Traditional Vietnamese medicine (Y học Cổ truyền Việt Nam), also known as Southern Herbology (Thuốc Nam) is a traditional medicine practiced by Vietnamese people. It is influenced by traditional Chinese medicine. The other traditional medicine that is also practiced in Vietnam is

traditional Chinese medicine Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medicine, alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. A large share of its claims are pseudoscientific, with the majority of treatments having no robust evidence ...

(Trung Y), also known as Northern Herbology (Thuốc Bắc). Thuốc Nam is one of two kinds of folk remedies known to villagers, the other being the traditional exercise

dưỡng sinh The exercise dưỡng sinh or Dưỡng Sinh (compare Chinese ''Yangsheng'' 養生) is a form of partly indigenous breathing and yoga exercise similar to Tai Chi popularized in Vietnam by the historian and political activist Nguyễn Khắc Viện. ...

Defining principles

Traditional Vietnamese medicine differs from traditional Chinese medicine in which it relies wholly on native ingredients which are then used in their fresh state or simply dried. Vietnamese medicine typically does not require complicated

decoction Decoction is a method of extraction by boiling herbal or plant material (which may include stems, roots, bark and rhizomes) to dissolve the chemicals of the material. It is the most common preparation method in various herbal medicine systems. D ...

seen in Chinese medicine. Even common herbs and vegetables like rau răm (Vietnamese coriander), kinh giới (Vietnamese balm), cải cúc (crowndaisy), rau muống (water spinach)Rau muống: một vị thuốc Nam thuần túy
are used. The flowers of ''

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'', ''

Jasminum sambac ''Jasminum sambac'' (Arabian jasmine or Sambac jasmine) is a species of jasmine native to Bhutan and India. It is cultivated in many places, especially West Asia, South Asia and Southeast Asia. It is naturalised in many scattered locales: Mauri ...

'' are also employed for their pharmacologic properties. Animal products like

silkworms ''Bombyx mori'', commonly known as the domestic silk moth, is a moth species belonging to the family Bombycidae. It is the closest relative of '' Bombyx mandarina'', the wild silk moth. Silkworms are the larvae of silk moths. The silkworm is of ...

are infrequently used. In addition to ingested preparations,

ointment A topical medication is a medication that is applied to a particular place on or in the body. Most often topical medication means application to body surfaces such as the skin or mucous membranes to treat ailments via a large range of classes ...

s and

poultice A poultice or cataplasm, also called a fomentation, is a soft moist mass, often heated and medicated, that is applied to the skin to reduce inflammation, soothe pain, promote healing, or otherwise treat wounds or ailments. Soft materials like cer ...

are also part of the repertoire, along with steaming therapy (xông hơi).

Textual records

Various

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s and

treatise A treatise is a Formality, formal and systematic written discourse on some subject concerned with investigating or exposing the main principles of the subject and its conclusions."mwod:treatise, Treatise." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Acc ...

s on traditional Vietnamese medicine include the 11-volume ''Nam dược thần hiệu'' by the 14th century

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

Tuệ Tĩnh and ''Hải Thượng y tông tâm lĩnh'' by the 18th century physician Hải Thượng Lãn Ông. Other pre-20th century texts include ''Nam dược chỉ danh truyền'', ''Tiểu nhi khoa diễn Quốc âm''.

Application

Thuốc Nam is usually sought for more common ailments like

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s and

fever Fever or pyrexia in humans is a symptom of an anti-infection defense mechanism that appears with Human body temperature, body temperature exceeding the normal range caused by an increase in the body's temperature Human body temperature#Fever, s ...

Smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...

, a common occurrence in traditional Vietnam, also has a number of prescriptions in historic texts.Chữ Nôm trong kho thư tịch y dược
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Usage in immigrant Vietnamese populations

According to one study published in 2016, among the urban Vietnamese community near

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, around 68% of 200 respondents reported using traditional Vietnamese medicine in addition to Western medical practices.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thuoc Nam Culture of Vietnam Southeast Asian traditional medicine Science and technology in Vietnam

Defining principles

Textual records

Application

Usage in immigrant Vietnamese populations

See also

References