How can we encourage the use of Chinese herbs in America?
David Frech
Long gone are the simple days when U.S. doctors had fewer options for treating your pain or
ailment and would often dole out the old adage “take two aspirin and call me in the morning”. If
they had known more about Chinese herbs back then, they may have suggested Shi Xiao San
(Sudden Smile Powder) instead of aspirin, and the use of Chinese herbs in American health
practices would be much more commonplace today. Instead, today’s Western medicine is flooded
with over-the-counter and prescription medications, as well as an ever-increasing market of
vitamins and other supplements. U.S. pharmaceutical sales hit $300 billion in 2009 and rose at a
rate of 5% or greater per year in all but three of the previous 50 years [1]. Supplement sales make
up a small fraction in comparison: roughly $11.5 billion in 2012, but grew at a faster rate of 7% over
the prior year [2].
In a society inundated with widely known medicines and supplements and new ones introduced
with multi-million dollar advertising campaigns, it’s no surprise that the first big challenge in
integrating Chinese herbs into American health practices is overcoming the lack of knowledge
about them. Fortunately, circumstances exist that favor the adoption of Chinese herbs, namely
America’s growing acceptance of complimentary or alternative medicine (CAM). One study shows
that patients’ use of CAM grew from 34% in 1993 to 62% in 2002. A second report from the
American Hospital Association noted that alternative treatment in U.S. hospitals grew from 8.6% in
1998 to 20.8% in 2007 [3]. While these are broad reports that include everything from general
supplements to massage therapy to prayer, they point to America’s desire to embrace alternatives
over prior mainstream Western standards. This is helping open the door to more extensive use of
Chinese herbs.
With this growing interest, we have the opportunity to shine the spotlight on the advantages of
Chinese herbs (i.e. they are naturally occurring, generally have fewer side effects, and enable
practitioners to tailor prescriptions to each individual to name a few). To do this, we need to
educate Americans through all available means, big or small. Word-of-mouth is one of these. Over
this past holiday season, I wanted to take the opportunity to teach my family a little about what I
was learning in school. I brought a sample of an Herbal Times® formula, Bao He Wan, along with
the raw herb samples from my herbs class that make up this formula. I reviewed each of the raw
herbs and their actions and indications and compared them with a Western over-the-counter
medicine so they could better understand the benefits of taking a more natural herbal formula.
Needless to say, after the large holiday meal, I had several people interested in giving Bao He Wan a
try!
Taking advantage of face-to-face opportunities is one way to promote Chinese herbs, but we must
also continue to embrace more powerful marketing tools via the internet to maximize our reach.
Facebook, YouTube, and other social media outlets allow herbal companies, practitioners, and
patients to educate their families, friends and the public. We see this every day when practitioners
post an article that is “liked” and “shared” by their friends and patients and quickly spreads
throughout the web. Blogging is another resource for educating the public on a modest budget.
How can we encourage the use of Chinese herbs in America?
David Frech
These inexpensive online marketing tools are ubiquitous and far-reaching and can rapidly educate
the American public.
Another opportunity to encourage use of Chinese herbs in the U.S. is to grow the number of
alternative medicine practitioners who prescribe Chinese herbs. The rising acceptance of
alternative medicine in our society previously mentioned will help boost the curiosity of prospective
students, but we must look for strategic ways to foster that interest further. Here again, I
recommend using social media to get the message out to prospective students by touting the
growing CAM job opportunities. I also believe that getting in front of students at an earlier age is
vital. Parents who are practitioners can visit their children’s elementary schools to talk about their
jobs, and alternative medicine schools can recruit along with traditional schools at college fairs for
high school students.
The final challenge in promoting the use of Chinese herbs in America is addressing concerns about
possible adverse reactions with over-the-counter or prescription medications. In our student clinic,
we sometimes hear from our patients that they are not allowed to take Chinese herbs due to their
doctor’s concerns of drug interaction even though the doctor has not discussed the concerns with
the clinic intern or clinic supervisor. One suggestion for overcoming this challenge is to create
messages that explicitly address these concerns such as “How to approach your doctor about taking
Chinese herbs”. Messages with this theme would speak directly to concerns that doctors most
often raise (e.g. drug interactions) and foster discussions between the doctors and practitioners.
Providing these types of materials as pamphlets that can be placed on display in acupuncturist and
other holistic health practitioner’s office waiting rooms can be a great way to target patients who
may not know how to discuss their prescribed Chinese herbs with their primary care doctors.
Chinese herbs may still be very foreign to most Americans, but we have a golden opportunity to
promote the advantages of using these naturally occurring herbs in light of both the growing
acceptance of alternative medicine and the availability of inexpensive yet powerful marketing tools.
Just as we carefully sow the seeds of Chinese herbs in our gardens we can and should also sow the
seeds of knowledge in our communities to enlighten America on the benefits of Chinese herbs in
helping to maintain optimal health.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------[1] Berkrot, Bill. (April 2010). U.S. prescription drug sales hit $300 bln in 2009. Rueters. Retrieved from
http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/04/01/us-drug-sales-idUSTRE6303CU20100401
[2] Schultz, Hank. (Sept 2012). Supplement sales hit $11.5 billion in U.S., report says. Retrieved from
http://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/Industry/Supplement-sales-hit-11.5-billion-in-U.S.-report-says
[3] Barnes PM, Powell-Griner E, McFann K, Nahin RL. Complementary and alternative medicine use among adults:
United States, 2002. Adv Data. 2004;27(343):1-19