Guest guest Posted February 19, 2002 Report Share Posted February 19, 2002 I wan to stock a beginning Chinese herb pharmacy but my finances are limited, so I want to have on hand some formulas, and mail order some others. Out of around 190 basic formulas mostly used. I suppose the rule of 80/20 that applies to most problems is respected : 20 % of the formulas are used in 80 % of the cases. So I suppose I could first stock with these 20 %, (40 formulas), and mail order the others when necessary. Question : WHAT FORMULAS WOULD YOU RECOMMEND TO START WITH (40 formulas) Thank you Frederic Lecut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 19, 2002 Report Share Posted February 19, 2002 In a message dated 2/19/02 12:07:32 AM Eastern Standard Time, fredlecut writes: I wan to stock a beginning Chinese herb pharmacy but my finances are limited, so I want to have on hand some formulas, and mail order some others. Out of around 190 basic formulas mostly used. I suppose the rule of 80/20 that applies to most problems is respected : 20 % of the formulas are used in 80 % of the cases. So I suppose I could first stock with these 20 %, (40 formulas), and mail order the others when necessary. Question : WHAT FORMULAS WOULD YOU RECOMMEND TO START WITH (40 formulas) Thank you Frederic Lecut Frederic, How did you come up with the number of 40 formulas. Bob Flaws has a Patent Herb book with 160 patents in it. He also combines a basic 5 patients with others. I believe the area of the country will make a difference on what herbs you use. You will have to lets us know what country, state or climate you live in. these 5 are, Xiao Chai Hu Tang Xiao Yao Wan Jia Wei Xiao Wan Bu Zhong Yi Qi Tang Ban Xia Xia Xin Tang Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 20, 2002 Report Share Posted February 20, 2002 Hello Karate Stan Here is how I come up to 40 : there is a rule that applies to lots of problems : marketing, statistics... the rule of 80/20 : If you are in sales, 20 % of your customers bring you 80 % of your incomes, if you are a school teacher : 20 % of the students are source of 80% of your problems, a cattle farmer : 20 % of your cows produce 80% of your milk. So you have to focus on the 20 %. It is not always 20/80, sometimes it is 20/75. sometimes 20/85, but generally speaking, it works.. So I suppose that this rule applies also to TCM Formulas : 20 % of the formulas are used in 80 % of the cases. So if I take 20 % of the 160 formulas recommended by Bob Flaws, this is 32 formulas. With these, one can cover 80 % of cases. So I stock 32 formulas, and when I need something different, I mail order the formulas. By beginning this way, I do not have to spend too much money upfront. Once I make profit I bring in more formulas, all the way to 160. I live in Alabama. Thank you for your time Frederic Lecut KarateStan wrote: In a message dated 2/19/02 12:07:32 AM Eastern Standard Time, fredlecut writes: I wan to stock a beginning Chinese herb pharmacy but my finances are limited, so I want to have on hand some formulas, and mail order some others. Out of around 190 basic formulas mostly used. I suppose the rule of 80/20 that applies to most problems is respected : 20 % of the formulas are used in 80 % of the cases. So I suppose I could first stock with these 20 %, (40 formulas), and mail order the others when necessary. Question : WHAT FORMULAS WOULD YOU RECOMMEND TO START WITH (40 formulas) Thank you Frederic Lecut Frederic, How did you come up with the number of 40 formulas. Bob Flaws has a Patent Herb book with 160 patents in it. He also combines a basic 5 patients with others. I believe the area of the country will make a difference on what herbs you use. You will have to lets us know what country, state or climate you live in. these 5 are, Xiao Chai Hu Tang Xiao Yao Wan Jia Wei Xiao Wan Bu Zhong Yi Qi Tang Ban Xia Xia Xin Tang Post message: Chinese Traditional Medicine Subscribe: Chinese Traditional Medicine- Un: Chinese Traditional Medicine- List owner: Chinese Traditional Medicine-owner Shortcut URL to this page: /community/Chinese Traditional Medicine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 20, 2002 Report Share Posted February 20, 2002 Thanks for the TCM info, Karate Stan, and thanks for the marketing info, Frederic. Who will you be selling to, Frederic? People referred from TCM healers (and who have a proper TCM diagnosis) or the general public? Many TCM herbalists buy (and in some cases gather) bulk herbs and prepare them. For example, the TCM herbalist I saw prepared his own tintures and capsules in addition to mixing up individualized baggies of herbs that the client prepared as tea. One thing he said that stands out for me is that he wanted a reliable domestic source for good quality Dan Shen in case the political situation between the U.S. and China ever interupted his supply line from China. This is an herb that he knows a great deal about and has seen some very dramatic results from its use when appropriate. In addition to TCM herbs he bought in bulk, he also went on gathering trips into the desert and mountains every few months for local herbs. He used to gather osha and prepare osha capsules. (Osha can be particularly effective for respiratory infections - especially stubborn ones. I believe the reason he became interested in herbs and eventually an herbalist was because osha was what helped him beat an especially stubborn respiratory infection.) Many TCM herbalists prepare the formulas themselves from supplies of bulk herbs they keep on hand. In larger cities, there are TCM apothecaries where people can take prescriptions from healers to be filled. That leaves non-TCM herbalists and the general public to sell to. Selling to the general public is a legitimate concern. In an ideal world, there would be a trained TCM herbalist in every community. But we're far from the ideal situation in the U.S. and many other countries. In the meanwhile, are people to continue suffering when there are things that could help them at least some? Like my situation when I discovered that all those years of being so cold, I could have been warmed up by ginger. Ginger alone didn't and will not cure me, but I was very grateful for any relief of any of my symptoms. In addition to considering which formulas get used the most, another consideration in the case of the general public is which are the safest formulas, the ones least likely to cause problems if the person guesses wrong. Herbs do have effects. When they are used correctly they can alleviate problems. When they are used inappropriately, they can cause problems. A good example is people using ginger for nausea. It will help not only the nausea in a person who is too Cold but will help alleviate some other problems the person is having. But give ginger alone to a person who already is too Hot, and that's adding Heat to Heat, and will worsen or even create problems. Who or what will be helping to guide the general public into the proper selection of herbs? Package labeling? The owner of the health food store? It's the health store owners who have some idea of what is appropriate when who often are the most successful - especially in small communities. The laws of the state one lives in also will need to be considered. For example, there are some herbs which one cannot obtain without training. One cannot buy aconite from an herbal apothecary in California without the proper training and credentials. Aconite is the most powerful herb there is for Warming the Interior and Restoring Collapsed Yang. This definitely is an herb one doesn't want to give to someone who isn't severely Cold and isn't Kidney and Spleen Yang Deficient. One might also want to consider stocking according to TCM syndromes. A good question for the professionals on the list may be if you could only get one formula for each of the TCM syndromes, what would be the best and safest? This is not the way it's done in TCM (which puts the emphasis on individualized help for individuals) but this may be the best in the real world in which many communities don't have a trained TCM healer and aren't likely to for many years. One also has to keep in mind that one-size-fits-all formulas for some symptoms may be useless or worse. A good example is fatigue and formulas for energy. What is the underlying Root of the fatigue? Blood Deficiency? Qi Deficiency? Yang Deficiency? Yin Deficiency? Dampness accumulation? Fluid Deficiency? What helps one will do nothing for another and may even worsen fatigue in a third person. The reason Karate Stan commented about the area of the country one is in is because this can influence which TCM imbalances are more prevalent. Alabama and the South in general tends to be more humid than much of the rest of the country. Also, what used to be the typical Southern diet (and still is for many) is more greasy than diets in a lot of other places. One would tend to see more cases of Dampness in the humid southeast than in many others parts of the country. It's not that plenty of people in other areas aren't troubled by Dampness (they are - espeically since the introduction of predominate junk food diets) but that a higher precentage of people in the South would tend to be troubled by it because of the predominate weather condition and the diet. I live in a desert area. There tends to be more problems with Dryness here than in more humid parts of the country. It's not that individuals in other parts of the country don't suffer from Dryness imbalances but Dryness problems are seen more often in desert areas than in other areas. Many TCM books tend to give short-shift to Dryness problems because they aren't seen that often in many areas - only if one lives in a desert. The predominate problems in the U.S. are Spleen Deficiency problems and Liver Stagnation problems. The Spleen problems primarily due to diet and to eating on the run, eating at irregular times, eating under stress, etc., and the Liver problems due to frustration and stress. Another approach to getting the most help to the general public in the safest and most effective way may be herbal seasoning blends for cooking. Keeping in mind that the Chinese definition of a balanced diet is one that includes all 5 flavors, one can come up with seasoning blends or brevage blends for people who are too Cold, too Hot, etc. Victoria >Frederic Lecut <fredlecut >Chinese Traditional Medicine >Chinese Traditional Medicine >Re: [Chinese Traditional Medicine] Pharmacy >Tue, 19 Feb 2002 21:46:53 -0600 >MIME-Version: 1.0 >Received: from [216.115.96.61] by hotmail.com (3.2) with ESMTP id >MHotMailBE3C6705004740043163D873603D60C0135; Tue, 19 Feb 2002 19:50:22 >-0800 >Received: from [216.115.97.187] by n11. with NNFMP; 20 Feb >2002 03:48:12 -0000 >Received: (EGP: mail-8_0_2); 20 Feb 2002 03:48:12 -0000 >Received: (qmail 13413 invoked from network); 20 Feb 2002 03:48:11 -0000 >Received: from unknown (216.115.97.172) by m6.grp.snv. with QMQP; >20 Feb 2002 03:48:11 -0000 >Received: from unknown (HELO harrier.prod.itd.earthlink.net) >(207.217.120.12) by mta2.grp.snv. with SMTP; 20 Feb 2002 03:48:11 >-0000 >Received: from 1cust94.tnt2.dothan.al.da.uu.net ([67.213.66.94] >helo=earthlink.net)by harrier.prod.itd.earthlink.net with esmtp (Exim 3.33 >#1)id 16dNjb-0001KO-00for Chinese Traditional Medicine ; Tue, 19 Feb 2002 >19:47:59 -0800 >From sentto-432927-1831-1014176892-victoria_dragon Tue, 19 Feb 2002 >19:52:00 -0800 >X-eGroups-Return: >sentto-432927-1831-1014176892-victoria_dragon=hotmail.com.\ com >X-Sender: fredlecut >X-Apparently-Chinese Traditional Medicine >Message-ID: <3C731C21.DE3523BA >X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.76 [en]C-CCK-MCD EBM-Compaq (Win95; U) >X-Accept-Language: en,pdf >References: <17d.3d7d31a.29a3fcd5 >X--Profile: fredlecut >Mailing-List: list Chinese Traditional Medicine ; contact >Chinese Traditional Medicine-owner >Delivered-mailing list Chinese Traditional Medicine >Precedence: bulk >List-Un: <Chinese Traditional Medicine- > > >Hello Karate Stan >Here is how I come up to 40 : >there is a rule that applies to lots of problems : marketing, >statistics... the rule of 80/20 : If you are >in sales, 20 % of your customers bring you 80 % of your incomes, if you >are a school teacher : >20 % of the students are source of 80% of your problems, a cattle farmer >: 20 % of your cows >produce 80% of your milk. So you have to focus on the 20 %. >It is not always 20/80, sometimes it is 20/75. sometimes 20/85, but >generally speaking, it works.. > >So I suppose that this rule applies also to TCM Formulas : 20 % of the >formulas are used in 80 >% of the cases. So if I take 20 % of the 160 formulas recommended by Bob >Flaws, this is 32 >formulas. With these, one can cover 80 % of cases. So I stock 32 >formulas, and when I need >something different, I mail order the formulas. >By beginning this way, I do not have to spend too much money upfront. >Once I make profit I >bring in more formulas, all the way to 160. >I live in Alabama. >Thank you for your time >Frederic Lecut > >KarateStan wrote: > > > In a message dated 2/19/02 12:07:32 AM Eastern Standard Time, > > fredlecut writes: > > > > > > > >> I wan to stock a beginning Chinese herb pharmacy but my finances are > >> > >> limited, so I want to have on hand some formulas, and mail order > >> some > >> others. > >> Out of around 190 basic formulas mostly used. I suppose the rule of > >> 80/20 that applies to most problems is respected : 20 % of the > >> formulas > >> are used in 80 % of the cases. > >> So I suppose I could first stock with these 20 %, (40 formulas), and > >> > >> mail order the others when necessary. > >> Question : WHAT FORMULAS WOULD YOU RECOMMEND TO START WITH (40 > >> formulas) > >> > >> Thank you > >> Frederic Lecut > >> > >> > >> > > > > Frederic, > > How did you come up with the number of 40 formulas. > > Bob Flaws has a Patent Herb book with 160 patents in it. He also > > combines a basic 5 patients with others. I believe the area of the > > country will make a difference on what herbs you use. You will have to > > lets us know what country, state or climate you live in. > > > > these 5 are, > > > > Xiao Chai Hu Tang > > Xiao Yao Wan > > Jia Wei Xiao Wan > > Bu Zhong Yi Qi Tang > > Ban Xia Xia Xin Tang > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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