Traditional Chinese medicine

Available for over a year

This is a clip from an episode of Health Check. One of the problems with medicines found in nature is that the strength of plant chemicals vary and you can’t be sure what you’re getting. This has proved to be a problem in Taiwan, one of many countries where traditional Chinese medicine is often used in preference to modern drugs. A study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has shown that a once-popular herb called Aristolochia causes mutations in the DNA that lead to upper-urinary-tract cancer. Although the herb is now banned, the effects of over-using the herb are still being felt. Claudia Hammond speaks to reporter Cindy Sui in Taiwan about the use of herbal medicine and how the government has opened advice centres to encourage people to use traditional Chinese medicine safely.