[NEED HELP] Questionnaire about Chinese medicine. Need you guys opinions!

[Starcaller]

My Chinese teacher wants me to interview people about their opinions with 中药/中医 or Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), or any practice of Chinese medication and such (the chinese herbal medicine, acupuncture, etc。). Questions like you believe in it or not， etc.　I want a wider view of the subjects so I decide to post it here, hoping to get more opinions on the subject. =) If you have time please take a few mins to help filling the form below. I　need to submit the homework on this Monday, so I will truly appreciate it if you can submit the info to by by Sunday afternoon. (i'm not doing it last minute tho, teacher just give me the homework today XD Not what you guys think!)

Just answer it based on your experience =)

You can also choose to PM me the information instead!

(A short answer will do, though I won't mind if you wanna write a longer one)

Questions:

Your nationality :

Your current city : (optional)

Your gender : (optional)

Your age : (optional)

1.你生病的时候是去看中医还是西医？ When you are sick, you normally go to see Chinese doctor or Western doctor?

(Bad translation, my bad. Chinese doctor = doctors that use Chinese medication/treatment to cure you.

Western doctor= the normal doctors that use the scientific-based treatment.)

2.你所知道的常用中药有哪些？What commonly-used Chinese medicine do you know?

3.你感冒或头疼的时候吃什么药？ What medicine do you take when you got a headache or catch a cold?

4.你觉得中药见效吗？ Do you think Chinese Medicine is effective?

5.中药有副作用吗？ Does Chinese medicine have side effects?

6.你没病的时候吃补药吗？ Do you take tonic even when you are not sick?

*补药 is translated as 'tonic'. I don't really know if that's the right word for it. 补药 means medicine that's believed to help increasing your strength, restoring health. It's not limited to Chinese medicine. The vitamins and beauty drinks, and the likes, as my teacher said, are considered 补药 as well.

**If you take 补药, please specify what kind of 补药 it is =)

7.你知道人参的用途是什么吗？你相信吗？ Do you know the usage of ginseng? Do you believe in it?

*This is ginseng. It's one of the important ingredients in Chinese medicine.

Thanks you guys in advance!

More info on Chinese medicine (TCM) (if you need one ^^)

[abcdefg]

Although I realize you are just trying to complete a homework assignment, I don’t think your questionnaire will yield much in the way of meaningful results because it wasn’t sufficiently well designed.

For example, I find TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) useful in the diagnosis and treatment of some conditions and not in others. There is a significant difference between how chronic ailments respond to TCM as compared with acute ones.

Furthermore all TCM is not the same: One condition may be best treated with acupuncture and moxibustion and another with tuina and yet another with compounded medicine that you take by mouth.

I often combine Western Medicine and TCM or use them at different points in an illness. Western medicine is often best at giving rapid initial symptom relief, whereas TCM may be better at providing long-term correction of the underlying problem and restoring optimal health. And so on.

All that being said, I will do what I can to answer your questions, and will do it by private message.

[renzhe]

For 补药, consider "supplements". Nutritional supplements or dietary supplements are also common names, and they include stuff like vitamins, minerals, things thought to improve bone and joint conditions like glucosamine and chondroitin, and many other things.

I guess that this questionnaire will only make sense for people living in China, or other East Asian countries. For most people in Europe or the Americas, there is pretty much only "western" medicine, and Chinese treatment is very unusual and considered exotic by most.

[woliveri]

Questions:

Your nationality : USA

1.你生病的时候是去看中医还是西医？ When you are sick, you normally go to see Chinese doctor or Western doctor?

Chinese doctor if I need to but been a long time since I needed one since I now practice Zhan Zhuang and Qigong.

2.你所知道的常用中药有哪些？What commonly-used Chinese medicine do you know?

I know individual herbs, not patent medicines but again, have forgotten a lot since practicing qigong.

3.你感冒或头疼的时候吃什么药？ What medicine do you take when you got a headache or catch a cold?

I don't get either since practicing qigong.

4.你觉得中药见效吗？ Do you think Chinese Medicine is effective?

Yes, but I think Qigong is more effective IF that person can persist in their practice. We need doctors because most will not devote time to qigong/zhan zhuang practice.

5.中药有副作用吗？ Does Chinese medicine have side effects?

Depends on the herbs used. Herbs like Da Huang can cause problems if taken too much or for the wrong condition.

6.你没病的时候吃补药吗？ Do you take tonic even when you are not sick?

I use Qigong to tonify.

7.你知道人参的用途是什么吗？你相信吗？ Do you know the usage of ginseng? Do you believe in it?

Yes, ginseng is useful but it is a tonic herb and must be used with care. Right herb for the right person. Also there are American, Chinese, and Korean varities. All with different properties. All ginseng is not the same.

I've used Chinese herbs since the 80s and have found that standing Zhan Zhuang (qigong) is much more effective and much less complex than using herbs.

Hope this helps.

[Starcaller]

hehe thanks for you guys' input! The teacher has provided us all with the same questionnaire, so yea I can't do much about it. XD

Thanks abcdefg and woliveri for the answers!

The questionnaire is still opened to answer!

[Kenny同志]

Questions:

Your nationality : Chinese

Your current city : Haikou

Your gender : male

Your age : national secret

1.你生病的时候是去看中医还是西医？ When you are sick, you normally go to see Chinese doctor or Western doctor?

I would first consult a doctor of western medicine about my diagnosis and then turn to a doctor of TCM for syndrome differentiation(辩证) and treatment.

2.你所知道的常用中药有哪些？What commonly-used Chinese medicine do you know?

Tons, 人参、黄芪、党参、麻黄、桂枝、茯苓、枸杞、大枣、陈皮、法夏、肉桂、泽泻 and hundreds of others

3.你感冒或头疼的时候吃什么药？ What medicine do you take when you got a headache or catch a cold?

None. Usually I don’t take any medication for a cold or influenza.

4.你觉得中药见效吗？ Do you think Chinese Medicine is effective?

Yes, of course; it works; I’ve tested it.

5.中药有副作用吗？ Does Chinese medicine have side effects?

Yes, but the side effects are far milder compared with that of western medicine. Note that many herbs are edible; just name a few, 大枣、莲子、陈皮、赤小豆、绿豆、淮山、薏米.

6.你没病的时候吃补药吗？ Do you take tonic even when you are not sick?

No, I don’t.

7.你知道人参的用途是什么吗？你相信吗？ Do you know the usage of ginseng? Do you believe in it?

As Woliveri has pointed out there are different kinds of ginseng. Usually, they are very expensive and used to replenish our qi.

人参味甘，大补元气，调荣养胃。