Volume 6 Issue 2 - Summer 2011

by Jason Blalack

There is a current trend for Chinese herbalists to prescribe medicinals based on their Western function. For example, modern research demonstrates that da qing ye (Isatidis Folium) and ban lan gen (Isatidis/Baphicacanthis Radix) are antiviral. Consequently, there are those in both Asia and the West that recommend their use for the treatment and prevention of the common cold and flu (gan mao), regardless of the pattern. For example, ban lan gen chong ji (板蓝根冲剂), a popular antiviral prepared medicine advertises, "Drinking [sic] a cup of this tea when exposed to others that are sick with a cold or when you think you are coming down with a cold to avoid getting sick yourself.”