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My grandmother’s family ran their own herbal medicine company and so there were always herbal remedies in my home. When we would get sick my grandmother would use tree roots, various leaves, animal horns, and the like to make concoctions for us to drink or apply to the ailing area. Because we were used to such remedies as kids there was no resistance and we knew they worked, but when I began my studies to become a doctor I realized that there’s generally no scientific evidence supporting herbal remedies and so Modern Medical Science (MMS) ends up stepping around them. Nowadays in Japan, more and more patients are becoming health conscious and are requesting natural herbal remedies, so the prescription of herbal medicine by medical professionals is on the increase. But in reality, herbal remedies have yet to get widespread acceptance in the medical community because there are still many Japanese MD’s that dislike them and call them dubious. Despite being untrained in herbal medicine, to appease patients these doctors will arbitrarily choose and prescribe a herbal remedy and send the patients on their way. “After all,” they say, “they’re suspicious, we don’t know what works, and generally, how do these herbal remedies work? It’s an old way of doing things. I don’t know if this will work, but if you want to try it, then suit yourself.” It’s easy for people to dismiss things they don’t understand. No wonder the remedies are often ineffective. In spite of being educated and working professionally in an environment that for the most part only acknowledges Modern Medical Science (MMS,) I favor neither MMS nor Traditional Medical Science (TMS,) but remain objective and use whatever is best for the situation. As I said in an earlier post, obviously MMS has its strong points, but there are some things that it cannot explain that can be handled effectively by TMS methods. Since becoming an MD, of course I prescribe the latest pharmaceutical products, but I also prescribe herbal medicines and use acupuncture on patients that request it. This is not just because I’m used to these treatments from my childhood, it’s because I’ve seen the results they bring firsthand. For me, Traditional Medical Science is something I’m very familiar with. Yumi I’m a Medical Doctor and have been practicing surgery here in Tokyo for almost 20 years. It seems like I always knew I’d become a doctor because many of my family members are in medicine, dentistry, and health care. Just to name a few, my mother, father, (father-side) grandfather were all MD’s, and there were quite a few more in addition to dentists. Yumi Let me say to avoid misunderstanding, other than obviously suspicious methods, I’m open to different treatments. But if you fall ill, before you consider anything else, get yourself examined in a hospital by your doctor with conventional methods. As far as treatment goes, there is Modern Medical Science (MMS) and Traditional Medical Science (TMS.) Modern Medical Science is represented with hospitals and clinics and the like: what we might call ‘Current’ or ‘Conventional’ Medicine. Here’s what happened to me: Before I fell ill and was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, I was overreaching my limits, both mentally and physically. I had taken on a two-year fellowship post at a university hospital in America, and I wasn’t able to sleep for days from the pressure. There were a number of . . . → Read More: The Onset of my Multiple Sclerosis Some diseases come on quite suddenly, but most have telltale signs. It’s easy to say that you should get yourself checked out by your doctor regularly, especially if you have persistent or recurring symptoms. But people are pretty selfish. They do whatever they please and end up harming their bodies in . . . → Read More: We just don’t know when to stop In Japan where we live, Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is categorized as an ‘intractable disease,’ as the cause is unknown and there’s no cure. I was struck with this disease suddenly one day. Being a medical doctor, I had heard of MS in med school, but it’s pretty rare here so was barely . . . → Read More: Me? An MD with an incurable disease? |
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