A doctor uses acupuncture to treat a Covid-19 patient
Therefore, during the fourth Covid-19 epidemic in Ho Chi Minh City, the health sector in the southern metropolis has combined Eastern and Western medicine in treatment; subsequently, it has helped shorten treatment time for many Covid-19 patients.
The Ho Chi Minh City Institute of Ethnic Medicine and Pharmacy which was assigned to provide professional support to the No. 3 Field Hospital and the No. 1 Covid-19 treatment field hospital in Phu Nhuan District has recently applied the combination of traditional medicine and modern medicine in the treatment of Covid-19 patients.
According to Dr. Huynh Nguyen Loc, Director of the Institute of Ethnic Medicine and Pharmacy in the city, out of more than 2,000 patients who were undergoing treatment provided by institute doctors, 70 percent of them are asymptomatic and have mild symptoms. When there have been no clear treatment regimens, this institute has applied treatment with traditional medicine according to the Ministry of Health’s guideline 1306.
Dr. Truong Thi Ngoc Lan, Vice President of the Ho Chi Minh City Oriental Medicine Association, Deputy Director of the Institute of Traditional Medicine, said that the latent coronavirus can cause a depletion of important immune cells, so the incubation period is long. People with severe illness are those who are elderly and have underlying medical conditions because of their weakened immune systems.
Oriental medicine treats the use of tonics to improve the patient's resistance while herbal medicine such as Xuyen Tam Lien (scientific name Andrographis paniculata), Diep Ha Chau, Honeysuckle will kill the fatal virus while curing the most common symptoms including cough, runny nose, sore throat at the same time.
While providing treatment of Covid-19 patients at the Covid-19 field hospitals, doctors have adjusted and combined modern medicine with traditional medicine in a rhythmic manner in different high-risk groups and they have gained positive results. Specifically, they have been applying treatment according to modern medical protocols for patients with shortness of breath, including oxygen therapy, ventilators, anti-inflammatory drugs, anticoagulants.
During the two past months, the field hospital for Covid-19 treatment in Phu Nhuan No. 1 received and treated 1,916 infected Covid-19 patients with mild symptoms and no symptoms. Of 1,916 infected Covid-19 patients, approximately 1,458 were recoveries.
In parallel with treatment, the institute conducted further research on 1,000 patients, of which 700 patients used traditional medicine whereas 300 patients did not. As a result, patients taking traditional medicine recovered after five days of taking the drug and they were discharged from the hospital three days earlier than the group without herbal medicine, Dr. Truong Thi Ngoc Lan said.
At the end of July 2021, after undergoing two-week Covid-19 treatment at a field hospital in the Thu Duc City, a 65-year-old man, Le Thanh Hao, was discharged. However, he often fell into a state of insomnia, tinnitus, poor appetite, fatigue, and lethargy for a long time, causing his health’s rapid physical and mental deterioration.
The old man went to the Hospital of Traditional Medicine in the city for treatment and rehabilitation for people experiencing a range of new or ongoing symptoms after first being infected with the virus that causes Covid-19.
Doctors have applied traditional treatment methods including massage, acupressure, acupuncture, physical therapy to cure the senior citizen and other patients. Simultaneously, medical workers prescribed traditional medicine combined with suitable nutrition for patients.
Old man Hao remembered that just a week after undergoing the rehabilitation treatment in the Hospital of Traditional Medicine, he could eat and sleep well.
Dr. Do Tan Khoa, Director of Ho Chi Minh City Hospital of Traditional Medicine, said that after the Ministry of Health issued Decision 4539 – the temporary guidance on the use of traditional medicine in the prevention and treatment of Covid-19, the hospital had implemented treatment for patients with post-Covid-19 symptoms and this treatment method initially brought remarkable results.
The hospital has developed a combined treatment method with traditional medicines, non-drug methods comprising acupuncture, thread implantation, proper diet, and exercise methods to support rehabilitation of patients after Covid-19 infection. If patients with mild symptoms of Covid-19 receive proper treatment, they will possibly recover within 7-10 days, Dr. Khoa said.
