Traditional Chinese medicine understand the body as a whole, not as isolated parts which are either diseased or healthy, as is the approach of conventional Western medicine. Whereas a Western practitioner will prescribe a single drug to target a specific symptom, a practitioner trained in traditional Chinese medicine will analyze an entire symptom complex, known as the patient’s conformation. He or she will then select an herbal formula which will treat all the symptoms-as well as the underlying, systemic problems which are causing the obvious clinical symptoms.

Over the centuries, Chinese practitioners have developed safe, effective, and natural formulas for treating specific conformations. Unlike western chemotherapies, these formulas are designed with harmonization and balance in mind. Whereas Western pharmaceuticals abound with inherent side effects, Chinese herbal formulas are designed to prevent side effects. Should a single herb, for example, have the side effect of increasing blood pressure, it is counterbalanced by another herb which decreases blood pressure. In this way, Chinese herbal formulas are much safer than Western pharmaceuticals or single herbs used to treat the same illness.