Common Uses of the Patent Medicine Dahuoluo Dan
Dahuoluo Dan (also called Dahuoluo Wan) is a famous traditional Chinese formula. It originates from Lantai Guifan (Standards of the Orchid Terrace), the original source being the lost book Shengjing Jing. In Jingyan Gezhong Mifang Jiyao (Collected Proven Secret Formulas), it appears under the alias "Shenxiao Dahuoluo Dan" (Miraculously Effective Great Network Pill). Ready-made patent medicine is commercially available, so patients need not prepare it themselves. Some of the medicinal materials in the formula are now prohibited and have been replaced by other drugs.
The formula composition is as follows: Bungarus Parvus (white-flower snake), Zaocys (black-snake), Clematidis Radix (weilingxian), Anemones Radix (liangtoujian) (the above four soaked in wine), Aconiti Kusnezoffii Radix (caowu), Gastrodiae Rhizoma (tianma, simmered), Scorpio (quanxie, toxin removed — author's note: the toxin actually should not be removed), Polygoni Multiflori Radix (shouwugeng, soaked in black soybean water), prepared Testudinis Plastrum (zhiguiban), Ephedrae Herba (mahuang), Bistortae Rhizoma (guanzhong), baked Glycyrrhizae Radix (zhigancao), Notopterygii Rhizoma (qianghuo), Cinnamomi Cortex (guangui), Agastachis Herba (huoxiang), Linderae Radix (wuyao), Coptidis Rhizoma (huanglian), Rehmanniae Radix Praeparata (shudihuang), Rhei Radix (dahuang, steamed), Aucklandiae Radix (muxiang), Aquilariae Lignum (chenxiang), each 60 g; Asari Radix (xixin), Paeoniae Rubra Radix (chishao), Myrrha (moyao, defatted, separately ground), Caryophylli Flos (dingxiang), Olibanum (ruxiang, defatted, separately ground), Bombyx Batryticatus (jiangcan), Arisaema Cum Fello (tiannanxing, processed with ginger), Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium Viride (qingpi), Drynariae Rhizoma (gusuibu), Amomi Rotundus Fructus (baidoukou), Benzoinum (anxixiang, boiled in wine), prepared Aconiti Radix (heifuzi, processed), Scutellariae Radix (huangqin, steamed), Poria (fuling), Cyperi Rhizoma (xiangfu, soaked in wine, baked), Scrophulariae Radix (xuanshen), Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma (baizhu), each 30 g; Saposhnikoviae Radix (fangfeng) 60 g; Puerariae Radix (gegen), burned Tiger Bone (hujinggu, roasted — note: nowadays usually replaced by cat tibia), Angelicae Sinensis Radix (danggui), each 45 g; Daemonorobis Resina (xuejie, separately ground) 21 g; Pheretima (dilong, roasted), Rhinocotis Cornu (xijiao — now replaced by water buffalo horn), Moschus (shexiang — now usually artificial musk), Colophonium (songxiang), each 15 g; Bovis Calculus (niuhuang, separately ground — now usually artificial calculus bovis), Borneolum (piannao, i.e. Bingpian, separately ground), each 4.5 g; Ginseng Radix (renshen) 90 g.
The above 50 ingredients are ground together into a fine powder, made with refined honey into pills the size of longan arils, and coated with gold leaf. Take one pill each time with Shaoxing rice wine, twice daily. This formula supplements qi and nourishes blood, expels wind and resolves phlegm, and activates blood and unblocks the collaterals. It is indicated for wind-stroke paralysis, atrophy and impediment with phlegm syncope, contracture and pain, welling-abscess and wandering abscess, traumatic injury, infantile convulsive epilepsy, and women's amenorrhea. Nowadays it is often used for sciatica, neuritis, heart disease, epilepsy, atherosclerosis, cancer pain, and stroke sequelae presenting with the above symptoms of limb numbness, contracture and pain.
This is a very complex formula. Many of the herbs used have a certain reparative effect on the brain and nervous system, such as Gastrodia (tianma) and Pheretima (dilong); in addition, many ingredients in this formula have antithrombotic and anticoagulant effects, so the formula has a thrombolytic action and is somewhat effective for atherosclerosis, coronary heart disease and stroke sequelae. The formula also contains many TCM "fighting poison with poison" herbs of considerable toxicity, such as Aconitum kusnezoffii (caowu) and Anemone radix (liangtoujian), so there are clinical reports of poisoning associated with its use. The formula has anti-epileptic and neuritis-treating effects, and many of its ingredients also have anti-tumor action, so it can be used as adjunctive therapy for patients with cancer pain or bone metastases.
When using this formula, close observation of the patient's response after dosing is required. If adverse reactions appear, the drug should be stopped immediately and a professional doctor should take corresponding measures. Generally speaking, however, the side effects are within a controllable range; although clinical cases of poisoning have been reported, such cases are basically rare. Pregnant women and those with bleeding tendency should not use this formula, nor should patients with impaired liver or kidney function. If long-term use is required, liver and kidney function should be rechecked regularly to prevent cumulative poisoning.