herbs used for medicine

one patient takes ginseng and it works forthem, gives them lots of energy, makes them feel great. another person takes ginseng andthey feel awful, they get aggravated, they get palpitations in their heart, just doesn'twork right. so what gives? what's the difference between eastern herbs and western herbs? orthe way that they're used? hi my name is mark brinson, doctor of oriental medicine, physicalmedicine specialist, and international seminar

herbs used for medicine, provider. there's a big difference betweenthe way that eastern and western herbs are used and the philosophy that's behind them.so let's take for instance something like ginseng, to tell you how specific the, theprescription needs to be to match someone. when we say ginseng from a western standpoint,we think all ginsengs are alike, but in reality,

there's over five main types of ginsengs anda lot of sub-species of it that do completely opposite things. let's, let me give you afew examples. have you ever had someone take an herb, or yourself take something that justdidn't quite work for you? and you took it on the recommendation of a friend who thoughit was the best thing ever. well lets' say for instance that i have heart palpitations,i have high blood pressure, i'm a little bit irritable, but i don't feel like i have thatmuch energy. if i take something like a korean ginseng, which has a very hot property toit, it's going to make all of those things worse. where if i take something like andamerican ginseng, which is totally on the other side of the spectrum, it's going tocool my body, it's going to take my irritation,

my aggravation away, but it's also going togive me energy at the same time. so what's different about eastern and western herbologyis that they're very specific on the properties that are created once it's inside me. so bytaking something in, it's not going to be the same for everybody, for that person who'shot, they can't have hot type herbs or foods. where the person that's cool, and tends tobe cold, to like hot drinks, to always be

on the low side of things, if they took somethinglike that korean ginseng, they would feel great or phenomenal. so the basics of it arein how specific the diagnosis needs to be in order to prescribe them properly. my nameis mark brinson, doctor of oriental medicine, hoping this helped you a little bit in findingyour balance today.