The rationale behind the four major anti-coronavirus principles of Chinese herbal based on systems medicine.

Abstract

As the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and its multi variants continue to rage into the second year of a global pandemic, many success stories of applying Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) to COVID-19 patients continue to emerge from China and other parts of the world. Herewith, the authors summarized those experiences from a systems medicine perspective and categorize the four major treatment principles: (1) focusing on eliminating toxins in the early stage of the disease, (2) tonifying the body against deficiency throughout the entire disease course, (3) treating affected lung and intestine simultaneously based on visceral interactions, and (4) and cooling the blood and removing blood stasis at the later stage. The rationale behind these principles is shown via a scientific interpretation. This is not only helpful in reducing the complexity of promoting the CHM applications to enhance anti-pandemic efficacy but also to ramp up the process of integrating traditional Chinese medicine with modern medical practices.