Dr. Leung's Book

The book "Better Health (Mostly) with Chinese Herbs and Foods" by world-renowned scientist and medicinal herb expert and respected scholar of traditional Chinese medicine Dr. Albert Y. Leung. The author aims to provide the reader with an accessible account of the complexity of perspectives on the therapeutic use of herbs and compares their effects with those of single-compound chemical drugs. He points out that many single-compound chemical drugs and substances originally isolated from herbs act differently in the body than the same substance contained within the combination of components found in natural herbs. The mutual interaction of natural components, which despite advances in science we are often unable to fully describe, can turn a toxic ingredient into an effective blend with significantly reduced undesired effects and good tolerability and therapeutic benefit. Current global as well as national legislation does not create conditions for introducing traditional herbs and extracts as medicines, even though the movement to find non-toxic drugs is growing significantly. This is particularly relevant in the field of fighting cancer, where the toxicity of the agents used directly threatens the patient's life. And it is precisely in a return to the use of traditional herbs that the author – Dr. Leung – sees the path to better health. The attentive reader will certainly appreciate the author's observations, which also draw attention to certain commercial practices and exploitation of public interest in natural preparations.

Language: the book is in Czech