Yiwu Zhang,
are you a doctor?
No, not a doctor. But when I served in the US Army, I was a medical specialist. And I was a paramedic. And also a volunteer fireman in my hometown for about 11 years, with some medical training.
While in the US Army, I specialized in communicable diseases, in particular the epidemiology of disease. My particular assignments mostly involved malaria (found in veterans returning from southeast Asia), hepatitis (common in veterans returning from Asia, as well as common amongst drug users, of which we had our fair share in those days), and bacterial meningitis (not common, but quite often fatal among young recruits in basic training). My job was mostly filling out required reports for the state, but I also had extensive contact with the patients trying to determine possible sources of their ailments. From time to time, I was also involved in various minor outbreaks of food poisoning or other digestive tract disorders, perhaps from consumption of spoiled food or contaminated water sources. Although I remember many of the individuals I had contact with during my military duties, and it seems like only yesterday, in reality it's been a very long time since I served. I'm sure that medical science and epidemiology have advanced considerably since I was a small part of it... <g>
But I don't think herbal medicine could be popular in the US
Actually, some Chinese herbs are successfully sold in the USA, and are quite popular with herbalists and naturalists. But they're sold as food additives or herbs/spices for food preparation, not as medical remedies. The companies selling these herbs can advertise them only as food or supplements, not as "cures" or "remedies", though folks that buy them do often use them for their medical benefits, and in portions much larger than advertised on the packaging.
KJC |
