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How was chaulmoogra oil used in Chinese medicine?
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traditional Chinese medicine
In moxibustion, or moxa treatment, small cones of an herb (typically Artemisia moxa) are burned on top of needles placed in designated points of the body, generally the same points as those used in acupuncture.
In traditional Chinese medicine, chaulmoogra oil was utilized as a treatment for leprosy starting from at least the 14th century.1
While Western medicine later adopted the oil for the same purpose in the 19th century, its historical application in China reflects the extensive nature of the Chinese materia medica, which incorporates a wide variety of vegetable, animal, and mineral remedies to restore the balance of yinyang within the body.1