Toxicity Mechanisms of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Detoxification Measures

Author: Zhou Liguo, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2006-12-01
Features: Chinese medicine is a great treasure trove with a long history and profound roots. It is a discipline with a complete theoretical system and unique style, which should be vigorously explored and enhanced. It is a summary of the experience of the working people of our country in fighting against nature and diseases for survival and development over thousands of years. It has made significant contributions to the prosperity and longevity of all ethnic groups in China. China possesses an extremely rich medicinal plant resource, with about 8,000 species documented and approximately 2,200 commonly used ones. These are precious national heritage and treasures, which should be inherited, explored, organized, and improved to promote the legacy of Chinese medicine. How to better utilize traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), effectively prevent and treat TCM poisoning, and enable it to better serve the cause of human health, as well as promote TCM to the world, is an extremely important research topic and also a sacred mission for us, the broad masses of medical and technological workers. The discovery and understanding of the toxicity of TCM have, like its therapeutic effects, gone through a long practical process, with a great price paid in the process. TCM is a powerful weapon for preventing and treating diseases, but the effects of any drug in clinical practice are multifaceted, including both therapeutic effects and adverse reactions. Due to various reasons, drugs and poisons can transform into each other under certain conditions. When a drug causes poisoning due to excessive dosage, the dose at that time is considered the toxic dose. It can be said that the adverse reactions of drugs are a topic frequently faced by every clinical physician and pharmacist. However, so far, there has been no specialized book in China on the properties, flavors, meridian, efficacy, main indications, toxicity, mechanisms of poisoning, symptoms of poisoning, and antidotes of TCM. To elevate the level of Chinese medicine to a new height, accelerate the research on the toxicity and mechanisms of poisoning of TCM, and enable TCM to better serve humanity, we have comprehensively collected books and articles from scientific research over the past few decades on the toxicity, mechanisms of poisoning, symptoms of poisoning, and antidotes of TCM, organized and compiled them, and wrote this book, "Mechanisms of Toxicity and Antidotes of TCM," striving to both highlight its strengths and address its weaknesses. During the process of writing this book, I often felt a sense of satisfaction but was more often filled with unease. The satisfaction comes from my role as a pharmacologist, enabling me to comprehensively collect data on the toxicity, mechanisms of poisoning, symptoms of poisoning, and antidotes of over 270 species of TCM, edit and organize them into a book, and provide rich content for professionals in TCM research, undergraduate and graduate students of TCM, educators and researchers in medical institutions, and clinical practitioners of TCM for reference in practice. I have fulfilled the responsibility of a pharmacologist. However, the unease comes from the fact that there are still many toxic plants in TCM whose toxicity and mechanisms of poisoning await further research and understanding. To enable TCM to better exert its therapeutic effects, benefit the people, and go global, it requires long-term, persistent efforts from all of us.