關於 restore recover不同 ，我們在網路上蒐集到這些相關的討論、資訊與評價

［Regime & Redeem］（六之一）

一年前的七月一日，港區國安法在香港實施，當日被指開着插了「光復香港。時代革命」旗幟電單車撞向警方防線的唐英傑，被還押一年後，成為第一宗涉及港區國安法開審的案件。

唐被控告三項罪行，包括煽動他人分裂國家罪及恐怖活動罪等。一年來，大家都疑惑，究竟「光復香港。時代革命」這八個字是否違反港區國安法？這天下午，香港的高等法院開展了相關討論，先由代表控方的嶺南大學歷史系教授劉智鵬作供。

審訊以英語進行，律師及法官均以英語交談，唯劉智鵬以廣東話作供，由法庭翻譯來回傳譯。這天擔任翻譯崗位的是一位中年男士，頭髮稀疏，圓臉，戴着黑色框眼鏡，穿着質料較軟的深黑色黑裝。劉智鵬作供時坐下，翻譯全程站立於劉身旁。

翻譯員說話抑揚頓挫，部份句子尾音拉高。談到「光時」口號原創人梁天琦的主張，劉智鵬引述梁5年前的立法會補選參選單張，內裡提及「港人的自治和獨立身份在97後被港共政權催毁」。翻譯先生說到兩個英文字autonomy和independently, 那個 “me”及 “lee”的尾音都拉得特別高音。

法庭審訊，經常涉及刑事案件，或民事追討，但談及國家身份認同，又涉及到文學院、社會科學院的學術概念，在法庭較少出現。一些涉及歷史或社科範疇的英語詞彙和其讀音，都似乎難倒了翻譯先生。

控方專家證人的劉智鵬，頭髮微曲，結上藍色花紋領呔，穿深灰色西裝，腳踏尖頭皮鞋，他以廣東話解釋：「在歷史的語境中，『光復』某種嘢呢，表示從正統政權的角度出發。」

「正統政權」如何翻譯呢？翻譯先生延誤了好一會兒，差不多要吐出一個P字頭的英語，說出口不到一半，劉智鵬就提示應為 “legitimate”, 這個詞彙在社科領域常出現，有「獲授權」「合法性」的意思。

談到梁天琦的政見，劉智鵬指他理解梁認為香港住民是原生族群。翻譯先生懂得用「原住民」的英語　“indigenous”, 但把此字讀為individual 的頭段發音，後段拉高了尾音，變成indi-genius. 翻譯先生讀了幾次，最後審此案的三名法官的唯一男法官陳嘉信出口糾正，讀音應為inD-genous, d的發音應為「啲」，重音放在前段。

劉智鵬亦提到，他認為中國歷史中，自三國時代到現代中國，「光復」一詞意思沒有變，有恢復落入敵人或異族領土的意思。「香港咁既情況底下，等同於畀敵人或外族佔據了。因此光復香港提出時，香港政府是敵人控制的政府，或者不是我地國家底下的政權政府。」

翻譯先生先把「異族、外族」譯為「barbarians」, 在座的記者面面相覷，因為babarian有「荒蠻」意思。不久，翻譯先生自我修正，說他想了想，「異族、外族」應為　“foreign ethnic group＂.

一個人是否有罪，是否要被長期關柙的命運，涉及「光復香港。時代革命」這八個字的意思上。字眼使用變得很講究，審訊時，法官表示也有聽不清楚的時候。疫情之下，口罩與防飛沫隔板，把文字都化成了不清晰的發音。

劉智鵬提到「光復」有英語之中Restore, Recover, Revive的意思。又指漢語的歷史角度，基本上是關於恢復拿回失去的國土、政權、城市。翻譯到「政權」一字，翻譯先生說了“Regime＂.

忽然，三名原來在席上平排而坐的法官，忽然同時把其坐着的有輪辦公室座椅向後推，三個戴了假髮的頭黏在一起，低聲討論了十數秒，然後又忽然，三個假髮又彈開回到隔開一米的席上平排着。

陳嘉信法官說，他聽不清楚，究竟是不是有提及“Redeem”一詞? 原來他把“Regime”聽為“Redeem”, 在席的另一名法官也附和，表示自己也聽到“Redeem”.

翻譯先生說不好意思，認為是自己戴的口罩有點厚，說會試找一個較薄的口罩來戴。

另一次，杜麗冰、彭寶琴及陳嘉信三位法官，一起聚頭商討另一點，則是陳法官感到有疑問。陳官問到，劉智鵬提及「光復」時有兩個解釋，一，代表政府落入敵人控制；二，代表「不是我們國家底下政權的政府」。

主控追問，不是我們國家，那個我們國家是甚麼？劉智鵬答：「即係中國」；落入敵人手上的國家政府又指係咩呢？劉答：「即係中華人民共和國。」

陳法官除下口罩，其粗黑的眉毛上下跳動着說：「我不太能跟隨討論，特別係第二部分。」然後三個法官的頭部又黏起來，討論了一會。陳法官問，究竟「光復」引伸到的兩個解釋，是兩類不同的概念，還是相同概念的兩種解釋？

劉智鵬說，讓他詳細一點解釋：「光復某種嘢呢，表示正統政權角度去出發。光復香港這句話，提出的人，講說話的人擺咗係一個正統位置，然後去斷定佢面對政府係不正統、不合法既。因此係敵人或者外族控制的政府。」

「而把香港放入去理解呢，就係當時就係畀敵人去控制咗這個政府。講嘢既人覺得，香港政府是一個敵人政府。香港政府主權國中國人民共和國，講嘢既人認為係非法擁有香港這個城市。因此講嘢既人同時認為，香港這個地方不屬於中華人民共和國。」

「講嘢既人」在審訊後期，由一個抽像概念，變成一個實際存在的人。審訊後段，控方播出幾段梁天琦的錄影片段，那是2016年在沙田舉行的立法會新東補選造勢晚會。

劉智鵬承認，「光時」原創者乃是現在關押於監獄，因為2016年旺角騷亂而被判暴動罪成坐牢六年的梁天琦。

控方以梁天琦立法會的宣傳單張，及其立法會造勢晚會片段去「解釋」光時的意思。片段攝於5年前，在法庭上播放。忽然，原木裝修的法庭，時光倒流到2016年，年輕的梁天琦在站台，他的背景有八隻大字「光復香港。時代革命」，紫色的藝術設計字體，配上白色背景，梁天琦穿着寶藍色的hoodie, 卡奇色西褲，戴着圓型眼鏡發言。

梁天琦提到，「當我地掌握了天下的時候，我哋就是做香港主人，冇人再可以打壓到我地......選票就係子彈，這句是Malcolm X講，我地冇槍冇炮，手上選票就是政治版圖變革改革的一仗。只要用你們手上一票，就可以推動香港變革，要去打敗極權政府，靠你手上一票。過去投票，你會覺得選舉只係選一條友入去（立法會）。今日你投票（給我），你選個痴線佬入去，沒錯，很多記者問我會唔會（在立法會）打人呀，我真係冇底線架，我痴線架。」現場觀眾拍掌、喝采。

劉智鵬說，梁天琦的意思是，把選票等同「武器」，「進入立法會後，終極目的是要改變政權，掌握政權，而梁認為，政權係屬於佢所講『我哋既香港人』，某程度上用選票推翻政權為目的」。

主控官再問劉智鵬，梁天琦有沒有鼓吹香港獨立的意思？劉智鵬回應：「可以咁講。」

這天站在犯人欄的「港區國安法」第一被告唐英傑，還押至今已一年，犯人欄裡共有三名穿着綠色懲教署制服的職員押解着他。廿來歲的唐身型茁壯，穿着藍色西裝外套，黑色上衣，戴黑框眼鏡。他全程戴着耳機，聽着翻譯員的廣東話傳譯，時而低頭寫點甚麼。當播放到梁天琦的片段，唐聽得入神。

這天下午，主控發問時段較多，劉智鵬也有承認，「革命」一詞的定義，不只是使用在政治上的，例如「工業革命」，「科學革命」便不一定和政治有關。但他認為，西方Revolution用字和漢字不同，「革命這個詞在中國有很長歷史，由商周時期到晚清年代，無乜變過，基上都係指推翻現政權及取而代之。」

「而在中國應用上，『革命』一詞主要是政治上的，包括辛亥革命，文化大革命。」劉說，字典解釋「革命」的政治含意排第一，「因此革命在漢字和漢語由古到今是不會被想到政治以外的課題。」

劉智鵬代表控方擔任專家證人，下周一繼續作供；而辯方的專家證人有兩位，分別為港大政治及公共行政學系教授李詠怡，及中大新聞與傳播學院院長李立峯。兩人今天亦有到法庭，獲安排坐在法庭律師團後的位置。兩人稍後會作供，對「光復香港。時代革命」作出其專業理解。

＊＊＊
國安法首審專家證人系列（六之一）：［Regime & Redeem］
7月2日控方專家劉智鵬作供
https://www.facebook.com/wwviviantam/photos/a.1435553239866430/4210137115741348/

國安法首審專家證人系列（六之二）：［Just Do it］
7月9日辯方專家李詠怡作供
https://www.facebook.com/wwviviantam/photos/a.1435553239866430/4229321820489544/

國安法首審專家證人系列（六之三）：［過去與未來］
7月12日辯方專家李詠怡作供
https://www.facebook.com/wwviviantam/photos/a.1435553239866430/4237523026336090/

國安法首審專家證人系列（六之四）：［知行合一］
7月13日辯方專家李詠怡及李立峯作供
https://www.facebook.com/wwviviantam/photos/a.1435553239866430/4240215429400183/

國安法首審專家證人系列（六之五）：［沒有誰比誰高貴］
7月14日辯方專家李立峯作供
https://www.facebook.com/wwviviantam/photos/a.1435553239866430/4243328702422189/

國安法首審專家證人系列（六之六）：［選櫻桃的人］
7月15日辯方專家李立峯作供
https://www.facebook.com/wwviviantam/photos/a.1435553239866430/4245860505502342/

（圖為控方專家證人嶺大歷史系教授劉智鵬離開高等法院）

從非典到新冠肺炎

From SARS to Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) - English version is in the second half

新冠肺炎，Novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) 新型冠状病毒肺炎，疫情越來越嚴重，被證實可以人傳人，也在武漢以外的許多地方發現病例，造成世界各國及世界衛生組織（WHO）高度關切，當然也讓很多住在中國大陸及附近區域的華人非常緊張，就好像當年的非典肺炎疫情即將再一次大爆發一樣。

目前，現代醫學還沒有找到治療新冠肺炎的方法，只能針對某些症狀來處理，疫苗的研發更是遙遙無期。怎麼辦？每次遇到這種情況，中醫就會被搬出來，這次也不例外。新冠肺炎爆發後，網上馬上有許多中醫對付新冠肺炎的文章。當然，除非哪位中醫師看過、治好過大量的新冠肺炎病例，所有的討論都是猜想、假設。然而，有些猜想及假設值得參考，有些猜想及假設卻明顯在誤導大眾。

我還沒有治療過新冠肺炎，不能大肆評論。不過，我治好過很多禽流感、豬流感、及每年流感導致的嚴重肺炎及其它病變的病人。其中許多病人是被美國大型西醫院證實為嚴重肺炎，被要求醫院或居家隔離，偷偷溜出來找中醫看診的。也因此許多病人及討論中醫的網站，希望我能針對新冠肺炎發表一些意見。

我們以前就討論過，這些彪悍的流感病毒，經過那麼多年、那麼多次的變種（mutation），每年都不一樣，東漢時期傳下來的經典中醫，根本沒有遇到過現在的病毒，怎麼可能治療如此嚴重的肺炎呢？

中醫從來就不認識病毒，也不從病毒種類的角度來思考。中醫是探討人體受到外界因素破壞，失去平衡後，身體會有哪些現象、哪些反應，根據那些現象、那些反應來調整身體狀況，期待身體能恢復到平衡狀態，把外界因素帶來的破壞減到最小。我打個半開玩笑的比方，警匪槍戰時，我們注意到壞人哪個方向來的火力強大，造成我們部署在哪個位置的警員傷亡，這時我們會趕緊重新部署人員，或者想辦法增派警力，我們大概無暇去管壞人是用哪個牌子的槍、哪個工廠做的子彈！

雖然幾百年幾千年下來，病毒變種等等的外界因素改變了非常多，人體演化的改變卻非常有限。人體的功能，無論是怎麼被破壞的，某項功能被破壞而導致的症狀、反應、後續演變，卻依然有明顯的脈絡可循。也因為如此，在很多情況下，中醫以專注人體本身平衡狀態的治療方式，反而比西醫專注在外來敵人的治療方式來得有效許多。

依據多年累積大量的臨床病例觀察，無論是禽流感、豬流感、還是每年的流感，人體敗壞的進程依然如同傷寒雜病論探討的一樣，非常簡化的說，從一般桂枝湯證、葛根湯證等的表寒，轉變到小青龍湯證等的裡寒，津液不足、水道運化失調而化熱，變成比較嚴重的大青龍湯證，或者更嚴重肺臟的寒熱夾雜，金匮要略肺痿肺癰咳嗽上氣病脈證治第七篇中的射干麻黃證、葶藶大棗瀉肺湯證、澤漆湯證、小青龍加石膏湯證等等混雜出現，搞得亂七八糟，也不再是什麼簡單方劑可以對應的。

然而，雖然進程很像，不同於一般外感的是，這些嚴重流感肺炎病情加重的改變速度快非常多，也來得猛烈頑強很多。一般的外感從桂枝湯證、葛根湯證等轉變到大青龍湯證或更複雜的病情，通常需要一兩週的時間。同時，還得病人自己非常不注意，或者醫生治療錯誤，一般感冒才會沒辦法自己好，反而變成嚴重的病症。這幾年的流感，從一開始覺得不太對勁，到嚴重複雜的病情，只需要三四天，而且有越來越快的趨勢。這大幅提高中醫師治療流感時，判斷功力及敏感度的要求，中醫師必須在許多症狀還沒有出現時，就得抓緊時間，趕緊行動，卻又不能預防過度，反而讓病情加重。換句話說，時機、劑量、藥材比例變得非常重要，稍有不慎，就無法反轉病情。

舉個例子，有些病人得了流感，咳嗽非常嚴重，痰非常多，呼吸困難。依照中醫的辨證，假如一致都是寒，舌苔白、小便清、怕冷等等，本來依照辨證論治，我們可能會開射干麻黃湯加減給病人。然而，因為流感的進程非常快速，中醫師得非常敏感，譬如看到舌苔白卻帶有一絲絲乾的感覺，就很可能得加上大寒的石膏來避免肺喪失津液，卻又不能加太多石膏，以免肺寒加重。又譬如聽到咳嗽聲音非常深沈，從肺的底部發出，又帶有膿痰的濁音，就很可能得加上瀉肺的葶藶來避免肺中水飲、痰飲大幅增加，卻又不能加太多葶藶，以免肺變得太虛弱。

我們回頭來看這次的新冠肺炎。根據有限的資訊，我們知道感染後有大約兩週的潛伏期，這段時間沒有什麼症狀，病人可能只會感到有些疲憊。剛開始發病時，很像一般的感冒，病人會發熱、乏力，並不嚴重，沒有什麼流鼻涕等上呼吸道的症狀，有的甚至沒有發熱。約一半的病人一週多後恢復，另一半的病人卻在一週後出現呼吸困難，有些病人會快速進展為急性呼吸窘迫綜合征、膿毒症休克、代謝性酸中毒、凝血功能障礙等等嚴重的問題，可能導致死亡。

從上面的敘述，我們不難發現，一開始很像一般中醫外感的桂枝湯證、葛根湯證，一半的病人也就自己恢復了，另一半的病人卻出現快速的入裡化熱現象，肺津液迅速流失，非常濃稠的痰飲沈積在肺部下方。同時，中醫認為肺為人體調節津液的源頭，肺金生水，好比天空下雨一般，而當肺的功能及津液調節出現嚴重障礙，很快就會拖累三焦水道、腎臟等的功能，導致上面提到的幾種嚴重病情。換句話說，新冠肺炎可以讓輕微的太陽證外感，迅速發展成嚴重的肺痿肺癰，再進一步瓦解人體其它功能的運作。

怎麼治療？在沒有直接治療武漢肺炎病人的情況下，我們也只能根據有限的資訊來推論，不過，以前大量的流感肺炎治療病例，可以讓我們比較有信心的面對新冠肺炎。當病人已經出現明顯新冠肺炎症狀時，大多已經入裡化熱，嚴重的肺痿肺癰。這個時候，得用大劑量的石膏清肺熱、加強肺津液運作。也得靠葶藶、大戟等把肺下方濃稠的痰飲及胸腔可能的積液去掉，痰飲積液不去，是無法修復肺家津液運作的。同時，肺氣不宣，就好像吸管上頭堵住了，吸管內的水無法上下，我們還得使用麻黃等宣肺、發陽的中藥來配合。另外，肺已經受損了，除了大動作急救外，比較穩定後，還得靠一些潤肺的藥來收尾，讓肺完全恢復。如果我們列一個可能加入的中藥單，大致有石膏、葶藶子、大戟、生半夏、麻黃、射干、紫菀 、款冬花、 生薑、炙甘草、紅棗、麥門冬、杏仁等等。當然，如前面所言，用藥的時機、劑量、藥材比例非常重要，每一個病人的差異也很大，嚴格考驗中醫師的功力與膽識，一旦判斷錯誤，不但沒有效果，反而可能會加重病情。

網上有些中醫師，說新冠肺炎或其它流感肺炎可以用板藍根清熱解毒來治好。也有些中醫師說可以用麥門冬湯等等的輕劑治好嚴重的肺炎。甚至還有些中醫師說多喝綠豆湯可以預防新冠肺炎！其實，真的遇過、治好過禽流感、豬流感等嚴重流感肺炎的中醫師，一看這些文章，就幾乎可以確定這些人根本沒有治療過嚴重肺炎的經驗，充其量只是在西醫治療下，在旁邊幫幫病人一些小忙而已。這樣的情況下，難怪中國政府平時大力推展中醫，真的有如同新冠肺炎這樣重大疫情爆發時，卻看不到中國政府大量使用中醫方法來治療病人、控制疫情。醫學是實戰的學問，沒有大量臨床病例，講得再好聽都是沒有用的，如果希望中醫真的在主流醫學裡站立起來，希望中醫真的能面對大規模的疫情，回歸最基本的臨床療效，才是最重要的，其它都只像是武術表演，而非實際作戰。

From SARS to Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Written in Chinese by Dr. Andy Lee, January 21, 2020
Translated to English by Dr. James Yeh and Dr. Andy Lee, March 28, 2020

The epidemic from Novel Coronavirus is becoming much more serious. Transmissivity among people has been proven. (Note: It's now named COVID–19. The term “Coronavirus” will be used here.) Cases were found in areas beyond Wuhan. It has caused serious attentions from the WHO (World Health Organization) and many countries around the world. The residents in China and the surrounding regions are quite worried and wonder whether it will break out like SARS (2003). (Note: The article was written on January 21, 2020, before Coronavirus became a global pandemic.)

So far, the modern medical field has not found a cure for Coronavirus, but resorts to treating patients’ symptoms only. Any vaccine to treat Coronavirus is still no way in the sight. What do we do? Every time such a situation happens, the topic of using Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is raised (at least among the Chinese communities). There is no exception this time. Many articles related to using TCM on Coronavirus have been popping up on the web. However, unless some TCM doctors who have actually treated many Coronavirus cases, all the discussion would be hypotheses or assumptions. Some hypotheses are worth considering while many others could be quite misleading.

Personally I have not treated patients cases related to Coronavirus. (Note: Shortly after this writing, the author has directly and indirectly participated in treating patients of Coronavirus successfully, and has published other later blogs which included his involvement in treating those patients. Please refer to his medical blog http://www.DrLee.us.) However, I did treat and cure patients inflicted by other viruses in the past, such as the Bird Flu, Swine Flu, and other influenza. A good amount of those patients were diagnosed as severe pneumonia by large hospitals and were required for isolation or self-quarantine. Hence many of patients and online medical forums online are asking for my opinions about Coronavirus.

As we discussed before, all these viruses from the outbreaks are either newly found or mutated from previous strands. The strand can be different every year. Therefore, people always ask how one can say that the TCM knowledge developed in East Han Dynasty (25-220 AD) would be any useful for treating the modern diseases, let alone the severe ones.

It turns out that TCM does not recognize any virus and does not deal with the concept of which type of virus is microscopically at work. TCM looks at how human bodies would become out-of-balance and react to external stimuli. Once the body is out of balance, what symptoms will exhibit and what reactions will be to adjust the body conditions to regain the balance, hence to reduce the damage to the body to the minimum. Let me take an example to illustrate: when there is a gunfight between the police and bandits, we want to see which direction the shots are coming from, causing casualties of the police force, so that we are able to adjust or reinforce the police power. We have no time to think about which brand of the guns or bullets the bandits use.

Over thousands of years, the external viruses have changed and evolved quite a bit, but the evolution of human beings was quite limited. The human body function, no matter how it was damaged, the symptoms due to the damage of the function, the reactions, and the following progression of the disease still follow certain paths. For this very reason, TCM’s focus on the balance of the human body often surpasses the effectiveness of Western medicine, which focuses more on external treats and the microscopic aspect of how human body’s cells are impacted by the external treats.

From the accumulation of many years of clinical treatment and observations, no matter it is Bird Flu, Swine Flu or other influenza, the bodily ‘damage’ and its progression by the viral attack still follow the description of the classic TCM literature “Treatise on Cold Damage on Miscellaneous Disease” (傷寒雜病論). In short summary, the disease usually starts with “Exterior Deficiency or Weakness” (表虛) or “External Coldness” (表寒), for which is matched to one of the several syndromes named with the corresponding herbal remedies such as “Gui Zhi Tang” (桂枝湯) and “Ge Geng Tang” (葛根湯). Then, the disease moves onto the next stage “Interior Coldness” (裡寒) or “Lung Coldness” (肺寒), which shows the syndromes named as “Xiao Qing Long Tang” (小青龍湯), etc. When the respiratory system is “affected by the coldness”, the body fluid function of the respiratory system gets affected. The circulation function of the lung becomes “Dry and Overheated” (燥热). This would lead to a more serious stage “Heated Interior” (入裡化熱) and would often be matched to its herbal remedy “Da Qing Long Tang” (大青龍湯). Or, even worse, it becomes so-called “mixed coldness and heat” (寒熱夾雜) in the lung. Such a complex situation was extensively discussed in Chapter 7 of the classic literature “Synopsis of Prescriptions of the Golden Chamber” (金匮要略肺痿肺癰咳嗽上氣病脈證治第七篇). At this complex stage, the illness development varies significantly among patients of different preconditions and other variants. It is no longer the situation that a simple herbal remedy can be applied to all the situations. The TCM theory illustrates various treatments by those herbal remedies such as “She Gan Ma Hung Tang” (射干麻黃湯), “Ting Li Da Zao Xie Fei Tang” (葶藶大棗瀉肺湯), ”Ze Qi Tang” (澤漆湯), “Xiao Qing Long Jia Shi Gao Tang” (小青龍加石膏湯), and others.

However, even the disease progressions are similar, the more serious viral attacks like Coronavirus can and often do progress much faster with more severe consequences than the common flu. As described in the previous paragraph, normally the disease progression of the “External Coldness” stage to the more serious “Heated Interior” stage usually takes one to two weeks. It is also often due to the ignorance of the patient or misdiagnosis and treatment of the doctor, which prevents the patient from recovering from this “catching a cold”. In the recent several years though, the time period between the time that the patient did not feel well and the time that the patient is in a serious and complex situation can be as short as 3 to 4 days. We also see the trend that this period gets shorter and shorter. In other words, the disease progression is getting much faster. This phenomenon poses a much higher demand on TCM doctors’ ability to make a quick and proper judgment and sensitivity to the subject matter. TCM doctors must intercept the disease progression before it reaches to a more serious stage, even without obvious symptoms of the next stage. TCM doctors have to timely prescribe the proper herbal remedy in terms of the type of herbs and relative dosages of herbs. Too weak a dosage could not stop the progression while too strong a dosage could worsen the condition also. A misjudgment would not be able the turn the conditions around, but hurt the patient more.

The above can be illustrated by a simple example. A patient caught flu and has symptoms such as heavy coughing, lots of sputum, and difficulty in breathing. From the TCM dialectics, with observations of white tongue coating, clear urine, and feeling chilly, etc., it is clearly caused by “Coldness”. Such a patient typically should be prescribed with “She Gan Ma Hung Tang” (射干麻黃湯) or its variations. However, due to the fast progression of the modern flu, the TCM doctor would need to pay attention to much subtle details such as the dryness of the tongue although it still shows the white coating. In this case, Sheng Shi Gao (Gypsum, 生石膏) might need to be added to the herbal remedy to make sure that the lung would not suffer dryness. Given that Sheng Shi Gao (Gypsum, 生石膏) itself is an ingredicient that is “very cold” in nature, the dosage could not be too strong to make the lung too chilly. At the opposite end of the spectrum, if the sound of the coughing is very ‘deep’, like dense sputum coming from the bottom of the lung, the herbal remedy might need to add Ting Li (Sisymbrium indicum, 葶藶) to clear up the lung to avoid too much mucus in the lung. And again, the dosage of葶藶 could not be too much to weaken the lung. (Note: Handling the proper timing and proper remedy can be a real test to the ability and experience of the TCM doctor.)

Let’s go back to the discussion on Coronavirus. From the limited information available so far, we know that there are about two weeks of incubation period after the infection. There are little symptoms during this period and the patient may just feel more tired than usual. More obvious symptoms will start like those of common flu with fever, fatigue but not too serious. Upper respiratory symptoms like running nose are less common. Some patients may not even exhibit fever. About half of the patients infected will recover over a week or so. The other half of the patients will experience difficulty in breathing, or rapid progression to acute respiratory distress syndrome, septic shock, metabolic acidosis, coagulopathy, etc. Some patients had died due to these severe conditions.

From the above description, this Coronavirus, in the beginning, is very much like the common flu and will stay in stages of “Exterior Deficiency or Weakness” (表虛) or “External Coldness” (表寒). Half of the patients infected will recover by themselves as in common cold. The other half of the patients may exhibit situations of rapid penetration into inner organs and excess ‘heat’, which causes loss of fluidity of respiratory system and accumulation of dense sputum at the lower part of the lung. In the TCM theory, the lung serves as the initial “gating factor” of body fluids. When the lung fails to serve the proper function, other organs like the kidney will be adversely affected also. In other words, Coronavirus can turn a light “External Coldness” to extremely severe “Lung Atrophy” (肺痿) and “Lung Abscess” (肺癰), which in turn will impair the function of other organs.

How to treat? Without direct experience of treating Coronavirus patients, we can only postulate from our limited information available in hand. (Note: Shortly after this writing, the author has directly and indirectly participated in treating patients of Coronavirus successfully. The treatments were exactly as outlined in this article.) From the ample experience of dealing pneumonia cases caused by flu, we are confident that we can also treat Coronavirus successfully. When patients are showing the obvious Coronavirus symptoms, most of them would have entered the stage of “Heated Interior” (入裡化熱) with “Lung Atrophy” (肺痿) or “Lung Abscess” (肺癰) to a certain degree. At this stage, we will need large dosages of Sheng Shi Gao (Gypsum, 生石膏) to clear the heat to ensure the proper fluidity function of the lung. Also, we will rely on Ting Li (Sisymbrium indicum, 葶藶), Da Ji (Euphorbia pekinensis Rupr., 大戟), etc. to clear up the dense mucus at the lower part of the lung and to remove the edema of the chest chamber. Without getting rid of the excess mucus and fluid, the lung cannot properly function. We need to use Ma Huang (Ephedra sinica Stapf., 麻黃), etc. to enhance the lung function (宣肺、發陽) and restore proper breathing. When the lung is damaged as in fibrosis, after the conditions stabilize, we need to “moisturize” the lung (润肺) to help the lung to recover fully. In other words, we will most likely use the herbal ingredients such as Sheng Shi Gao (Gypsum, 生石膏), Ting Li (Sisymbrium indicum, 葶藶), Da Ji (Euphorbia pekinensis Rupr., 大戟), Sheng Ban Xia (Pinellia ternate, 生半夏), Ma Huang (Ephedra sinica Stapf., 麻黃), She Gan (Belamcanda chinensis, 射干), Zi Wan (Aster tataricus, 紫菀), Kuan Dong Hua (Tussilago farfara flower, 款冬花), Sheng Jiang (Ginger, 生薑), Zhi Gan Cao (processed Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch., 炙甘草), Hong Zao (Ziziphus jujube, 紅棗), Mai Men Dong (Ophiopogon japonicas, 麥門冬), Xing Ren (Prunus armeniaca, 杏仁), and others. As we discussed in previous paragraphs, the timing, dosage, the relative ratios of different herbal ingredients are very critical. Given that there are quite some variations in patient conditions, the challenges on TCM doctors’ comprehensive knowledge, judgment and courage are unprecedented.

In those articles online, some TCM doctors claimed that Coronavirus can be cured by Ban Lan Gen (Isatis tinctoria root, 板藍根), which is believed to have natural antibiotic chemicals to “clear up the heat and toxics”. Some TCM doctors suggested using a simple mild herbal remedy “Mai Men Dong Tang” (麥門冬湯), which mainly relies on the ingredient Mai Men Dong (Ophiopogon japonicas, 麥門冬). Some people even suggested that having the green bean soup could prevent Coronavirus. In fact, those TCM doctors who have good experience of treating Bird Flu, Swine Flu, and pneumonia caused by other influenza would know that the people making those claims never had the real experience of treating severe pneumonia. They at most helped in a minor way the patients under Western medicine treatments. Under such conditions, it is not a surprise that the China government has not used TCM as the primary method of treating Coronavirus, despite its big promotion of TCM in the recent years. (Note: After this writing, Coronavirus epidemic became so severe in China that the China government changed its strategy and started to use TCM extensively in treating many mild Coronaviurs cases.)

Medicine is the science based on real treatment results. Without a good amount of successful cases in clinical treatments, it is useless to promote any fancy idea of treating patients. If we would like TCM to be respected in the mainstream medicine and to be meaningfully used in a severe epidemic like Coronavirus, it is critical to focus on the most fundamental. That’s the clinical results. Like the martial arts, unless you can fight off the bad guys, it’s just a show of fancy movements.

（http://andylee.pro/wp/?p=7169）
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