Are Chinese Herbs Safe in Liver Disease?

by Doc Misha on September 5, 2011

Welcome Back to Doc Misha’s Blog!
Lots of clients and practitioners are worried that Chinese medicinal herbs should not be taken in liver disease, especially if one is taking the new protease inhibitors as well as interferon and ribavirin.
Well, it is am important question to ask and I am glad you are asking it.
So, what is the answer?
Well, the simple answer is:
This depends on the circumstances!
Today, I am going to focus on prepared formulas, ones that are made into pills and/or powders as these are the most often used and most difficult to identify and test accurately.
  • First, you should get your Chinese medicinal herbs from your licensed practitioner or from a reputable source your practitioner recommends. Don’t get your herbs off the Internet or in a health food store where the herbal recommendations are made by an unlicensed person (some stores do have licensed qualified practitioners so ask!).

    Misha with Tian Hua Fen in Anguo, China

  • Second, it is great if you do your own homework and understand the source of the herbs yourself that your practitioner recommends. It is excellent if you can learn more about the herb companies from where your practitioner obtains his or her prepared formulas. The herb company should be able to supply a paper trail and documentation of all the steps in the herb supply chain. The company should be able to provide bonafide certificates of analysis (COA) for all products that they carry and sell.
  • Third, the herbs should be fresh and/or processed in the traditional manner that is called for in the Chinese herbal materia medica, the official body of remedial substances used in the practice of Chinese medicine. All the individual herbs should be correctly identified by species, tested for heavy metals, pesticides and bacteria by an independent laboratory before being made into prepared formulas.
Elisa Angelone, L.Ac. at Chicken Soup Chinese Medicine
  • Fourth, the prepared formulas should bottled, stamped with a batch number and a manufactured date. A sample of the prepared formulas from each batch should also be tested for accuracy, purity and potency by an independent laboratory. Again, the herb company should be able to provide a certificate of analysis (COA) for each formula in their catalog.
I do hope this is helpful as you journey along your healing path!
I will cover more about this topic in future blogs. Watch for the series.
Yours in health,
Doc Misha
aka Misha Ruth Cohen, Doctor of Oriental Medicine, Licensed Acupuncturist

Tagged as: Chinese herbal medicine, Chinese herbs, Elisa Angelone, hepatitis C, interferon, liver disease, Misha Ruth Cohen

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30th Anniversary of AIDS Today – Support Quan Yin

by Doc Misha on June 5, 2011

Dear Friends:

This blog is a little different today.

Today is the 30th anniversary of the day that the disease eventually known as AIDS was reported to the Centers for Disease Control.

Thirty years ago today, June 6, 1981, the Centers for Disease Control published a paper identifying a new disease they called Gay Related Immunodeficiency, or GRID. When AIDS was first detected 30 years ago, it was considered a white, gay man’s disease. Hence, the name GRID.

Three decades later, AIDS has claimed more than 30 million deaths worldwide.

Although African-Americans represent only 12.6 percent of the U.S. population, black people disproportionately represent almost half of all new HIV infections and nearly 50 percent of AIDS-related deaths.

Please join me in making a donation to Quan Yin Healing Arts Center, a nonprofit 501c3, and consider walking with us. It will be a fun day in the park as well as walking to support treatment choice for people with HIV/AIDS.

Friends of Quan Yin

Quan Yin Healing Arts Center provides low cost and subsidized services to people with HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C.

Donate Here to Quan Yin

It is especially important for our community to support Quan Yin Healing Arts Center as Quan Yin provides a choice of treatment to people with HIV /AIDS through subsidized care — acupuncture, herbs, Qi Gong, and acupressure — to help people with side effects of HIV medications as well as improve overall quality of life and decrease the number of medications needed for HIV-related illnesses. Also, people who cannot use HIV drugs can get help with acupuncture and herbs.

Thanks for your support!

Yours in Health,

Doc Misha

Misha Ruth Cohen, OMD. L.Ac.

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Conquer Insomnia, Anxiety and Depression – Support the Shen (Part Two)

by Doc Misha on March 22, 2011

Dear Friends:

This is Part Two of the series Support the Shen in which you will find out more about natural therapies, integrated Chinese medicine and integrative medicine treatments (both self-care and practitioner based) for the psychological, emotional and mental manifestations of having liver disease.

The focus today is on diet and nutrition. Please see the previous blogs on diet and hepatitis.

In addition to following basic guidelines for sound nutrition for people with liver disease, these additional dietary recommendations are from Chinese medicine.

*Eat foods that regulate or move Stagnant Qi and motivate stuck energy: basil, bay leaves, beets, black pepper, cabbage, chicken livers (organic please!), coconut milk, garlic, ginger, kelp, leek, nori, peaches, scallions, rosemary.                                                 Avoid alcohol, fatty foods, food additives, unnecessary medicines, overindulgence in sweets.

*Eat foods that sedate Excess Liver conditions (Chinese diagnosis): beef, chicken livers, celery, kelp, mussels, nori and plums. Avoid coffee in excess, fried foods, excessively spicy foods, heavy red meat, sugar and sweets.

*Eat foods that help ease Xue Deficiency: oysters, sweet rice, liver, chicken broth. Avoid raw fruit and vegetables, cold liquids or ice.

Look for Part Three of Support the Shen soon!

Yours in health,
Doc Misha (aka Misha Ruth Cohen, OMD, L.Ac.)

P.S. * Recipes for a Healthy Liver: Dietary Therapies to Help You Feel Better is a BONUS book you will get when you order my new e-book 7 Key Facts You Must Know To Choose Your Correct Hepatitis C Treatment.

Tagged as: diet, Doc Misha, hepatitis C, liver diet, liver disease, liver nutrition, nutrition, viral hepatitis

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Conquer Insomnia, Anxiety and Depression – Support the Shen (Part One)

March 20, 2011 HepatitisB

Dear Doc Misha Blog Watchers: This the beginning of a series on this blog for with liver disease who are experiencing mental, emotional and somatic issues associated with anxiety, depression and insomnia. Support the Shen – Part One Today I am going to focus on the psychological and somatic (body)  symptoms that may appear when [...]

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How Can Chinese Medicine Help Me?

February 18, 2011 Doc Misha

Dear Friends of Doc Misha: The Hepatitis C Caring Ambassadors Program has released a series of DVDs. One video is an interview by Doc Misha with a patient with hepatitis C. What are the goals of TCM therapy in a hepatitis C patient? What can a patient expect from a TCM practitioner? How does Acupuncture [...]

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