病了 Bing le: Western and Chinese Medicine 中藥與西藥 2

We are taking turns getting sick from a stomach flu 腸胃性流行感冒. First my wife, then my daughter and now our younger son. I haven’t gotten it yet because I’ve been pumping my body with Airborne, which strengthens the immune system 免疫力. This is a Chinese medicinal way of treating illnesses, treating the illness by building up the system. This is a macro shot of a very tiny Chinese pill box that has absolutely nothing to do with stomach flu.

One difference I have noticed is that medicines must be taken. For me, I rarely if ever take medicines, but my wife and her friends will immediately take medicine at the first sign of sickness. (Of course this is also a male-female difference 男女不同的地方 in which it is said that men will only see a doctor when they have passed out or are nearly dead.) But on the other hand, if Chinese take medicines at the first sign of illness it is perhaps because they are not that bad tasting, even though they are supposed to be bad tasting. Chinese medicines also do not have a lot of side effects 不良的副作用.because they are not as concentrated as Western medicines. They are somewhat similar in nature to herbal remedies 草藥 here but much more highly developed.