The Traditional Chinese Medicine Materia Medica Clinical
Reference & Study Guide
Peter Holmes, L.Ac., M.H.
Softcover, 8 1/2 x 11 inches, 464 pages
ISBN 1-890029-41-6
Click
here to see a sample
The T.C.M. Materia Medica Clinical Reference and Study Guide is a
quick-reference manual and study guide for the most important 316
classic single herbs used in Chinese Medicine. It consists of two parts.
The first part presents the individual herbs in nineteen
chapters, corresponding to the commonly used functional treatment
categories. These 320 herbs make up the core Chinese herbal materia
medica as it is studied and utilized in Chinese Medicine today.
Each individual herb is presented in an easy-to-read tabular
format, with its clinical functions and indications clearly defined. Its
indications are reinforced by examples of typical combinations with
other specific herbs.
The herb comparison tables found throughout
the text help clarify the commonalities and differences among important
herbs with similar functions. They serve as both quick-reference tools
and study aids, allowing easy differentiation between similar herbs as a
means to more precise and effective prescribing.
Each chapter
ends with Summary Tables of the herbs organized by their qualities and
main clinical functions. These tables provide a quick-reference
checklist for the practitioner needing to modify formulas, as well as an
important study aid.
The Study Questions and Answers focus on
the theory behind clinical herb usage, without which herb combining and
formula modification become impossible. They are designed to stimulate
an in-depth understanding of the herbs in their qualities, functions,
indications and combinations with other herbs.
The second
part consists of Key Herb Differentiation and Comparison Tables, which
at a glance compares and contrasts the functions, indications and
clinical emphases of the most important herbs for treating particular
conditions. It serves as a reference tool for modifying formulas in
clinical practice by helping in the selection of herbs most consistent
with the overall treatment strategy intended.
Collaborative
author Jing Wang, L.Ac., O.M.D. is a doctor of Oriental medicine. She
graduated in 1988 at the Beijing University of Traditional Chinese
Medicine and went on to work in the pulmonary disease deprtment at the
Ba Da Zhu hospital of traditional Chinese medicine. She has taught
materia medica and formulas in Chinese medicine colleges in the U.S.
since 1997. Dr. Wang is in private practice in Germantown, Maryland.