Prescription

Prescribing medicine by modern doctors and traditional physicians gives patients and consumers different perspective on their efficacy and professionalism.

In modern setting,
prescription is usually prescribed to treat symptoms,
for example,
if you are having cough with fever,
you will be given cough mixture, paracetamol and antibiotic,
or if you are diagnosed to have dengue,
you will be admitted in the hospital to monitor your condition, fluid management or platelet infusion if platelet count is too low.

Similarly,
in Chinese medicine,
prescription is prescribed,
for example,
if you are having cough with fever,
you will be given herbs which relieve cough as well as to assist immune system to fight disease,
while for fever, herbs given is to clear the heat, as well as to replenish fluid in the body so as to prevent fever to raise again.
or if you are diagnosed with dengue,
you will have to be admitted in the hospital to monitor your condition (by law in Malaysia),
and with prescribed herbs, to resolve fever, to increase platelet count, and to assist immune system.

These prescriptions from doctors/physicians only relieve the symptoms,
and your body will have to fight the disease and recover by yourself.
As for the diagnosis, or the blood test to confirm diagnosis,
they are to assist doctors/physicians to prescribe specific prescription.

The difference is,
in modern medicine, specific and similar medicine is prescribed by all doctors around the world for specific and similar symptoms,
on the other hand,
in Chinese medicine, physician A might give slightly different herbal formula with that of physician B, and depending on different combined symptoms of individual patient, different combination of herbal formula will be given to different individual having the same disease, but the basic idea to form the prescription formula is the same.

The way Chinese physicians form herbal formula for individual cases,
is similar to Chinese cooking style.
For example, fried rice from different stall or from different cook taste slightly different,
but the basic ingredients are the same.

From the way modern doctors give prescription,
their prescription can be easily packed and marketed in sealed and sterile form,
which looks clean, gives sense of security to consumers, and appeared to be more professional.
However,
Chinese prescription is formulated specifically for different individual,
thus, if you ever visited Chinese physician,
their prescription is a mixture from dried herbs, packed after diagnosis,
or the herbal prescription is of liquid or powdered form, mixed from multiple bottles into a pack specially for you.
This, will give patient sense of doubt, if the physician prescribed "illegal" substance to boost efficacy of the prescription, which appeared to decrease in professionalism.

Chinese herbal prescription is formulated from a composition of single herb

Ready formed Chinese herbal prescriptions

Single herb to add into ready formed Chinese herbal prescriptions according to different individual need

In short,
medicine is to treat,
but how to cure disease depends mainly on our own immunity and body condition.
It's the differences in formulating and prescribing medicine,
which leads to confusion and doubt on the efficacy of the prescribed medicine

The Art: Chinese Medicine 中医

中医 means Chinese Medicine,
but in actual term,
中 carry the meaning balance,
which means,
to bring health and body condition back to balance state, so as to obtain good health.

Medicine is an art.
In modern medicine,
The study of:
the process of gaseous exchange through simple act of breathing,
the flow of the blood in the blood vessel,
the process of digestion through a series of digestive organs,
the process of growing a baby in the mother's womb,
and of cause
the best achievement is treatment through surgery,
to cut open a living human, to remove unintended growth, or to "repair" damage in a human,
is an amazing piece of art.

Like modern medicine,
Chinese medicine is also a piece of art,
but of different form.
Chinese medicine treat by
regulating flow of Qi or Energy in the body through acupuncture, massage, cupping therapy or herbal prescription,
and though the art of balancing Yin and Yang in the body by removing the excess or to replenish the deficient of either Yin or Yang in the body.

Both modern medicine and Chinese medicine treats,
but in different ways.
Both have their own expertise,
and thus,
both complement each other in treatment of a disease/syndrome.