12/11/2021
HOW CHINESE MEDICINE WORKS
Roofener says Chinese herbal medicine is rooted in the concept of pattern differentiation. Pattern differentiation involves identifying a person’s head-to-toe collection of signs and symptoms.
“We don’t treat diseases. We treat patterns and patients,” she explains. “Think about the many distinct habitats on our planet — the Sahara Desert, Florida swampland, Canada wilderness. We need to care for each habitat in its own way,” she says.
She says, for example, “It does not matter how much herbicide we put in swampland. Something will always be able to grow there because the environment is hospitable to it. Our bodies, too, have a distinct, internal environment requiring a unique approach. It doesn’t matter how many antibiotics we give you — if your internal environment welcomes the problem, you will still have the problem. So we try to balance the body to create an environment that’s not hospitable to your health issues.”
The herbs that accomplish this are highly individualized. For example, peppermint and cinnamon are both known to be antiviral. But how well they work depends on the person.
“Peppermint is cold, and cinnamon is hot. So you’d give peppermint to the patient going through menopause with hot flashes, but cinnamon is too hot for her,” she says.
“On the other hand, cinnamon would be appropriate for the older gentleman who might wear a heavy coat and boots in summer. That’s how we avoid the side effects,” she clarifies.
How long does it take for Chinese herbs to work? Roofener says that treatment may span between one or two weeks to much longer. “If we’re treating a fever or cough, you’ll be good to go rather quickly. But if you have a 40-year history of health problems and multiple chronic diseases, it will take much longer.”
