Can Chinese Medicine Help In The Fight Against Covid-19?

TCM could help against Covid-19 by stopping the virus from binding with ACE receptors, regulating inflammatory response, and controlling phlegm/mucus.

- Dr. Kaycee Reyes

The world is still struggling with Covid-19. And while everybody is waiting for a cure, some have turned to natural treatments and herbal medicines. In the earlier months, Chinese medicines claiming as treatment for Covid-19 were confiscated in the country as it did not obtain clearance from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), in particular, LianHua Qingwen Jiaonang. That has now changed.

LianHua Qingwen Jiaonang is quite known internationally, as it is already being used as treatment for mild and moderate cases of Covid-19 not only in China but in other parts of Asia (Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore) and the world (Brazil, Canada, Mozambique, Romania, Ecuador).

In August, the FDA finally cleared LianHua Qingwen Jiaonang as Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). While it is now available in the Philippines, the FDA still administers caution to the public as it should only be used as what is stated in the Certificate of Product Registration, which is a “traditionally used herbal product [that] helps remove heat-toxin invasion of the lungs, including symptoms such as fever, aversion to cold, muscle soreness, stuffy, and runny nose.”