The history of alternative health reaches back further than anyone can adequately imagine, and Chinese medicine goes about as far back as it gets. This form of medicine contains a vast arsenal of herbal remedies, and it’s the subject of a brand new study. Researchers found that a traditional Chinese herbal paste known as “Xiao Chuan” may help people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Now Xiao Chuan paste (XCP) is responsible for one of the latest health breakthroughs. Specifically, XCP was found to help reduce winter exacerbations of COPD, which is like a blend of emphysema and bronchitis and is extremely serious. This herbal paste has been used for more than 1,000 years to treat breathing difficulties.
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To treat winter exacerbations of COPD and other breathing problems, the paste is applied in the summer on specific acupuncture points on the back. The herbs inside it are believed to have the ability to regulate the immune system and thus prevent flare-ups of COPD.
The study involved 142 patients who received either XCP or a placebo paste. Both were applied on the same back points four times during an eight-week period. What are exacerbations? They are a worsening of respiratory symptoms resulting in the patient taking medicine, or having to go to the hospital with a respiratory complaint.
They found that XCP significantly reduced the frequency of winter exacerbation compared to patients treated with placebo. XCP patients had significant reductions in steroid use and episodes of shortness of breath, and also reported improved quality of life.
Of those on XCP, two percent had adverse effects, which did not require any treatment.
It is a conventional therapy in China, a natural therapy, and one of the health secrets to emerge from that field of alternative medicine. And this study is one big step in more of us learning of it on these shores.
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