How do Chinese herbs work?
In other forms of herbal medicine, single herbs or small formulas of herbs with the same function are used to address the symptoms of an illness. If the focus is simply on addressing symptoms, then treatment needs to be continued indefinitely. In sharp contrast, Chinese herbology employs a number of single herbs with varying, synergistic functions to create formulas which focus on rebalancing the whole body and treating the root cause of illness. Once the root cause is addressed, symptoms will subside and treatment can be discontinued. The Chinese pharmacopoeia lists over 6,000 unique medicinal substances of which there are about 600 in common use today. These herbs range from the familiar to the exotic. Gan Cao or licorice root is one of the most common herbs used in Chinese formulas. This versatile herb addresses many different Chinese medical patterns with symptoms ranging from shortness of breath and palpitations to spasms of the legs or abdomen. Most im-portantly, though, it is us
