Modernized natural alternatives and natural replacements for toxic synthetic drugs
I was born and raised in Hong Kong in a family with a TCM tradition, using only Chinese medicines until I was in my teens. Being a kid with a short attention span, I flunked out of elementary school and then again out of high school, in what is equivalent to our sophomore year here, after failing 3 or 4 subjects (one of which was music, basically singing in front of my class). I then skipped a grade, graduated from another high school with honors, and went to Taiwan to attend the National Taiwan University. There, I earned a B.S. degree in pharmacy, doing exceptionally well in pharmacognosy. When I applied to 2 universities in the U.S. to pursue graduate studies, the University of Michigan accepted me and also offered me a teaching assistantship. Who could turn that down? So, I was there in Ann Arbor, Michigan, for 5 years before getting a PhD in Pharmacognosy (study of natural drugs). After finishing my studies in Michigan, at the time, teaching opportunities for Asian students were few, my advisor found me a postdoctoral position at the University of California San Francisco Medical Center to work on the biosynthesis of opium alkaloids and the isolation of new opioids from the opium poppy plant. That basically started my rollercoaster career for more than 50 years – from natural-product chemist, entrepreneur, salesman, chief research microbiologist in single-cell protein production from petroleum, director of R&D in herbal extraction, owner and director of several companies in the research and production of herbal products (supplements) specializing in Chinese herbs, and then principal investigator of an SBIR database contract awarded by the National Cancer Institute, to principal investigator of an SBIR grant from NCCAM, NIH, on herb identification and standardization, etc.
My point in telling you all these (mostly already covered in my books), is that, being outside of the academic circle for a person like me, would probably give me a unique perspective not gained if I had been in a stable, tenured academic position. This varied real-life experience in seeing how herbs and drugs actually being promoted to, and used by, the general public over the past 50 years has given me new perspectives on our health and healthcare (more realistically, sick-care).
I grew up using herbs and have personally experienced their beneficial effects. I probably didn’t take any drugs for anything until I was in my teens. There was no reason to, because I was seldom sick, probably due to the absence of synthetic drugs in my body at that time which would otherwise wreak havoc to my immune system. We never used disinfectant wipes, ate antibiotic-laden meat, or had doctors give us antibiotics whenever we had a cold. But one thing I distinctly remember when I got the flu (Asian flu pandemic 1967-68) at college in Taiwan after watching a track meet in light-rainy weather without an umbrella for hours. I was in bed for 2 weeks and lost 20 pounds that I didn’t gain back until years after I was married. While in bed lying down, I was fine and could chat with my roommates with no problem. But when I tried to sit up, my head began to spin, which went away as soon as I lay down again. I assume I was given some modern drugs. But the most memorable is what they gave me to relieve my terrible cough. It was an extract of jiegeng (root of Platycodon grandiflorum or balloon flower) made in our school dispensary in glass percolators. After taking that, my cough went away overnight.
Then decades later, while I was sourcing Siberian ginseng (eleuthero) and Schisandra in northeastern China for one of my products, guided by my supplier-friends, Sammy Ma and his brother, I came across jiegeng again, this time as a dish of root vegetable at one of our dinners there. This just shows us that the origin of our medicine often has a common root with food. Our age-old experience with it through trial-and-error guarantees it as safe and effective. Unfortunately, many of us have forgotten our root. Instead of producing safe and nontoxic drugs, we have somehow created the vicious cycle, that generates side effects and new diseases for the general public but is a perpetual money-making machine for pharmaceutical companies and their associates with total impunity, no matter what they produce. How depressing!
In my next post, I’ll tell you my plan to address the following issues: (1) expose fake herbal supplements without herbs, so that consumers can avoid those and switch to genuine ones; (2) modernized natural remedies with safe-use records that are accompanied by meaningful fingerprints of identity and quality; and (3) more natural chemical drugs, and how to avoid their synthetic counterparts.