There are about 5,000 kinds of Chinese medicine, and the number of prescriptions formed by combining them is countless. Chinese medicine can effectively treat COVID-19. [1] Medical schools in China have opened a course on natural medicine, which covers the so-called Chinese herbal medicine.
Word Overview
The efficacy of Chinese herbal medicine is increasingly valued in the world today. Chinese acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine have penetrated into all parts of the world. The researchability of Chinese medicine gives us many different plasticities. There are generally two ways to brew Chinese medicine in my country. One is to boil it according to the prescription prescribed by Chinese medicine experts, and the other is the method of medicinal wine. There are many studies on these two methods in my country. China is the birthplace of Chinese herbal medicine. There are about 12,000 kinds of medicinal plants in China, which is not available in other countries. We have a monopoly advantage in Chinese medicine resources. The in-depth exploration, research and summary of Chinese herbal medicine and Chinese medicine by ancient sages have made Chinese herbal medicine the most widely recognized and applied.
Historical Origin
Chinese herbal medicine is a unique medicine used by Chinese medicine to prevent and treat diseases, and it is also an important symbol that distinguishes Chinese medicine from other medicines.
The Chinese people’s exploration of Chinese herbal medicine has gone through thousands of years of history. According to legend, Shennong tasted hundreds of herbs and created medicine for the first time. Shennong was revered as the “Emperor of Medicine”.
Chinese medicine is mainly composed of plant medicine (roots, stems, leaves, fruits) and mineral medicine. Because plant medicines account for the majority of Chinese medicine, Chinese medicine is also called Chinese herbal medicine. There are about 5,000 kinds of Chinese medicine used in various places, and the prescriptions formed by combining various medicinal materials are countless. After thousands of years of research, an independent science has been formed – herbal medicine.
Medical application
The application theory of traditional Chinese medicine is quite unique. Traditional Chinese medicine has four properties and five flavors. The four properties are also called the four natures, which refer to the cold, hot, warm and cool properties of the medicine. The five flavors refer to the pungent, sour, sweet, bitter and salty properties of the medicine. The different properties and flavors of Chinese herbal medicines have different therapeutic effects.
There are various forms of application of Chinese herbal medicines, including decoctions made by boiling the medicine with water and removing the residue and leaving the juice, powders ground into powder, pills, ointments, wine preparations, tablets, granules, injections, etc.
There are many famous medicines in Chinese herbal medicines. Ginseng, Ganoderma lucidum, Polygonum multiflorum and wolfberry are the most famous herbal medicines. Cinnabar, ochre, talc, and mirabilite are the most commonly used mineral medicines.
Processing of medicinal materials
Purification
Remove weeds, mud and sand and non-medicinal parts. According to the requirements of different varieties, some need to scrape off the outer skin, such as white peony root; some need to peel off the rough skin, such as Phellodendron chinense; some need to remove the reed head, fibrous roots and residual branches and leaves, and then grade them by size, such as Achyranthes bidentata, Aucklandia lappa, Salvia miltiorrhiza, Angelica dahurica, Peucedanum chinense, Belamcanda chinensis, Polygonum cuspidatum, etc.; some need to peel off the wood core, such as Cortex Moutan. Steaming, boiling, and blanching Some medicinal materials containing more starch, sugar and mucus are not easy to dry. Some also contain enzymes that decompose and transform some of their own components. If the enzyme is inactivated by heating, the medicinal properties can be maintained and not deteriorated.
Cutting
Some rhizome herbs, such as Danshen, Angelica dahurica, Peucedanum chinense, Achyranthes bidentata, Belamcanda chinensis, Polygonum cuspidatum, Phytolacca scabra, Pueraria lobata, Poria cocos, Scrophularia ningpoensis, etc., should be cut into slices, blocks or sections while fresh and then dried; fruit herbs with large fruits that are not easy to dry, such as papaya, sour orange, bergamot, etc., should be cut before drying; bark herbs, such as Eucommia ulmoides, Magnolia officinalis, Cinnamon bark, etc., should also be cut into blocks or slices or rolled into tubes while fresh after harvesting and then dried.
Drying
The purpose of drying is to facilitate long-term storage and standby use. During the drying process, try to keep the appearance, smell and content of active ingredients of the raw medicine unchanged.
Sun drying
Use sunlight and outdoor air to dry the herbs. Sun drying is generally suitable for herbs that do not require a certain color and do not contain volatile oils, such as Coix lachryma-jobi, Burdock seeds, Astragalus membranaceus, Cortex Moutan, Eucommia ulmoides, etc. The sun drying method is simple, but the methods for different herbs are also different. When drying, the harvested herbs are usually spread on mats. Pay attention to prevent rain, dew, and strong wind from blowing them away. Turn them frequently to promote early drying.
Drying
Use an oven or fire pit to bake at low temperature to dry the herbs. The temperature should be controlled during drying. If the temperature is too low, it is not easy to dry. If the temperature is too high, the quality will be affected. For example, the temperature of baking rhubarb should not exceed 60℃. If the temperature is too high, the body bubble will be dark and the quality will be reduced. When drying flower herbs, the temperature should not be too high. For example, the temperature of baking silver flower should be controlled at 38℃-42℃.
Related knowledge
The aim of the book is to collect Chinese herbal medicines from all over the country. Each medicine is compiled according to its name, origin, morphology, habitat, cultivation, collection and processing, chemistry, pharmacology, nature and function, main indications and usage, and prescriptions, etc., and is accompanied by color pictures. The content is rich, the information is relatively accurate and reliable, and it can be studied in combination with modern medical scientific knowledge to a certain extent, and can be used as a reference for scientific research and clinical practice. The Chinese Herbal Medicine Atlas Library aims to establish a powerful Chinese herbal medicine picture database, including the sources and pictures of various herbal medicines, and introduces the basic information and processing methods of various Chinese herbal medicines in detail! Category search: Antipyretic drugs| Heat-clearing drugs| Laxative drugs| Dampness-removing drugs| Warming drugs| Qi-regulating drugs| Digestive drugs| Anthelmintic drugs| Hemostatic drugs| Tranquilizing drugs| Resuscitation drugs| Tonic drugs| Astringent drugs| Emetic drugs| Rheumatism-removing drugs| External drugs| Expectorant, cough-relieving and asthma-relieving drugs| Diuretic and dampness-infiltrating drugs| Liver-calming and wind-removing drugs| Blood-activating and stasis-removing drugs. Commonly used prescriptions explain the composition and naming of Chinese medicine prescriptions, and the pharmacology and classification of Chinese medicine prescriptions. It contains commonly used prescriptions of Chinese medicine prescriptions, and lists antipyretic agents, heat-clearing agents, and reconciliation agents according to the principle of unified prescriptions and treatment methods. Each prescription is based on the prescription name, and the pharmacological effects, clinical applications, and notes are the main points. It discusses the pharmacological research of prescriptions, effective prescriptions and medicines for clinical applications, precautions, adverse reactions, etc. The text is concise and the discussion is sufficient. Anti-tumor Chinese herbal medicines, anti-tumor prescriptions, disease diet prescriptions, ginseng (20 photos), ginseng, rhubarb, scutellaria, astragalus, poria, atractylodes, chuanxiong, etc.
Writings of past dynasties
Compendium of Materia Medica, Wu Pu’s Materia Medica, Annotations to the Classic of Materia Medica, The Meaning of Materia Medica, Tangye Materia Medica, Yinshi Zhengyao, Diannan Materia Medica, The Essentials of Materia Medica, Mengquan of Materia Medica, Chengya Banjie of Materia Medica, Beiyao of Materia Medica, Fengyuan of Materia Medica, Jiejie of Materia Medica, Xin of Materia Medica, Shiyi of Materia Medica, Qiuzhen of Materia Medica, Gouyuan of Materia Medica, Shijian Materia Medica, Cuoyao of Materia Medica, Gangmu of Materia Medica, Depei Materia Medica, Bencao Haili, Bencao Fenjing, Yaoyao Fenji, Zhenzhu Nangbuyi Yaoxingfu, Yaozheng Composition Research
Plant extract refers to substances extracted or processed from plants (whole plants or parts) as raw materials using appropriate solvents or methods, which can be used to improve health or other purposes. Helin Biological Plant Extraction The plant extract industry has developed in the past 10 years and is a marginal industry between the pharmaceutical, fine chemical and agricultural industries. Its definition is as follows: Plant extracts are products that are formed by taking plants as raw materials, and through physical and chemical extraction and separation processes, according to the needs of the final product to be extracted, and directed to obtain and concentrate one or more active ingredients in the plant without changing the structure of its active ingredients. The product concept of plant extracts is relatively broad. According to the different components of the extracted plants, glycosides, acids, polyphenols, polysaccharides, terpenes, flavonoids, alkaloids, etc. are formed; according to the different properties of the final product, it can be divided into plant oils, extracts, powders, lenses, etc. Based on the legislative scope, concepts and usage of various countries, the concept of plant extracts can be accepted and recognized by all countries, and it is also a common expression method for spreading herbal medicines in various countries. As early as 1999, the export volume of plant extracts in my country exceeded the export volume of Chinese patent medicines. In Europe and the United States, plant extracts and their products (plant medicines or food supplements) have broad market prospects and have developed into an emerging industry with annual sales of nearly US$8 billion. Plant extracts in my country are generally intermediate products with a wide range of uses. They are mainly used as raw materials or excipients for medicines, health foods, tobacco, and cosmetics. There are also many types of raw materials used for extraction, and there are more than 300 plant species that enter industrial extraction. As we all know, in the history of human civilization, for most of the time before about 200 years ago, humans have relied on traditional medicines (more than 90% of which are herbal medicines) to fight diseases. Almost all major ancient civilizations and ethnic groups with a certain degree of civilization have their own national medicine systems, among which China’s traditional Chinese medicine system is the most complete and has the greatest achievements. It can be said that China’s traditional Chinese medicine system is the highest expression of ancient medical science. At the same time as the extracted Chinese herbal medicines, herbal medicines that have been relatively stagnant for a long time have also gained new development with the progress of science and technology and management. Herbal medicine preparations have gone through three stages of development. The first stage is the traditional pills, pills, pastes, and powders. The second stage is the combination of extraction and rough processing technology based on water-alcohol method or alcohol-water method with modern industrial preparation technology to produce Chinese patent medicines. The third stage is the modern herbal medicines that are refined and quantified using modern separation technology and detection technology. The three stages of herbal medicines only explain the time sequence in which they are produced, and do not mean that the latter stage will replace or cancel the previous stage. Just as chemical drugs cannot cancel natural drugs, biological drugs cannot cancel chemical drugs. But the latter level reflects or uses more modern technology than the former level. There is overlap in the connotation of the concepts of plant extracts and modern herbal medicines, and they contain part of each other. Modern herbal medicines are largely based on extracts. Plant extracts are the main raw materials and components of modern herbal medicines; and some plant extract varieties are directly used as medicines. There is no unified definition of herbal medicines in the world. But the West is accustomed to calling herbal medicines natural medicines. Natural medicines refer to all medicines that are derived from nature and used to treat diseases without chemical treatment. Traditional Chinese medicine and herbal medicines should be included in their category. Germany has defined herbal medicines as medicines since 1976. This definition has been adopted by the American Botanical Society. Herbal medicine products defined by the European Community are not just single medicinal plants, but can be a combination of multiple herbal medicines (HERBAL MEDICAL PRODUCTS), containing a specific plant active ingredient or plant extracts. Herbal medicines are medical products used for medical purposes. Herbal medicines and their products are considered to be medical products whose active ingredients or therapeutic effects are not yet very clear. Botanical preparations are made by crushing plants into powder, extracting, coloring, oiling or liquefying, pressing plant juice, etc., purifying or concentrating them, and isolating single compounds or mixtures from plants. At this time, they are no longer considered botanicals but chemical drugs such as atropine.
Uses
Chinese medicine is very helpful for health care, and medicinal wine is based on the Taoist theory of qi movement, which harmonizes the five internal organs of the human body, clears the heart and brightens the eyes, and makes the face pleasant. Uses: Chinese medicine is very helpful for health care, and medicinal wine is based on the Taoist theory of qi movement, which harmonizes the five internal organs of the human body, clears the heart and brightens the eyes, makes the face pleasant, moisturizes the skin, clears the joints, and harmonizes the meridians. It can dredge the pathways and harmonize the blood vessels for liver diseases, anemia, and cardiovascular diseases caused by spleen and kidney deficiency, blood and qi disharmony, qi stagnation and blood stasis, and qi and blood deficiency; it can nourish blood, replenish qi and calm the mind for patients with neuralgia and neurasthenia; it can nourish the spleen and stomach, regulate qi and harmonize the stomach, replenish blood, and dissolve blood stasis for gastrointestinal diseases such as anorexia, stomach disease, constipation, and hemorrhoids; it can blacken the hair and cure periarthritis and migraine for those with premature graying of hair, dizziness, dark eyes, spermatorrhea, premature ejaculation, and renal insufficiency, and can achieve the effect of strengthening the body and eliminating evil. We have great help and difference in terms of medicinal herbs, and in terms of medicinal wine, Chinese herbal medicine is especially good for tonifying the kidney and strengthening yang, without any side effects, and is a pure natural tonic.
Medicinal taboos
Ordinary people always feel that Chinese herbal medicine is safe and reliable, and they use it without scruples. In fact, the herbal books and medical books of all dynasties have clear discussions on the toxic and side effects of Chinese herbal medicine. The “blacklist” of Chinese herbal medicines that damage the liver. Common types of Chinese medicines that can cause drug-induced liver disease in clinical practice are: 1. General liver damage, such as long-term or excessive use of ginger pinellia, pollen, mistletoe, and mountain aconite, which can cause discomfort, pain, and abnormal liver function in the liver area. 2. Toxic liver damage, such as excessive use of Chuanlianzi, Dioscorea bulbifera, castor seeds, and Tripterygium wilfordii decoctions, can cause toxic hepatitis. 3. Hepatic jaundice, such as long-term use of rhubarb or intravenous infusion of Sijiqing injection, will interfere with the bilirubin metabolic pathway and cause jaundice. 4. Inducing liver tumors, such as Chinese herbs such as schizonepeta, calamus, star anise, pepper, bee head tea, and clematis contain safrole; Aucklandia odorifera, Akebia, saltpeter, cinnabar, etc. contain nitro compounds, which can induce liver cancer. Specifically, Chinese patent medicines that can cause liver damage include: Zhuanggu Joint Pills, Ganji Powder, Ke Yin Pills, Xiao Yin Tablets (Pills), Zengshengping, Runfu Pills, Kunming Mountain Begonia, Yinxie Powder, Liushen Pills, Shufeng Dingtong Pills, Shiduqing, Xiaoxuanning, Fangfeng Tongsheng Pills, Xuedu Pills, Chushi Pills, Longshe Zhuifeng Capsules, Zhuanggu Shenjin Capsules, Yangxue Shenjin Capsules, Jiufen San, Zhuifeng Tougu Pills, Guxian Tablets, Jiakangning Capsules, Fukang Tablets, Huayu Pills, Yangxue Shengfa Capsules, Shouwu Tablets, Shuanghuanglian Oral Liquid, Yinqiao Tablets, Fufang Ganluyin, Niuhuang Jiedu Tablets, Gegen Decoction, Ma Xing Shi Gan Decoction, etc. , moisturize the skin, open the joints, and smooth the meridians. It can dredge the pathways and harmonize the blood vessels for liver diseases, anemia, and cardiovascular diseases caused by spleen and kidney deficiency, blood and qi disharmony, qi stagnation and blood stasis, and qi and blood deficiency; for patients with neuralgic headaches and neurasthenia, it can nourish blood, replenish qi and calm the mind; for gastrointestinal diseases such as anorexia, stomach problems, constipation, and hemorrhoids, it can nourish the spleen and stomach, regulate qi and harmonize the stomach, replenish blood, and dissolve blood stasis; for those with premature graying of hair and beard, dizziness, premature ejaculation, and renal insufficiency, it can blacken hair, treat periarthritis, migraine, and have the effect of strengthening the body and eliminating evil. For us, it is very helpful and different in terms of medicinal herbs, and in terms of medicinal wine, Chinese herbal medicine has a good effect on nourishing the kidney and strengthening yang, without side effects, and is a pure natural tonic.
Medicinal taboos
Ordinary people always feel that Chinese herbal medicine is safe and reliable, and they use it without scruples. In fact, the herbal and medical books of all dynasties have clear discussions on the toxic and side effects of Chinese herbal medicine. The “blacklist” of Chinese herbal medicines that damage the liver. The types of Chinese herbal medicines that can cause drug-induced liver disease in clinical practice are: 1. General liver damage, such as long-term or excessive use of ginger and pinellia, pollen, mistletoe, and mountain aconite, which can cause discomfort, pain, and abnormal liver function in the liver area. 2. Toxic liver damage, such as excessive use of decoctions of Chuanlianzi, Dioscorea bulbifera, Ricinus bean, and Tripterygium wilfordii, which can cause toxic hepatitis. 3. Hepatic jaundice, such as long-term use of rhubarb or intravenous infusion of Sijiqing injection, which will interfere with the bilirubin metabolic pathway and cause jaundice. 4. Induce liver tumors, such as Chinese herbal medicines such as schizonepeta, calamus, star anise, pepper, bee head tea, and Senecio radix contain safrole; green wood fragrance, akebia, saltpeter, cinnabar, etc. contain nitro compounds, which can induce liver cancer. Specifically, Chinese patent medicines that can cause liver damage include: Zhuangguhan pills, Ganji powder, Keyin pills, Xiaoyin tablets (pills), Zengshengping, Runfu pills, Kunming Shanhaitang, Yinxie powder, Liushen pills, Shufengdingtong pills, Shiduqing, Xiaoxuanning, Fangfengtongsheng pills, Xuedu pills, Chushi pills, Longshe Zhuifeng capsules, Zhuanggushenjin capsules, Yangxueshenjin capsules, Jiufen powder, Zhuifengtougu pills, Guxian tablets, Jiakangning capsules, Fukang tablets, Huayu pills, Yangxueshengfa capsules, Shouwu tablets, Shuanghuanglian oral liquid, Yinqiao tablets, Compound Ganluyin, Niuhuangjiedu tablets, Pueraria lobata decoction, Ma Xingshigan decoction, etc.
How to avoid Chinese herbal medicines from damaging the liver
Many of the above drugs are commonly used in life. Ordinary people can use them normally at regular doses because of normal liver function.
If you experience abnormal symptoms such as fatigue, nausea, loss of appetite, yellow urine, and yellow eyes after taking the above drugs for a few days or a week, you should go to a regular hospital for a test to check your liver function. Once drug-induced liver damage is confirmed, you should supplement with enough calories, water and vitamins, or use liver-protecting drugs such as glycyrrhizic acid preparations, reduced glutathione, silymarin, etc. as appropriate.
Collection and storage
The harvesting season, time, method and storage of Chinese herbal medicines are closely related to the quality of Chinese herbal medicines and are important links in ensuring the quality of medicines. Therefore, the collection of herbs should be planned according to different medicinal parts (such as the roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits, seeds or whole herbs of plants have a certain growth and maturity period, and animals also have a certain capture and processing period), so as to obtain higher yields and better quality medicines to ensure the supply and efficacy of medicines and meet the needs of people’s health care. In addition to the special requirements for the collection and storage of the active ingredients contained in some medicines, the collection principles of general plant medicines are as follows:
- Most of the whole herb, stem, branch and leaf medicines are collected in summer and autumn when the plants are fully grown, the stems and leaves are lush or flowering, but the leaves of some plants are also collected in autumn and winter. Perennial herbs often cut the above-ground parts, such as motherwort and mint; some medicines with weak stems, short plants and must be used with roots are uprooted, such as creeping pot grass and purple flower underground.
- Root and rhizome drugs are generally collected in autumn when the above-ground parts of plants begin to wither or in early spring when plants sprout. At this time, the nutrients of plants are mostly stored in the roots or rhizomes, and the collected drugs have high yields and good quality. However, some roots and rhizomes, such as ginseng, pinellia, and corydalis, are collected in summer. Most root and rhizome drugs need to grow for one or two years before they can be harvested for medicinal use.
- Flower drugs are mostly collected in the bud period before the flowers open or just open, so as to avoid the loss of fragrance and the scattering of petals, which affects the quality, such as honeysuckle and roses. Since the flowering period of plants is generally very short, some need to be collected in time in batches, such as safflower, when the corolla changes from yellow to red, and pollen grains need to be collected when they are in full bloom, such as pine pollen and cattail pollen. It is best to collect flowers on a sunny morning so that they can be quickly dried after picking.
- Fruit drugs, except for a few immature fruits such as green peel and mulberry locust, should generally be collected when the fruit is ripe.
- Seeds are usually collected after they are fully mature. Some seeds are easy to scatter after they mature, such as morning glory seeds and impatiens seeds. They are collected when the fruit is ripe but not cracked. Some medicines that use both whole herbs and seeds can be harvested when the seeds are mature, and the seeds can be sun-dried and stored separately after being beaten, such as plantain seeds and perilla seeds.
- Bark and root bark medicines are usually peeled in spring and summer, when the plants are in the vigorous growth period, with more slurry and easy to peel off. When peeling the bark, be careful not to peel off the entire trunk, so as not to affect the trunk’s conduction system and cause the death of the tree.
Regarding animal medicines, small animals that are generally hidden underground should be captured in summer and autumn, such as earthworms and crickets; although large animals can be captured in all seasons, they are generally better hunted in autumn and winter, but deer antlers must be collected when the young antlers of male deer are not keratinized.
In addition, when harvesting medicines, it is also necessary to pay attention to weather changes. If collected during rainy days, they often cannot be dried in time, resulting in rot and deterioration. When collecting medicines, we should pay attention to protecting the source of medicines, considering both current needs and long-term interests. Therefore, we should also pay attention to the following points: - Keep roots and seeds: For some perennial plants, the above-ground parts can be used as roots, so try not to pull them out; if roots or rhizomes must be used, we should pay attention to keeping seeds. For some dioecious plants such as Trichosanthes kirilowii, when digging for Trichosanthes kirilowii, generally only the tubers of male plants should be dug. For annual plants that use the whole herb, some thriving plants should be left when collecting in large quantities for seed breeding. For medicines that use leaves, do not collect all the leaves of the plant at once, and try to pick the dense parts to avoid affecting the growth of the plant.
- Make full use: For perennial plants whose roots, stems, leaves, and flowers can all be used as medicine, we should consider using the above-ground parts and the parts with higher yields. In addition, we can combine environmental sanitation cleaning, land reclamation and flood filling, and logging and pruning, and pay attention to collecting bark, root bark, whole herb, etc. that can be used as medicine at any time, and carefully organize them for medicinal use.
- Appropriate planting: According to actual needs, for species that are difficult to collect locally or are less wild, appropriate introduction and breeding can be carried out for adoption.
After the collection of medicines, certain processing should be taken for storage. If it is a plant medicine, the soil impurities and non-medicinal parts should be removed after collection, and the medicine should be washed and cut. Except for fresh use, it should be placed in the sun, dried in the shade, or baked in time according to the nature of the medicine, and preserved separately. Some medicines with high water content, such as purslane, can be cut after washing and dried for a few more days before drying. The fruits or seeds of plants such as Schisandra chinensis, Ligustrum lucidum, Radish seeds, Lemongrass seeds, and White Mustard seeds must be placed in sealed jars; the stems, leaves or roots of plants without aromatic properties, such as Leonurus japonicus, Equisetum equisetum, Prunella vulgaris, Folium isatidis, Radix Isatidis, Polygonum multiflorum, etc., can be placed in a dry and cool place or stored in a wooden box; aromatic medicines and flowers such as chrysanthemum, honeysuckle, and roses must be placed in lime jars to prevent moisture, mildew, and deterioration. Seed-based medicines must be protected from insects and rodents. Animal medicines and organ tissues such as Agkistrodon acutus, black-banded snake, centipede, earthworm, placenta, etc., should be placed in a jar containing lime after drying to keep them dry; and placed in a cool, dark and dry place to prevent insects or rot.
Mineral medicines such as gypsum, talc, and magnetite can be placed in wooden boxes; but some of them such as Glauber’s salt and borax must be placed in urns and covered tightly to prevent moisture.
Highly toxic drugs must be stored and kept separately to prevent accidents. The warehouse where medicines are stored must always be kept clean and dry and protected from insects and rodents; medicines must still be turned over and dried frequently. For some medicines that are prone to insect infestation or easy to become oily due to moisture, such as Peucedanum chinense, Angelica dahurica, Gelsemium elegans, and Angelica sinensis, they must be checked frequently to prevent mold and deterioration.
