As a Chinese to English medical translator, I regularly translate case studies that combine modern pharmaceuticals with traditional Chinese medicinal herbs and acupuncture. Here, I update my 2020 blogs on the use of herbal formulas to treat COVID-19 disease.  

In 2020, at the start of the pandemic, Chinese clinics encouraged the use of traditional Chinese medicine as early intervention in mild coronavirus illness. Today, in 2025, China’s official COVID-19 treatment guidelines still emphasize herbal remedies to relieve symptoms, differentiate syndromes, and support recovery. 

Animal venoms for defense and predation are not a single toxin but are instead a complex mix of components (proteins, peptides, and enzymes) with specific biological and pharmacological activities. New drug development is one of the greatest challenges in the pharmaceutical industry today, and animal venoms have emerged as a source of therapeutic drugs. Over the past 75 years, potential therapeutic agents have been extracted and isolated from the toxins of plants, animals, and microorganisms, and in the past few decades several drugs have been isolated or derived from snake venom proteins.