留學生在中國 第13期 Chinese Medicine 中藥
David:I understand that Chinese medicine is based more on natural products while western medicine more on chemical products. Are Chinese people more accustomed to Chinese medicine?
You:It is hard to tell. Because as far as I know, Chinese medcine and western medcine had their own characteristics, with differents affects for a specific illnesses. For example, one of Chinese medcines' benefits is in specific areas such as certain chronic diseases.
很難說。因爲中藥和西藥各有各的特點和效力，例如，對某些特定的慢性病來說，中藥要比西藥好。David:What other differences are there between Chinese and western medicine?
那麼中藥都有哪些優勢呢？
You:Since Chinese medicine believes that the different parts of the human body are all interrelated, it strives to bring balance to the body as a whole. In contrast, western medicine considers the human body as a machine made up of individual and independent parts.
治療慢性病方面吧。中醫認爲，人身體裏的各個部位都是相互影響的，所以中醫更注重對整個身體的調理。而西醫的治療方法是把人體當作一臺由許多零件組成的機器來之治療，因此更注意對人體部分的調節。David:It sounds like Chinese medicine is more wholesome than western medicine. However, 70% of the medicine is western medicine. Why do people buy western medicine instead of Chinese medicine?
事實上，聽起來好像中藥比西藥更有益於健康。然而，人們消耗的西藥佔總消耗藥量的 70% 。既然中藥真的比西藥好，爲什麼人們還去買西藥？You:As I mentioned earlier, Chinese medicine is more effective for specific diseases. Chinese medicine does not represent the whole pharmaceutical market, only about 20-25% of it. There are certain categories of pharmaceuticals such as antibiotics that are not included in Chinese traditional medicine.
正如我剛纔所說，中藥治療某些特殊疾病的確很有效，但它在所有藥品中只佔 20% 到 25% 的比例，並沒有成爲整個醫藥市場的中流砥柱。像抗生素之類的藥品，在傳統中藥當中是沒有的。David:But antibiotics can be harmful if they are taken too often. All in all, Chinese medicine sounds healthier. Maybe I should go see a Chinese doctor if I get sick. Thanks.
但是經常服用抗生素對人體有害。總之，中藥似乎更有益於身體健康。如果我生病的話或許我應當去看中醫。謝謝！
