Hong Kong is an international city filled with international doctors,
international hospitals/clinics, international patients and ... in
particular medicines from many parts of the world.

Whenever one goes into a pharmacy and asks for a tinnitus medicine,
the shop keepers in a shop selling western medicines would recommend
Bymeniere's, which is the brand name of BETAHISTINE.  This med can be
bought OTC in HK.  When one goes into a herb shop and asks the same
question, the shop keepers usually recommend that herb pills that
Jenny is now considering using.

When the shop keepers in these pharmacies recommend these med, they do
so with reference to the market demand they sense from the consumers,
and without being aware of whatever test findings of the 'controlled'
studies going on anywhere in the world.  In their day to day
experience, they discover most tinnitus patients buy these products
either as a result of being prescribed by doctors or the good feedback
from the people who have used them.  That is to say, it is the cluster
of the discriminating tastes of the consumers _over time_that has
constituted the sustainable 'market demand' for these med.

In *my* experience, BETAHISTINE is the _optimal_ med for t patients.
It is optimal in terms of cost, side-effect, impact on the patients,
etc..  As far as my experiences with this med go, this med produces NO
bad side-effects.  This med makes people sleepy though.  Thus if you
were driving or operating with machinery in daytime, you should take
it only AFTER dinner.  I have found from my experience that this med
softens the t sound and makes napping much less punishing than
otherwise.  This med gives t patients the opportunity to get some
sleep at the time when they most badly need it.

That other herb pills that Jenny is considering using also produces NO
side-effects.  As a matter of fact, this herb pill is good for men and
women over 40 when their bodies demonstrate a tendency to 'slow down'
a bit.

Personally, I prefer a combination of both the eastern and western
med.  And many other consumers behave increasingly like me.  Over
time, we vote with our dollars in the marketplace.  In return, the
manufacturers produce what we want.

FP