes,

and

 

those suffering from tumors .

 

8. Vinegar fumigation and disinfection. This involves mixing a

percentage of

 

vinegar and water to be used as a vaporizer or mouth and nasal wash.

 

For herbal treatment of the disease, the following herbal preparations

 

cheng yao are being prescribed and used according to the Nanfang Daily

:

 

 

 

 

herbal preparations /formulas commonly being prescribed according to

the Nanfang Daily Newspaper, China.

 

 

 

1. Qing Kai Ling Kou Fu Ye (injection, granules and capsules)

 

2. Chong Gan Ling

 

3. Zheng Chai hu yin chong ji

 

4. ban lan gen chong ji

 

5. yin qiao jie du pian

 

6. bi yan shu kou fu ye

 

7. yi zhou gan mao qing

 

8. chai hu zhu she ye

 

9. xiao er qing re jie du kou fu ye

 

10. xiao er liu gan tang jiang

 

11. xiao er gan mao chong ji

 

12. fu fang da qing ye he ji

 

13. fu rong kang liu gan wan

 

14. fu fang yin huang kou fu ye

 

15. wang ye jie du chong ji

 

16. gan mao zhi ke chong ji

 

17. shsuang huang lian kou fu ye

 

18. jing zhi yin qiao jie du pian

 

19. kang bing du kou fu ye

 

20 kang gan jie du pian

 

21. ling qiao jie du pian

 

22. liu gan cha (Flu Tea)

 

23. Vitamin C yin qiao chong ji

 

 

 

 

 

The following article was translated from the Chinese original at the

on-line Takung pao which was published on February 12,2003.This

article was taken from the papers' data base through Chinese

characters input. At the time of this posting , the paper has changed

its system of input and currently, I cannot download past issues of

the paper on-line. Thisarticle was publiscized at the time when the

first cases of SARS were also being reported in Southern China in some

local dailies like the Southern daily. I am publishing this

translation to demonstrates how traditional Chinese medicine in

southern China approached the issue of dealing with an epidemic like

SARS. It was first seen as a flu epidemic . Then when the respiratory

symptoms became more marked and manifested clinically in more or less

similar fashion in many patients, the nomenclature fei dian xing fei

yan ' atypical pneumonia' came about. The epidemic in Hongkong and

China is still being referred to in this label. However, the English

acronym SARS is being appended with fei dian xing fei yan.

 

Regards,

 

Rey Tiquia

 

Phd Candidate

 

Dept. of History and Philosophy of Science

 

The University of Melbourne

 

 

TCM Principle in Preventing Influenza: Support Zheng And Dispel Xie

 

TCM thinks that Gan Mao is an 'externally induced illness' wai gan ji

bing brought about by the invasion of the body by Wind heteropathy

feng xie . Its clinical manifestations are : headache, nasal

congestion, runny nose, sneezing, aversion to cold, fever, and

soreness all over the body; or there may be coughing as the main

symptoms. This condition can occur all through the four seasons of the

year. However, the illness occurs mostly in winter and spring.

 

 

 

When this illness has more or less severe manifestation, and within a

period of time affects a wider circle of people guang fan liu xing ,

and the manifesting symptoms are more or less similar, then this

condition falls within the category of as shi xing ganmao (common cold

which circulates at a definite season . or infectious gan mao or

common cold ) .

 

 

 

As to the principle observed in preventing Gan Mao , there are two

aspects: 'supporting the natural medicine of the body ' fu zheng and

'dispelling the external heteropathy' qu xie.

 

 

 

According to TCM theory, ' When the Zheng Qi is within, external

heteropathies would not dare invade' zheng Qi cun nei , xie bu ke gan

(this is a quote from the Nei Jing ). Under this condition, vinegar

may be used to fumigate the athmmosphere kong Qi or drink decocted Da

Qing Ye like tea as preventative measures. The stress is on

'dispelling heteropathies' qu xie .

 

 

 

Supporting Zheng and dispelling Xie are two aspects of an illness

which are complementary. Supporting the Zheng can protect against the

heteropathies xie ; while dispelling the Xie can support the Zheng. In

general with regards patients who are physically weak or (weakened),

the stress is on supporting the Zheng . While in cases of patients who

are generally physically strong, the main thing is to dispel the Xie.

However, in the concrete application ( of this concept as a tool )

seaon and weather, local conditions etc. must be looked into . In

short, the principle must be applied flexibly.

 

 

 

Gan Mao comes about when the wind heteropathic 'pathotoxins' bing du

(This Chinese word is also another name for virus) taking advantage of

a deficiency in the body's defense capacities fang yu neng li bu zu ,

launches a surprise invasion of the Lung Defense Qi fei wei and the

exterior skin and body hair pi mao . The invasion by the wind

heteropathy is related to 'heat and cold disharmony' han re bu tiao

and inappropriateness of clothing worn yi zhu bu shi on the part of

the patient . On the otherhand, deficiency in Zheng Qi is related to

allowing oneself to get too physically exhausted, lack of sleep and

'injury and worry from emotions' qing zhi you shang . On the

otherhand, 'infectious ganmao' shi xing gan mao (or influenza " is

mainly brought about by severe external heteropathic wai xie invasion.

Because of its rapid transmission and transformation chuan bian kuai

and its' widespread circulation , we have to put special consideration

to this 'infectious gan mao'. Whenever one encounters any of the

following circumstances , one has to consider this illness: 1) in

cases wherein the symptoms of common cold putong gan mao progressively

gets worse for three days, and there is a clear upward progression. 2)

Cases where there is continuous and persistent symptoms of typical

'infectious' gan mao shi xing gan mao. 3) Households where two or

more members suffering from 'fever gan mao ' , and the number is

increasing. This should remind us of a possible 'infectious ganmao'

shi xing gan mao epidemic liu xing . These cases must be quarantined

as early as possible and treated as early as possible. The Four

Methodological Gates for Preventing Influenza liu gan 1) Physical

exercise Prevention method: Pay attention to physical exercise which

will strengthen the capacity of the Zheng Qi to protect against

external factors. Based upon people's age and physical conditions,

engage in varied physical exercise activities like Tai Ji quan,

Exercise of the Eight brocade ba duan jin, jogging etc. At the same

time develope the habit of doing regular physical outdoor activies. 2)

Preventative Food Recipes a. White raddish Bai luo bo 500 g. Scallion

cong bai including whiskers 100 g. Boil into a soup and drink . This

preparation is enough for 5 people for a day. b. Scallion 500 g. ,

garlic 250 g. Slice into tiny bits and then add 2,000 g. of water,

then boil . Drink one tea cup a day three times a day. c. Moxa for

prevention : Use the moxa stick to apply warmth to acupuncture points

zu san li S. 36 and CV 5 Shi Men . This is most suitable for the

elderly . those physically weak , and those currently suffering from

common cold gan mao .

 

 

3) Herbal for Prevention

 

a. Jade Screen Formula Yu bing feng san . This may be taken by people

who easily catch the common cold gan mao . It can have a considerable

effect.

 

 

 

b. Da Qing Ye , Ban lan gen, guan zhong 30 g. each . Boil and take as

tea.

 

 

 

c. In winter when the season of wind and cold has come take the Guan

zhong decoction. (Guan zhong, si su . jing jie, 10 g. each. , gan cao

3 g. Boil . Taken 3 times a day.

 

 

 

4) Preventative Anti-Influenza Tea

 

yu fang liu xing xing gan mao cha

 

Da qing ye 10 g.

 

ye ju hua 10 g.

 

guan zhong 10 g.

 

jin yin hua 20 g.

 

lian qiao 12 g.

 

Gang mei gen 20 g. (Illex asprella root . The Ling Nan Cai yao Lu

'Records of Herbs Picked At Ling Nan' states that this herb can 'cool

heat and detoxify ' qing re du ) .

 

Make into a decoction. Take one dose a day for three days.