This undated photo captures an employee sorting products at Shijiazhuang Yiling Pharmaceutical Co, which produces the Chinese medicine Lianhua Qingwen. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
A mainland expert panel on traditional Chinese medicine, led by Tong Xiaolin, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, arrived in Hong Kong on Tuesday via Shenzhen Bay Port to help the city fight the pandemic.
Zhu Haidong, deputy director of Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, said the expert team will draw on mainland experience in the battle against COVID-19 to give guidance and advice suited to the city’s epidemic situation, as the city requested
The seven-member team will cooperate with the special administrative region government in applying TCM to the treatment of COVID-19 patients and preventing severe cases.
Combining TCM approaches with Western therapies has played an effective role in saving patients’ lives and accelerating their recovery from the novel coronavirus on the Chinese mainland. TCM is also popular among Hong Kong people.
Zhu Haidong, deputy director of Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, said the expert team will draw on mainland experience in the battle against COVID-19 to give guidance and advice suited to the city’s epidemic situation, as the city requested.
Tong, head researcher of the Chinese Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, said TCM prevented mild and moderate cases from worsening into severe infections, and improved clinical symptoms of patients with a fever, cough, and fatigue.
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“It can reduce mortality rates and alleviate illness from severe to mild,” he said. For patients in rehabilitation, TCM accelerates the recovery of lung functions and improves the quality of life, he added.
Tong said that because Omicron variant — the dominant strain in Hong Kong’s latest outbreak — is prone to heat and dryness, some upper respiratory tract pains similar to coughing and dry throat also may occur.
“The use of Chinese patent medicines such as Lianhua Qingwen and Jinhua Qinggan is effective in relieving the symptoms, and is also a cure for loss of appetite and diarrhea,” he said.
Since sporadic cases continue to be reported in elderly care homes in Hong Kong, a recuperation TCM therapy for infected older adults is essential when cases turn into critical or severe conditions, Tong said.
“TCM prevention measures, including decoction of herbal medicine and non-drug treatment, can increase its efficacy and significantly improve the treatment effect,” he said.
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Some coronavirus aftereffects, like anxiety and insomnia that elderly patients may easily suffer, can be alleviated by the TCM approach as well, he added.
Contact the writer at xinwen@chinadaily.com.cn