The China Times Express reported that researchers in the University of Hamburg in Germany ordered green tea and white shaddock from Taiwan to help fight bird flu.
According to the report, researchers in the German university imported 100,000 shaddock and green tea pills from Nantou.
A food-processing factory owner, who happens to be a licensed herb doctor, was quoted as saying German university researchers have found this tea concoction to be effective in preventing as well as curing avian flu.
Nantou is a county in central Taiwan known for shaddock and green tea. Shaddock is a citric fruit also known as pomelo, that's quite common in tropical countries such as the Philippines and Thailand.
So far, there have been no official findings that can conclusively say that green tea can help treat or cure bird flu. Herb medicine specialists doubt that the German researchers have come up with the special cure.
In fact, Chinese medicine has no effective cure for influenza of any kind as yet. It is an acute, contagious infection of the respiratory tract, the treatment for which is only symptomatic and includes rest, pain relievers and fever reducers, and increased fluid intake.
One of them, Dr. Lin Chun-yu at the Taipei City Hospital Group, said shaddock peel and tea have been prescribed by herb doctors to help relieve flu symptoms, which include fever, sore throat, cough, muscle aches, headache, fatigue, and often signs of the common cold.
"However," Dr. Lin said, "we've never heard of the mixture of the two (shaddock and green tea) could ever cure influenza or prevent it."
Aside from shaddock and tea, Lin added, there are many "relievers." The best known of them all is the "cuidium officuale tea."
Others include ginseng, licorice, ginger, chiretta, bupeulrum, and cured tangerine peels.
No comments:
Post a Comment