The ever-growing number of Chinese medicine practitioners in the West has brought about an amalgamation of many styles of Chinese medicine and various other forms of medicine from around the world. This book addresses the increasing demand for knowledge of how to integrate plants from outside the standard Chinese materia medica into the fold of Chinese medical practices in the West. It is the first in-depth guide to using Western herbs exclusively according to the theories, diagnoses and treatments of traditional Chinese medicine that harmonises the unique terminology and theories of TCM with other botanical medicines. The book contains 59 monographs, illustrated with full-colour photographs, of herbs commonly used by Western herbalists. Each herb is grouped by the basic categorisation for medicinals in Chinese medicine, such as Herbs that Resolve the Exterior and Herbs that Regulate Blood. The monographs detail the energetics, function and indication, channels entered, dosage and preparation and contraindications of each plant. The author, also, explains how to use the herbs to modify standard formulae used in everyday Chinese herbal medicine, based on his own clinical experience. An appendix of Western Analogs for Chinese Herbs further highlights 40 Chinese medicinals that have related species growing in the West.
