Benefits of Vietnamese Medicine- A Must Read

Once the preserve of the poor in Vietnam, Traditional Vietnamese Medicine [TVM] has taken on new popularity amongst the center and upper classes of Saigon.

People are returning to traditional medicinal roots in droves, keen to experience the mixture of Western medicine and therefore the ancient practices of their ancestors. Vietnam medicine is one of the oldest and effective since some era.

TVM practitioners could seem like witch doctors to some. the thought of an unqualified mystic talking about energy and using plants to cure disease is usually dismissed (sometimes correctly) as absurd.

The reality is somewhat more complex. Modern TVM takes elements of Western medicine and incorporates them with the treatments practiced in Vietnam for hundreds of years. this might seem quite contradictory. Practices like acupuncture and herbalism are often labeled as placebo-effect treatments instead of proper medicinal procedures.

However, to dismiss the potential benefits of TVM would be foolish. to know this, consider aspirin. Present within the leaves of willow trees, aspirin has in a method or another been used for pain relief for over 2,400 years. In 1763, Scientist Edward Stone completed the primary successful study on an extract of aspirin as a cure for fever. Credit has been given to Felix Hoffman, a scientist at Bayer for the primary chemical synthesis of Aspirin in 1897.

Today aspirin is employed to treat an enormous sort of ailments, from headaches to heart conditions. All this from a leaf used through the millennia by herbalists who knew that certain plants had beneficial properties.

Modern TVM doctors are trained with rigorous discipline. As Le Hoang, Son, Director of the normal Medicine Hospital explains (on behalf of his doctors), “To become a TVM doctor in Vietnam, a student needs seven and a half years to six-year to review and 18 months to practice within the hospital to urge the license.”

It’s important to form the excellence between southern TVM (Thuoc Nam) and northern TVM (Thuoc Bac), which is more like TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine).

Southern TVM, unlike northern TVM, is more supported by the utilization of fresh herbs than reductions and tinctures. Primarily focused on herbalism, with a mixture of plant-based cures and noninvasive procedures, it's somewhat more benign than its northern cousin. In extremely rare cases silkworms could also be used, but plants are far and away from the foremost common medicinal source.

There is also a marked difference within the botany of the regions, with the plants of the north more almost like those found in China than the South, and a few variances within the sorts of diseases experienced between regions.

If modern TVM - that's the mixture of Western and traditional medicine - are often ascribed to anyone, it's probably Nguyen Van Be (or “Ong Ba Dat Phen”- meaning, roughly, “Man within the second position within the family on the Acid Land”).

“Ong Ba” fought within the American War. During his service, he developed a fascination for herbalism as an answer to the shortage of drugs in war-torn rural areas. thanks to his interest in medicine, the govt sent him to the North to review Western medicine. He studied hard, graduated with merit, and returned to Ho Chi Minh City to continue his medical studies at the University of drugs and Pharmacy. it had been here that he began his studies within the capabilities of plants to cure snake poison, not a replacement concept but one which Ong Ba had been skeptical of until now.

Modern TVM’s popularity amongst Vietnam’s middle and upper classes is sensible, it takes the simplest of both worlds and seems to be making great headway in delivering provable results.

However, this has led to less well-off Vietnamese getting their medical advice and treatment from pharmacies, which successively has led to an increase within the use of antibiotics for even minor ailments. There are serious negative implications therein, as a rise in bacterial resistance to antibiotics which, combined with a scarcity of funding for brand spanking new antibiotics, could lead to an increase in antibiotic-resistant diseases.

While the empiricism and scientific processes behind Western medicine are central to their effectiveness, it's absurd to imagine that each one alternative medicine is ineffective. Traditional remedies, if considered effective for the treatment of any ailment should be put through the trials of a Western empirical study to determine their effectiveness. With numerous people dying of the disease a day we should always be doing more to finding cures in unorthodox areas.

Le Hoang, Son explains: “Each sort of medicine - Western and TVM - has its own advantages. Western medicine is sweet in acute diseases and surgery, while TVM has strong points in chronic diseases. Besides, [traditional medicinal] herbs were used for an extended time and are popular ingredients in daily meals (ginger, garlic, etc.). Moreover, TVM has many non-drug treatments (acupuncture, acupressure, Yoga, and others) that are effective and affordable.”

By combining the disciplines of East and West, it's possible we might be ready to cure any number of diseases. it's going to just require a touch more cooperation and a touch less cynicism.

Vietnam features a long-standing medical tradition that has served its people well for thousands of years. The Vietnamese have a proverb that goes “Doi Rau, Dau Thuoc” (when hungry, eat vegetables; when ill, take medical herbs), which clearly illustrates the importance of traditional medicine in their culture and lifestyle.

But who was the primary practitioner that brought these natural methods and remedies to Vietnam? Did the Chinese import these techniques during their ruling period?

For several thousand years, Traditional Vietnamese Medicine (TVM) has evolved under the shadow of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), which may be a much larger and, in most cases, better-known discipline. to the present day, it's nearly impossible to separate and delineate Traditional Vietnamese Medicine or Thuoc Nam (Southern Medicine) from Traditional Chinese Medicine or Thuoc Bac (Northern Medicine) because their developments have always been interconnected.

Tue Tinh, founding father of Traditional Vietnamese Medicine

During Vietnam’s period of Chinese rule (197 BC-937 AD), Vietnamese medicine was divided into two branches, or specialties: pure Chinese medicine and pure Vietnamese medicine. the 2 wings progressively merged to make Traditional Vietnamese Medicine, which used both Chinese and Vietnamese herbs to fight diseases. within the Independent period (after 938 AD), through many royal dynasties, Traditional Vietnamese Medicine continued to develop and refine. And that’s when Tue Tinh pops up within the history books.

It is fair to mention that Tue Tinh, a Buddhist monk, was the founding father of Vietnamese medicine. In fact, Tue Tinh has always been considered the master of Southern medicine and therefore the teacher of practitioners of Traditional Vietnamese Medicine, as stated within the Journal of others and medicine. Born within the 14th century during the Le Dynasty, he's considered the god or saint of Vietnamese herbs and wrote many well-regarded medical books including Miracle Vietnamese Pharmacy and Great Morality within the Art of drugs.

During his time in China, he successfully treated a postnatal disease for the queen and was honored as an excellent priest or healer by the king. His death remains a mystery –no one knows when or how he actually died.

Besides Tue Tinh, Hai Thuong Lan Ong is that the second-greatest traditional physician and an outsized contributor to Traditional Vietnamese Medicine because of his works like The Encyclopedia of Vietnamese Traditional Medicine.

Thanks to all the aforementioned historical events, Vietnamese people have discovered many medical remedies and accumulated life-saving experience in healthcare. Many of them remain useful today, like chewing betel, teeth dying (which prevents tooth decay), and eating ginger to guard oneself against malaria and other maladies.

FITO Museum, located in District 10, provides visitors a singular opportunity to ascertain how traditional medicine has evolved over the years in Vietnam. FITO showcases quite 3,000 objects utilized in TVM, starting from the Stone Age to today. Medicinal root slicers, apothecary’s mortars, lime pots, ceramic teapots, and lots of other instruments used for natural cures and remedies transport visitors back in time. Moreover, the museum is provided with modern audio-visual technology, and frequently screens "A Century of Health Care Experiences”, a documentary about the history of Traditional Vietnamese Medicine.

Although Vietnam is modernizing quickly, traditional medicine in Vietnam has not disappeared. If anything, it’s beginning to revitalize! Young Vietnamese men and ladies are getting increasingly curious about learning about traditional medicine. More and more, we’re seeing students attending institutions like the HCMC Medical and Pharmaceutical University (221B, Hoang Van Thu, Phu Nhuan District), the HCMC Traditional Medicine Institute (273-275, Nguyen Van Troi, Phu Nhuan District), or the Le Huu Trac Traditional Medicine Intermediate School (120, Hoa Binh, Hoa Thanh, Tan Phu District).

Time will tell if healthcare practitioners in Vietnam will return to traditional treatments that, as against Western medicine, are deeply rooted in their culture. This might help to revive people’s trust in today’s healthcare system.