SHANGHAI: The best remedy for winter health problems is heat. This traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) treatment is drawing many people to hospitals.

Hundreds of people can be found each day in the wards of Shuguang Hospital, a famous TCM center in Shanghai undergoing heat therapy, about half of them children. They lie face down to receive tiefu treatment - the application of heat-giving medical plasters that are placed on the back.

Some are attached to electrodes for more heat.

Asthma and other respiratory infections are becoming more common today, especially among children, Wang Ziying, a spokeswoman for Shuguang Hospital, said.

The hospital treats an average of 500 patients with tiefu every day. Its curative effect is starting to spread as more parents bring their children to the hospital for treatment.

"Children who go through such treatment have little red spots on their skin," Wang said. "When people ask about it, the information is spread."

The treatment, however, is not new.

The hospital has been doing it for more than 50 years, constantly updating its methods.

"Before we did it without electrodes, and the treatment took hours," Wang said.

"Electrodes help accelerate absorption of the medication. Each treatment can be done in 30 minutes."

The treatment should be done over a period of three days - preferably the hottest three days of the year - but now the hospital has extended it to six days. The whole treatment process lasts for three summers.

"My niece is now almost fully recovered from asthma after three years of treatment," Zhu Ye, an office worker, said.

Other problems that bother people in winter, such as arthritis, gout or cold in the stomach, all benefit from futie treatments in the summer, Wang said.

"According to TCM, winter is the right time to take tonics while summer the time to get rid of the dioxins," Qin Xiudi of the Acupuncture and Meridian Studies Institute in Shanghai, said.

The institute has a weight-loss program using acupuncture. Summer also brings in the clients.

"We also have many patients from abroad," Qin said. "Some visit us during their holidays."

"Usually one can lose 3-5kg in a month. But it's not just acupuncture. It has to be done together with massages."

(China Daily 07/20/2007 page6)