Chinese Medicine in Fighting against Covid-19: Role and Inspiration.
10.1007/s11655-020-2860-x
- Author:
Jin-Gen LI
1
;
Hao XU
2
Author Information
1. Department of Cardiology, Dongzhimen Hospital, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, 100700, China.
2. Cardiovascular Disease Center, Xiyuan Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Chinese Medicine Cardiology, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100091, China. xuhaotcm@hotmail.com.
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
Chinese medicine;
Covid-19;
SARS-CoV-2;
coronavirus;
herbal medicine
- MeSH:
Antiviral Agents/therapeutic use*;
COVID-19/therapy*;
Disease Outbreaks;
Drug Development/standards*;
Drug Resistance, Viral/genetics*;
Drug Therapy, Combination;
Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use*;
Humans;
Medicine, Chinese Traditional/trends*;
Mutation Rate;
Pandemics;
Phytotherapy/methods*;
SARS-CoV-2/physiology*
- From:
Chinese journal of integrative medicine
2021;27(1):3-6
- CountryChina
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
Covid-19 pandemic has caused hundreds of thousands deaths and millions of infections and continued spreading violently. Although researchers are racing to find or develop effective drugs or vaccines, no drugs from modern medical system have been proven effective and the high mutant rates of the virus may lead it resistant to whatever drugs or vaccines developed following modern drug development procedure. Current evidence has demonstrated impressive healing effects of several Chinese medicines (CMs) for Covid-19, which urges us to reflect on the role of CM in the era of modern medicine. Undoubtedly, CM could be promising resources for developing drug candidates for the treatment of Covid-19 in a way similar to the development of artemisinin. But the theory that builds CM, like the emphasis of driving away exogenous pathogen (virus, etc.) by restoring self-healing capacity rather than killing the pathogen directly from the inside and the 'black-box' mode of diagnosing and treating patients, is as important, yet often ignored, an treasure as CM herbs and should be incorporated into modern medicine for future advancement and innovation of medical science.
