Although Western drugs have been in the forefront of medical science for the past three centuries, "their side effects have caused many Westerners to turn back in search of natural medicines," says Hsien-chang Chang, Chief of the Pharmacognosy Section at the Brion Research Institute of Taiwan.
近三百年來的醫療領域雖由西藥領其風騷，「但它的副作用，也使西方人回頭廣尋天然藥材」，必安中藥研究所生藥系主任張憲昌表示，至今許多天然藥材仍是人工藥物無法代替的；許多合成藥的基本原料，也多由天然藥材中淬取。