A Chinese medicine-based herbal formula developed in Taiwan called Taiwan Chingguan Erhau (清冠二號), or NRICM102, could reduce the mortality rate of COVID-19 cases who experience severe symptoms by 50 percent, National Research Institute of Chinese Medicine (NRICM) director Su Yi-chang (蘇奕彰) said.
Su talked about the treatment on Sunday at the Taipei Traditional Chinese Medicine International Forum, saying that following the success of Taiwan Chingguan Yihau (清冠一號), or NRICM101, the institute is applying for patents and trademarks for the new formulation.
In 2020, permission was granted to export Taiwan Chingguan Yihau, and it has been sold in more than 50 countries with positive responses from overseas, Su said.
Photo: Tsai Si-pei, Taipei Times
Taiwan Chingguan Yihau received emergency use authorization in May last year from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, which allowed it to be manufactured and used for clinical treatment in Taiwan.
Eight pharmaceutical companies have authorization to manufacture the formula.
Taiwan Chingguan Erhau is a modification of its predecessor, which includes indigowoad root, heartleaf houttuynia herb and scutellaria root, among others, Su said.
Ingredients “helpful in fighting viruses” and “regulating the immune system” remain in Taiwan Chingguan Erhau, while stronger substances that “help bolster health maintenance” were substituted for those with modest effects, he added.
Clinical trials of Taiwan Chingguan Yihau were conducted from May to August last year in 15 hospitals including the Tri-Service General Hospital, Taipei Hospital and Taoyuan General Hospital.
Results showed that the chance of people with COVID-19 developing severe symptoms was reduced by 80 percent if they were using the formula, Su said.
Over the same period, more than 100 cases with severe symptoms received Taiwan Chingguan Erhau in clinical trials, with results suggesting a 50 percent drop in mortality rate within 30 days, he said.
Asking pharmaceutical companies to target only COVID-19 cases with severe symptoms is impractical as the pandemic wanes, Su said, adding that the institute plans to test Taiwan Chingguan Erhau’s usefulness against other severe lung diseases.
The formula’s effectiveness in treating chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cardiac and pulmonary arrest, and pulmonary embolism are being assessed, he said.
Su also said that unlike Western medicines that target one disease, a Chinese medical formula can usually treat many diseases.
Taking Chinese medicine is unlikely to produce side effects or develop resistance the same way drugs or antibiotics do, he said.
Su said that the institute plans to approach companies that are interested in manufacturing Taiwan Chingguan Erhau and follow the procedures for launching new medical treatments in Taiwan.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
UNAWARE: Many people sit for long hours every day and eat unhealthy foods, putting them at greater risk of developing one of the ‘three highs,’ an expert said More than 30 percent of adults aged 40 or older who underwent a government-funded health exam were unaware they had at least one of the “three highs” — high blood pressure, high blood lipids or high blood sugar, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday. Among adults aged 40 or older who said they did not have any of the “three highs” before taking the health exam, more than 30 percent were found to have at least one of them, Adult Preventive Health Examination Service data from 2022 showed. People with long-term medical conditions such as hypertension or diabetes usually do not
POLICE INVESTIGATING: A man said he quit his job as a nurse at Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital as he had been ‘disgusted’ by the behavior of his colleagues A man yesterday morning wrote online that he had witnessed nurses taking photographs and touching anesthetized patients inappropriately in Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital’s operating theaters. The man surnamed Huang (黃) wrote on the Professional Technology Temple bulletin board that during his six-month stint as a nurse at the hospital, he had seen nurses taking pictures of patients, including of their private parts, after they were anesthetized. Some nurses had also touched patients inappropriately and children were among those photographed, he said. Huang said this “disgusted” him “so much” that “he felt the need to reveal these unethical acts in the operating theater
Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching