Cleveland Clinics New Medicine
At one Ohio hospital, patients get herbs as well as drugs
Lora Basch, 59, sometimes suffers from poor sleep and
anxiety. She’s uncomfortable with the side effects of drugs, so she’s tried
acupuncture and magnesium supplements, but with only minimal success. After
years of low energy, she went a different route altogether: gui pi tang, a mix
of licorice root, ginseng and ginger meant to rejuvenate the body. Three months
later, the Cleveland native is finally falling asleep at night, and she has more
energy during the day. “The remedy is a huge relief,” she says. “I have a more
stable life.”
Though herbal therapy has been practiced in China for
centuries, it is still an afterthought in the U.S., in part because
pharmaceutical remedies are usually easier to obtain. Now that’s beginning to
change: in January, the Cleveland Clinic opened a Chinese herbal-therapy ward.
In the past three months, therapists at the clinic have seen patients suffering
from chronic pain, fatigue, poor digestion, infertility and, in the case of
Basch, sleep disorders. “Western medicine may not have all the answers,” says
Daniel Neides, the clinic’s medical director.
A certified herbalist runs the unit under the supervision of
multiple Western-trained M.D.s. Patients must be referred to the clinic by
their physician, who in accordance with Ohio law must oversee their treatment
for at least a year. Executives at Cleveland say the clinic is the first of its
kind to be affiliated with a Western hospital. “We’re incorporating ancient
knowledge into patient care,” says in-house herbalist Galina Roofener.
To read the entire report, click here.
No comments:
Post a Comment