More Thoughts on "Mathematical Herbal Medicine"
Dear Editor:
Dr. Bob Xu's essay on mathematical herbal medicine in the June issue was both well-articulated and timely. Applied mathematical models of herbs and herbal formulas are on the horizon, and promise to become useful tools for understanding the healing powers of herbs.
Despite the apparent dominance of Western science at present, some specialists in our society are applying a multibody, nonlinear, holistic model of health that is highly relevant to herbal medicine. They are the organic or ecological farmers. As a brief example, let me draw an analogy between compost for the soil and traditional herbal formulas for humans and animals.
Organic farmers have demonstrated many times that a complex, vital substance is required to rebalance a complex living organism. If a single mineral - say, potassium - is added to soil, the effect can destabilize the balance of microorganisms living in the soil such that potassium levels actually decline. Well-made compost, however, corrects imbalances. The efficacy of the compost depends on its freshness, its formulation or combination of ingredients, and the way the ingredients were grown and prepared.
When we abandon magic bullet thinking (agrochemicals or drugs) for the imagery of compost, new possibilities for mathematical modeling arise. For instance, students of herbal medicine recognize that our herbs have strength and directionality in their effect upon the channels - for example, xuan fu hua (inula japonica), "the only flower that descends." If herbs in a formula each possess force and direction, they can be considered as a system of vectors, interacting with each other and contributing an overall directionality to the whole. In theory, vector field analysis can be applied to an herbal formula. This mathematical tool is being applied in certain areas of Western medicine as well as in sociology and economics.
Our herbs are complex living organisms and possess all the mind-boggling variation that implies. Perhaps we can gauge their effects only through comparative study.
Jean Giblette
Philmont, New York
Do you receive text messages from companies letting you know about offers or giveaways, or simply sharing news? If your answer is yes, then you have opted in for SMS (short message service) text-message marketing. SMS text-message marketing uses various platforms and software to send personalized, timely and sometimes interactive messages.
The Oregon College of Oriental Medicine (OCOM) has announced it is closing after 41 years. Pending accreditor approval, OCOM will cease offering classes after September (fourth-year OCOM students graduate Aug. 26). All current / incoming OCOM students have the option of continuing their education at the National University of Natural Medicine or Five Branches University, or transferring to another school altogether.
| Digital Exclusive
The end of cancer treatment does not necessarily signal a return to good health. Cancer survivors report poorer health and well-being than people who have not had cancer; many suffer chronic consequences of cancer and its treatments. Some may also develop new symptoms many years after treatment has ended.
