Chinese Herbal Therapy – is it risky?

This presentation deals with safety aspects of Chinese Herbal Therapy (CHT).

It starts with a short introduction to the foundations and principles of CHT and then discusses potential risks of CHT.

These include false therapeutic approaches, possible side effects, nowadays obsolete drugs and the much discussed and important issue of interactions, especially with western drugs.

Proposals for a safe and reasonable handling of Chinese herbs are given. First of all therapists need to be well-trained in Chinese as well as Western medicine.

Furthermore it is necessary to certify the identity and the quality of the herbs with regard to pollution with heavy metals, insecticides and pesticides.

The Center for the Safety of Chinese Herbal Therapy (CTCA) which has been founded to document and avoid side effects as well as to inform therapists, patients and the public about safety issues is introduced.

In the end an outlook is given how beneficial CHT can be when applied prudent and according to the principles of Chinese Medicine.

CV Dr. med. Rainer Nögel

Internal medical doctor Rainer Nögel is the current president of the „International Society for Chinese Medicine“ (SMS) and has been practising Chinese Medicine in a busy private clinic in Munich for 15 years.

He is co-author of several books on topics within Chinese Medicine (Classical Chinese Herbal Formulas, Pulse Diagnosis and Chinese Dietetics).