tagged w/ Chinese medicine
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As far back as I can recall, I’ve been an animal lover. I remember this old framed photo on the living room wall of my house -- it was of a tiger leaping out of the water. I’d dream of one day being able to see a real life tiger doing the same.
For many, the opportunity to see a tiger in the wild is just a dream. Few will ever have the chance, thoug they may at one point or another see one in a local zoo. For the next generation, that might be their only hope to ever see one.
In the last century, tiger populations in the wild have plummeted from well over 100,000 to a pathetic 3,000. Three thousand tigers left in the wild. In the entire world. It’s startling, and frankly, sickening.
Over the years, a number of factors have contributed to the majestic tiger's precipitous decline. As the world’s population approaches 7 billion, land has been cleared for booming cities, and the ever-encroaching human has wiped away much of the tiger’s natural habitat. Poachers, who have few other means of survival, hunt the tiger for its beautiful, coveted skins and body parts. Practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine have long extolled the health benefits of consuming tiger bones.
But that's all we're left with: 3,000. Conservationists around the world have rung the alarm bell for years, and the fears of an all-out extinction are reaching a fever pitch. Tiger poaching, and the trafficking of tiger parts, was banned over a dozen years ago. Trafficking in tiger skins and organs carries a pretty hefty penalty, but the black market is thriving.
My team and I decided to set out to Asia to investigate the trade in tiger parts, to see whether there’s any hope to prevent an all-out extinction. We headed to China, which drives the demand for this illicit market. Of particular interest to the Chinese are the tiger’s bones. In traditional chinese medicine, the tiger’s bones are the most prized of all ingredients and are said to cure rheumatism, as well as increase male potency. Thus there is a lucrative trade in very expensive "tiger bone wine."
We’d been told that it would be difficult to get our hands on this wine, because it’s illegal. On day two in China, I was sitting in front of a Chinese medicine doctor and his massive jug of tiger bone wine, complete with the parts inside. That wasn’t so hard. The doctor further added that he could have a tiger killed so that I could have some fresh wine. He warned us that this was now illegal, but he’d help us get it out of the country and back home. He also gave me the choice of having wine made from the bones of a wild tiger or a farmed tiger, but said the wild ones are superior.
China believes it can save the wild tiger, not by curbing the demand for tiger parts -- which again, are illegal -- but by farming them. There are two massive tiger "conservation centers" in China, together holding upwards of 4,000 tigers. Four thousand tigers, confined in a collective space of mere hectares. These "conservation centers" are supposedly saving the tiger from extinction. Not by captive breed-and-release programs – they don’t release them, and anyway captive-release programs don't really work.
Instead China says that farms reduce the pressure on the wild tiger. Poachers won’t go after the tigers if the centers can supply the demand with a cheaper product – undercutting their costs, if you will. That's what they say. Unfortunately, the economics don’t quite address the qualitative differences between the tigers -- as believed by those who buy into this "tiger win will make me virile" bullshit.
We then headed to a town in Burma (Myanmar), which borders China and is probably the biggest illicit wildlife trade market in the world. There, tiger skins and parts were out on full display. The first store I walked into was selling a half-dozen tiger skins, aquariums full of tiger skeletons in wine, and all manner of other illegal products like leopard and ivory. And this was just one of a half-dozen stores on this one street.
I questioned the shopkeepers, who insist their tigers are wild caught and not from farms. They say the discerning customers demand their tigers come from the jungles and forests, not from cages. I pressed the shopkeeper for something fresh, and she invited me back to her kitchen.
I was shocked at what I saw: a dead tiger lying on the floor of her kitchen. The tiger had just been skinned the day before, so what lay before me was a carcass of muscle, bone, cartilage and blood and guts. She returned with a cleaver and asked if I wanted lunch. After years of boasting that I am a man who will eat anything, I had finally reached my limit, and I declined.
Back in China, we visited the two big tiger farms, which masquerade as zoos. Visitors can gawk at these magnificent creatures, learn a little about the animals. At the first, we saw few visitors. There were maybe 20 people. And as we walked from cage to cage, we didn’t see any educational signage you might see at a zoo. The only sign we saw was a one that explained the tiger’s importance in Chinese medicine. If the "zoo" attempted to veil its intentions, it did so very poorly.
Armed with hidden cameras, we asked a security guard where we could buy some tiger wine. He took us to a back office, where we suddenly saw a buzz of activity. Fancy cars pulled up. Men, flush with cash, were buying wine by the boxload. Funny that the tiger farm and the tiger wine brewery are run by the same company, right? Don’t forget though...this is all still illegal.
On the last leg of our trip, we headed to India, which may hold the key to the survival of the tiger. The country is home to the majority of the remaining tiger population. But it’s also one of the epicentres to the problems that have conspired to extinguish the tigers: overpopulation, habitat loss, and poachers driven by poverty to kill whatever will earn them some money.
We managed to get to a protected national park, one of a few dozen designated sanctuaries for the tiger. One morning, we happened upon a beautiful tiger lazing in the water, seeking refuge from the punishing 110-degree heat. As she leapt out of the water, I sat motionless, speechless. It was one of the most magical moments of my life. I was excited, then saddened.
After a first-hand look at all of the alternatives, I had finally seen the tiger in its natural habitat. My childhood dream had come true. But now I know how rare and wild a dream it really is.
As far back as I can recall, I’ve been an animal lover. I remember this old... more
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Nearly 100 endangered rhinos were poached in South Africa alone last year, and wildlife officials have to wage a constant battle with corrupt government officials and Vietnamese-paid crime syndicates who target the last rhinos of Africa just for an entirely mythical Chinese medicine (Traditional Asian Medicines or Chinese Medicine)
A surge in rhinoceros poaching to service Asian markets for traditional medicine is underway in Africa. South Africa, previously a refuge for rhinos, has experienced a sudden increase in rhino poaching.
Pretoria, South Africa - Independent Online (IOL) said a spokesman for the Kruger National Park, William Mabasa, described a shocking scene of a rhino with its horns cut off, walking down a road in the park. The rhino eventually died, a victim of a 15-year-high in cases of poaching believed to be linked to organised crime.
"That was really the first case that I know of where we found a rhino that the horn was removed from and it was struggling on the road" said Mabasa.
Mabasa thought poachers had used tranquillisers to be able to cut off the horns without making noise. This is the first report of a rhino surviving after poachers’ cut off its horns.
They eventually had to destroy it because the wound was rather too big.
Two other rhinos in a small reserve near the executive capital, Pretoria, also perished after poachers overdosed them with tranquillisers. http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/289542Nearly 100 endangered rhinos were poached in South Africa alone last year, and... more
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By Emily Chang, CNN
March 9, 2010 12:23 p.m. EST
Guangzhou, China (CNN) -- Dogs bark and whine behind high chain-link fences, some of them gnawing the wire so hard they bleed at the mouths while cats packed into crowded cages cower in fear if anyone approaches.
This isn't a pet store -- it's a meat market in Guangzhou, a city in southern China where eating cats and dogs is common practice.
At the Han River Dog Meat Restaurant in central Guangzhou, diners can choose from a long list of menu items, including dog soup, dog steak, dog with tofu and more. In the kitchen, the chef chops up meat for dog hot pot, one of the more popular dishes. Most customers like it spicy.
"Dog meat is good for your health and metabolism," explains Li, the hostess who declined to give her first name. "In the summer it helps you sweat."
Should cat and dog meat be banned?
But these local restaurants may have to find a new specialty. The Chinese government is considering legislation that would make eating cats and dogs illegal.
Professor Chang Jiwen of the Chinese Academy of the Social Sciences is one of the law's top campaigners. "Cats and dogs are loyal friends to humans," he said. "A ban on eating them would show China has reached a new level of civilization."
Eating dog meat is a long-standing culinary tradition not just in China, but also Korea. Cat meat can be found on the menu in China, Vietnam and even parts of South America.
The Chinese government has signaled a willingness to take the meat off the market. To avoid upsetting international visitors during the Beijing Olympics, officials ordered dog meat off the menus at local markets. Officials in Guangzhou have warned vendors to stop selling it ahead of the Asian Games which will be held there later this year.
The ban on eating dog and cat meat is part of a larger proposal to toughen laws on animal welfare. Individual violators could face up to 15 days in prison and a small fine. Businesses found guilty of selling the meat risk fines up to 500,000 yuan ($73,500.)
The legislation is gaining support from China's growing number of pet owners. With living standards rising and disposable income growing, more Guangzhou residents are investing in house pets.
"I would never eat dog meat," said Louisa Yong, as she clutches her pet cocker spaniel. "It's so cruel!"
Meat vendors have a different view.
"The dogs you raise at home, you shouldn't eat," said Pan, a butcher who also declined to give his first name. "The kind raised for eating, we can eat those."
Many of the dogs and cats sold for meat are specially raised on farms. But Chang said there is always a chance they're someone's lost or stolen pet.
In anticipation of the new ban, dog and cat meat has become more difficult to find, though some vendors say they will keep selling it as long as they can.
"The legislation will definitely affect our restaurant," said Li. "We'll just wait to see the result."
And it seems restaurants don't necessarily need to change their menus anytime soon. According to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the law prohibiting cat and dog meat could take as long as a decade to pass. Until then it's a la carte, from the cage into the kitchen.By Emily Chang, CNN
March 9, 2010 12:23 p.m. EST
Guangzhou, China (CNN) -- Dogs... more
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http://www.askdrmao.com/
Stuffed with stuffing, filled with turkey, crammed with cookies, and saturated with alcohol. Now what? Holidays call for celebration, and many of us know the consequences that come from overindulging in alcohol and food. Sometimes, despite out best intentions, we overdo it. This holiday season, detoxify and recover naturally with the tips that follow.
FOOD OVERLOAD
Chinese medicine views proper digestion as the most essential component in living a long and healthy life. Your digestive function is made up of numerous organs all working together to break down, absorb, and process all of the nutrients in the food you eat. Without healthy digestion, you can become malnourished and toxins will build up in your body, leading to degenerative diseases and rapid aging down the road.
Indigestion is caused and made worse by overeating--especially rich, fatty, spicy foods, alcohol, coffee, and acidic foods. These remedies will get your digestion on the right track.
ONE HOUR AFTERWARD:
Walk it off
After a large meal, take a 10- to 20-minute stroll. Aside from the proven benefits to your heart, walking is the perfect gentle exercise for promoting digestion and encouraging cleansing of the lymphatic system. Walking helps food move along the digestive tract, improving digestion and absorption. For added benefits, walk while massaging your abdomen with your palms, in a circle around your belly button.
Herbal tea brings relief
Relieve that feeling of fullness with herbal teas that target your digestion: Steep 1 teaspoon each of mint, rosemary, oregano, cilantro, sage, and basil and in a cup of hot water. Drink after each meal to soothe and prevent bloating. Peppermint, chamomile, and ginger tea are other good choices for settling the stomach. Also, look for Chinese herbal formulas like Indigestion for digestive support and cleansing.
THE MORNING AFTER:
Start with apple cider
Apple cider vinegar is traditionally used to remedy digestive distress, support liver detoxification, normalize digestive juices, and reduce intestinal bloating. Mix 1 tablespoon of organic apple cider vinegar with 12 ounces of warm water, and drink in the morning on empty stomach. Feel free to add a little honey or maple syrup. Lemon water will also help.
Eat right to lighten up
These meals will help your body recover from overindulgence.
Breakfast: Eat oat bran cereal, brown rice, or any other whole grain cereal (as long as it is unbleached and does not contain any added sugar or chemicals.) Pair with unflavored soy milk.
Lunch/Dinner: Eat any combination of beans, brown rice, oat bran, vegetables, and organic chicken, turkey, or soy-products.
For a powerful Super Cleanse Broth, simmer any combination of the following ingredients for an hour: collards, Swiss chard, kale, mustard greens, cabbage, dandelion, Brussels sprouts, daikon radish, watercress, seaweed, shitake mushrooms, cilantro, garlic, leeks, fennel, anise, fresh ginger, and turmeric. Drink 8 ounces twice a day.
A popular herbal formula among my patients is Internal Cleanse, a special combination of natural herbs to detoxify, clear the mind, promote emotional balance, and ease digestion. For more information, click here.
Try a detoxifying exercise
This movement is from Liver Cleansing Qi Gong, a body-mind exercise that was designed by ancient Chinese physicians to help stimulate the liver and drain the excess toxins from the body:
1. Stand with feet shoulder-width apart in front of a tree. Inhale while raising your right leg and exhale while placing your right foot on the ground in front of you between your body and the tree.
2. Inhale while raising both arms from the sides until they come together over your head. Exhale while lowering your hands in front of your face. Visualize green light running down your face as your hands move down to your chest.
3. Inhale as you move your hands to the right rhttp://www.askdrmao.com/
Stuffed with stuffing, filled with turkey, crammed with... more
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A number of traditional Chinese herbs may help control blood sugar levels in people at high risk of diabetes, a new research review suggests.
The review, which examined 16 clinical trials of 15 different herbal formulations, found that the herbs generally helped lower blood sugar levels in people with "pre-diabetes" -- those with impaired blood-sugar control that can progress to full-blown type 2 diabetes.
When the researchers pooled data from eight of the studies, they found that adding an herbal remedy to lifestyle changes doubled the likelihood of participants' blood sugar levels returning to normal.
What's more, people using the remedies were two-thirds less likely to progress to diabetes during the studies, which ran for an average of nine months.
The findings appear in the Cochrane Library, which is published by the Cochrane Collaboration, an international organization that evaluates medical research.
The results, say the researchers, are "quite promising." However, they also stress that the studies had shortcomings in their methods that make it hard to draw firm conclusions.
"There are a lot of herbal medicine products on the shelves, but few have been subjected to a rigorous trial," lead researcher Suzanne J. Grant, of the Center for Complementary Medicine Research at the University of Western Sydney, in Australia, told Reuters Health in an email.
Many of the trials her team examined, she explained, had a "high risk of bias" that can overestimate the effects of the treatments.
The gold standard for proving a treatment's efficacy is a clinical trial where participants are randomly assigned to receive either the real treatment or a placebo, with both the researchers and participants unaware of who is taking the real drug.
Grant's team found that those processes were often absent or not clearly detailed in the trials they reviewed.A number of traditional Chinese herbs may help control blood sugar levels in people at... more
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Ryleas was diagnosed with Optic Nerve Hypoplasia, an abnormal deficiency of cells: in her case ONH was extremely severe, resulting in her complete loss of vision. Such a condition is normally linked with hormonal imbalances in the brain which can affect a child's growth, although in Rylea’s case Optic Nerve Hypoplasia does not seem to have affected her in being a very lively and happy child. Sight apart, in all other respects Rylea is healthy and energetic.
Through stem cell treatment her family hoped to restore the cell count in the nerves and to see some response to visual stimulus, specifically pupil dilation or retraction. Rylea’s treatment (umbilical cord stem cell injections with visual rehabilitation therapy) began on July 3rd, 2007 in a chinese hospital named Beike.
Before the treatment
In affecting her optic nerves, Rylea's illness has entirely deprived her of light perception and vision: in a word, she was blind. In early tests of shape recognition (slotting shapes through appropriate holes), Rylea relied on touch and memory, and did not attempt to identify shapes through sight..
After the treatment
Rylea showed important signs of light sensitivity less than two weeks after the treatments began. In a darkened room Rylea responded to a flashlight when shone in her eyes. Rylea's mother initially hoped to be seeing improvement over a period of up to six months: in this respect the treatment far exceeded her expectations.
The following is an excerpt from Rylea's blog (www.nomoredarkness.com). It covers her progress shortly after her return to America.
- 8 August 2007
“We met Dr. Brothers (Rylea's eye doctor) this morning. It was exciting for him to see her and respond to the light as it had been for us. He examined her eyes and Rylea showed him how she could tell which eye he was shining the light into. Then he turned the lights down low and took her in front of the wall where the eye chart shines. He asked her if she could see that light, and she pointed to it. Then he asked her if she could see the picture of the "E”... she said yes and was even able to point to the 3 ends of the "E". Watching this was very emotional for both Dr. Brothers and myself since it was by far more than either of us had expected to see as a result of the stem cell transplants”
- 12 August 2007
“Rylea asked me to go get the pen light this morning...so of course I did... we shined it in her eyes and she was able to grab the light. Then I told her that I wanted to show her something then I wanted her to tell me what she saw...so I held my breath so she couldn't feel me breathing on her. I asked her what she saw and she said, "I SAW MY MOMMY!!!" - So I asked her what I looked like and she said, "Mommy, you are beautiful!!!" She was able to identify everyone in the room immediately. What a miracle, what an absolute answer to many, many prayers!”
Stem Cells Treatments: www.beike.ch
On September 3rd, 2007, Rylea's mother was interviewed by Missouri's Joplin Globe newspaper: please read the complete interview at:
http://www.joplinglobe.com/local/local_story_245195943.html?start:int=15
Ryleas was diagnosed with Optic Nerve Hypoplasia, an abnormal deficiency of cells: in... more
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Acupuncture is one of the most ancient methods of recovering human bodies by finding the junction points, where the energy flow diverges or converges.Acupuncture is one of the most ancient methods of recovering human bodies by finding... more
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the army is handing out $4million in grants to research the effects of alternative therapies on PTSD. therapies proposed for study run the gamut:
"Music, animal-facilitated therapy, art, dance/movement, massage therapy, EMDR [Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing] program evaluation, virtual reality, acupuncture, spiritual ministry, transcendental meditation, [and] yoga," might all be considered worth of the military's largess. So would "biologically-based treatments, botanicals, and nutritional supplements for enhancing cognitive function and mood in patients with trauma spectrum disorders, including TBI and/or PTSD, depression, anxiety, and/or substance dependence/abuse." Even proposals for wild-sounding "therapies using bioenergies such as Qi gong, Reiki, distant healing and acupuncture" would be accepted.
the popular theory is that the only reason these alternative means of healing have not already been further researched is because of the totalitarian grip of the medical/pharmaceutical industry on research $$, so it will be interesting to see what comes of this!
check out the full article above.the army is handing out $4million in grants to research the effects of alternative... more
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regina
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added this
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3 years ago
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I am so shocked about this, the senseless killing of animals.
I don't care if they are used in traditional medicine in China.
What do you think?I am so shocked about this, the senseless killing of animals.
I don't care if... more
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jubal
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added this
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4 years ago
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