Chinese Herbal Medicine and COVID-19 Part III

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) formulas approach disease from multiple angles, making sure to support the body systems, protect the organs, address symptoms, while fighting off pathogens.  Ideally, a patient  who developed symptoms would be seen by a practitioner of TCM for diagnosis and treatment.*  Using a differential diagnosis to determine the stage of the disease and, taking into consideration the patient’s constitution, a customized acupuncture and herbal protocol would be prescribed.  Unfortunately, with this highly contagious virus, it is not advisable to expose yourself and others by making an office visit.  Thanks to TCM doctors in China, we have a formula that has shown efficacy in 90%-97% of cases.

In Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, Covid-19 patients where coming into the hospital in droves and the disease was progressing too quickly to do differential diagnosis.  TCM doctors went to work and soon had developed a broad spectrum antiviral formula that they gave to every patient.  This formula has been shared with practitioners here in the United States.  

There is a scarcity of certain herbs in the formula, and I am much relieved to find one herbal manufacturer in the U.S., Wei Laboratories, that is making the formula.  The following is the information sheet on their formulation:

Silver Flower Formula

“The Silver Formula was developed based on the successful clinical results in China using “Qingfei Paidu Decoction”. The National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine on February 23, 2020 revealed that this herbal formula has more than a 90% effective rate in the treatment of 214 patients who were diagnosed with coronavirus pneumonia. These patients ranged from having mild symptoms to being in critical states.1 Further detail about this trial has been reported before on Observer App on February 6, 2020. This report revealed that “Qingfei Paidu Decoction” was used to treat 214 confirmed coronavirus cases in four pilot provinces including Shanxi, Hebei, Heilongjiang, and Shanxi. The patients’ symptoms included fatigue, fever, cough, sore throat, anorexia, and changes in CT imaging. Statistic data on February 5th showed that within 3 days of treatment (one treatment course) more than 60% of patients had symptom and/or CT imaging improvement. 30% of patients’ symptoms become stabilized without further worsening.2

Wei Laboratories’ Silver Flower formulas is made from the same herbal ingredients from the “Qingfei Paidu Decoction”. However, the “Qingfei Paidu Decoction” is a liquid formula, while the Silver Flower is in a capsule form. It is recommended for patients who have symptoms of a fever, cough and fatigue. If symptoms are alleviated after 3 days, they may not be required to continue taking the formula. However, if the symptom persists, it is recommended to continue taking the formula for an additional 2 weeks. It is also recommended that the use of the Silver Flower formula should be under the guidance of a healthcare professional. Patients should not avoid their clinic or hospital visits when taking the herbal formula. 

Qingfei Paidu Decoction

The “Qingfei Paidu Decoction” was prescribed by famous herbalist Dr. Tong Xiaolin.3   The formula is a combination of several classic prescriptions described in Zhang Zhongjing’s"Shanhanlun" for treating exogenous fever caused by “cold evil”. Dr. Tong Xiaolin has recommended that the formula can be used in the treatment of diagnosed coronavirus pneumonia patients ranging from mild to critically ill. The formula can also be used for patients with the common cold and flu. However, this formula is a disease treatment prescription, and it is not recommended to be used as a preventive prescription. For patients with a fever caused by the common cold, a three-day treatment should be sufficient for complete resolution of condition. Further testing and for the corona virus and CT scans may not be necessary for these patients after their three-day treatment. If patient sees partial improvement or symptoms still persist after three-day treatment, they will need to be tested for possible Coronavirus infection.  It will be recommended to have another two week treatment using the “Qingfei Paidu Decoction”.

Based on the initial success of using the “Qingfei Paidu Decoction” to treat coronavirus pneumonia, The National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine on February 7th 2020 issued a policy document “Notice on recommending the use of "Qingfei Paidu Decoction in the treatment of pneumonitis infected by new coronavirus with integrated Chinese and Western medicine”.4

With the use of the herbal treatment in combination with their stringent quarantine procedure, China has gained control of the coronavirus pneumonia epidemics. On March 6th 2020, the Chinese State Council Information Office held a press conference in Wuhan, Hubei.5 In the press conference, members of the Central Steering Group presented the progress of the prevention and treatment of the coronavirus pneumonia epidemic. During the press conference, a CNN reporter asked the following questions; “We noticed that the diagnosis and treatment plan released by the Chinese government, the official statement, and the official media reports all have strongly emphasized the role of Chinese medicine which includes the outstanding effectiveness of several Chinese medicine formulas, and even cases of discharge from use of only Chinese medicine treatment. 

At the same time, experts from the World Health Organization mentioned in a press conference in Beijing last week that, so far, the only treatment that has been shown to be effective against viruses is a western medicine, Remdesivir from the United States. My question is: Does China's point of views on Chinese medicine contradict with the WHO? What is the scientific basis of China? Will the cases improved or discharged through TCM treatment be a result of self-healing?”  

His question was answered by one of the members of the Central Steering Group, members of the Party Committee of the Health and Health Committee, and secretary of the Party Group of the Chinese Medicine Bureau Yu Yanhong. She answered the question by first emphasizing that TCM helps enhance patients’ immunity. She then acknowledged that 50,000 patients, including critically ill patients who have been discharged, have used Chinese medicine in their treatment.  In comparison to the use of either TCM or western medicine alone, the combined use of Chinese medicine and western medicine can significantly speed up the symptom improvement including fever, cough, fatigue, shorten the length of hospital stay, increase the rate of coronavirus test results become negative, and effectively reduce the prognosis of mild and moderate conditions to severe and critical ill conditions. It increased the treatment rate and reduced the mortality rate.

She then cited following examples. Among patients with mild and moderate symptoms, a randomized controlled open trial of 452 patients showed that the combination of traditional Chinese and western medicine is significantly better than the western medicine group in improving symptoms and increasing the rate of nucleic acid conversion to negative. Another 500-patient clinical cohort study showed significant improvement in CT images of the lungs, with no progression from mild to severe. In critically ill patients, a 75-clinical controlled trial showed that the combined use of Chinese and Western medicine compared with the Western medicine alone group reduced the nucleic acid negative transition time and hospitalization time by an average of 3 days.

At the end she acknowledged that among nearly 100 patients who had been discharged, many of them were critically ill and they were all mainly treated with traditional Chinese medicine.  

In a more recent report published by Dr. Tong Xiaolin on March 14, 2020 on sina.cn,6  it was shown that the total effective rate of the “Qingfei Paidu Decoction” reached 97.78%, and no single case progressed from mild to severe or critically ill. Up to March 13, 2020, among 1261 coronavirus pneumonia patients from 10 different provinces who has taken the “Qingfei Paidu Decoction”, 1102 cases were cured, 29 cases symptoms completely eliminated, and 71 cases improved. Among them, there are 40 severe patients. After taking the herbal formula, 28 patients have been discharged from the hospital. The rest 12 patients remain in the hospital and 10 patients have symptom improvement and achieved reversal from severe to mild condition.”

With over 1,200,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19, and fast approaching 69,000 deaths, we cannot ignore the need for additional treatment methods.  Catching the virus early is essential if we are to stop it from progressing to the stage of hospitalization and intubation. Take all precautions, support yourself now (see Part II) and be prepared...TCM can help!

To order directly from Wei Laboratories, contact Elliot Sandhu at (612) 808-8984.  Please mention The Phoenix & Dragon. 

Not sure if you need Silver Flower?  You can book a Phone Consultation with The Phoenix & Dragon at www.phoenixanddragon.net.

References 

1. http://www.satcm.gov.cn/hudongjiaoliu/guanfangweixin/2020-02-23/13310.html 

2. https://m.guancha.cn/politics/2020_02_06_534912.shtml?from=singlemessage&isappinstalled=0 

3. https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/5dhQxY2VyUqj5SIqk-pneA 

4. http://yzs.satcm.gov.cn/zhengcewenjian/2020-02-07/12876.html 

5. https://www.guancha.cn/politics/2020_03_06_540279.shtml 

6. https://k.sina.cn/article_1644119190_61ff44960200167hc.html?from=news&subch=onews 

7. http://news.sciencenet.cn/htmlnews/2020/3/436948.shtm?from=singlemessage&isappinstalled=0 

*In the United States, TCM practitioners work as licensed acupuncturists, or L.Ac’s.  Every acupuncturist licensed in the U.S. in the last 25 years, require certification in Chinese Herbal Medicine by the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM).  (Note: Physical therapists, chiropractors and medical doctors who have certificates to do dry needling or acupuncture, are not trained in Traditional Chinese Medicine.) To become a licensed acupuncturist and national diplomat in TCM requires, on average, 3 years of graduate study in Chinese medicine and 2 years of internship.