DWQA QuestionsCategory: Coronavirus COVID-19Are there more promising Traditional Chinese medicine approaches under study that will be forthcoming to help better control the pandemic?
Nicola Staff asked 3 years ago
Given the long history of many centuries of exploration and use by millions of people, there is quite a long list of such remedies under consideration, as well as being under study, given the motivation presented by the pandemic to capitalize on all preexisting knowledge relating to lung function and maladies in particular, so there are many things yet to emerge from further study and refinement. As always, the problems are getting high-quality studies under carefully controlled conditions so the data are truly interpretable and a reliable basis for making conclusions. This has hindered progress with traditional Chinese medicine through the centuries as it has often been done by feel rather than collecting quantitative data with rigorous statistical analysis and careful blinded controls to remove investigator bias as a perturbing element. But despite these complications, you have seen yourself there is rich promise in using natural substances from nutritional sources in all sorts of health care settings, so there continues to be much to learn and much future promise here, so we endorse and encourage doing much more research along these lines. There are novel substances and novel mechanisms to be discovered yet that will outrank any human approach through medicinal chemistry for use as antivirals.