PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION

Since the publication of the first edition of Pharmacology of Chinese Herhs in

1993, I have received many calls from medical professionals and laymen for advice
and verification of various herbal medicines. The interest in this field has become
nothing less than phenomenal, sparking concerns over potential abuses in treatment.
The use of herbs as an alternative medical treatment for many illness has
increased steadily over the last decade, particularly since many such herbs are
categorized as "natural Food products" and are not yet subject to strict control by
the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Reports published in 1996 indicated
that over 10% of the U.S. population had made use of herbal remedies. Significantly,
most of the respondents undergoing such treatment were college-educated,
earning over $30,000 annually. Often, these patients do not inform their physicians
about these treatments, not realizing that many herbs contain certain active
ingredients that may interact adversely with other herbs or drugs prescribed by
their physicians.
While the misuse of herbs is an undeniable worry for the medical profession,
the efficacy of herbal medicine as it has been applied in China for centuries
cannot be ignored. Even after opening its doors to Western medicine two centuries
ago, China still relies heavily on traditional medicine to treat many of its sick.
Indeed, the recent focus of the Chinese government has been to propel research
at its institutes and universities towards developing efficacious herbal drugs,
particularly as anticancer, anti-HIV, and immunomodulating agents.
It is my goal in this edition to compile much of the recent research data, both
from China and abroad, focusing on subjects which were omitted in the previous
edition. Hopefuly, readers can use this volume as a reference or guideline for
further understanding of how herbs work, making their own judgments of their
effectiveness in comparison with Western medicines.
One major dilemma in the preparation of this revision was to select which herbs
to add. Recently, many herbs have been discovered in the provinces of Tibet, Xinjiang
(Northwest of China), and Manchuria. Their biological activities and chemical structures
have been partially studied, but how do we evaluate them, since they are
neither listed in Ben Cao Kong Mo, nor in the recent Chinese Pharmacopoeia? Finally,
it was decided to include and judge some of these herbs, based on their chemical
structures, comparing them to known established compounds.
Copyright 1999