Appreciation of a Medical Case: Academician Dong Jianhua Treating Parkinson's Disease (Head-Tremor Wind)
Academician Dong Jianhua (1918-2001) was an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and a renowned master of TCM internal medicine. During his lifetime he served as chief physician and doctoral supervisor at Dongzhimen Hospital of Beijing University of Chinese Medicine. In 1970, Academician Dong treated a patient diagnosed by Western medicine with Parkinson's syndrome.
The patient, Zhang, was 40 years old and first visited Academician Dong Jianhua on May 2, 1970. The chief complaint at the visit was: involuntary shaking of the head, sometimes with hand tremor, persisting for more than four years. He had been diagnosed with Parkinson's syndrome at multiple hospitals and had failed to respond to various medications, so he turned to Academician Dong.
At the visit, the patient's tongue was red with thin white coating, and the pulse was wiry with a weak chi position. Academician Dong's syndrome differentiation determined that the patient had kidney yin insufficiency with internal stirring of liver wind. He planned treatment with the method of nourishing yin, anchoring yang, and extinguishing wind.
Initial prescription: Shengdihuang (raw Rehmanniae Radix) 24 g; Sheng Muli (raw Ostreae Concha) 30 g; Sheng Shijueming (raw Haliotidis Concha) 30 g; Zishiying (Fluoritum) 30 g; Biejia (Trionycis Carapax) 12 g; Gouteng (Uncariae Ramulus cum Uncis) 15 g; Baishao (Paeoniae Alba Radix) 12 g; Tianma (Gastrodiae Rhizoma) 10 g; Jiangcan (Bombyx Batryticatus) 12 g.
At the follow-up on May 11, the patient reported that after taking the above 6 doses, the head shaking and hand tremor were basically controlled. Since it had taken effect, the treatment method should not be changed, so Academician Dong removed Tianma and Jiangcan from the initial prescription and added Zhi Shouwu (processed Polygoni Multiflori Radix), Guiban (Testudinis Plastrum), and Quanxie (Scorpio).
Second-visit prescription: Shengdihuang 24 g; Sheng Muli 30 g; Sheng Shijueming 30 g; Zishiying 30 g; Biejia 12 g; Gouteng 15 g; Baishao 12 g; Zhi Shouwu 30 g; Guiban 30 g; Quanxie 3 g.
After continuously taking more than 20 doses, all symptoms disappeared, and treatment was then stopped.
Parkinson's syndrome is a clinical syndrome related to motor function. Most Parkinson's syndrome cases occur after age 60, but among 40-year-old middle-aged people, about 10-20 per 10,000 also suffer from this disease.
The main clinical features of this disease are tremor, bradykinesia, rigidity, and balance disturbance. The cause of primary Parkinson's disease is not yet clear, but studies show that environmental, genetic, and nervous system aging factors are all highly correlated with its onset. Secondary Parkinsonism is mostly related to drugs, toxins, head trauma, metabolic diseases, infection, and cerebrovascular disease.
Although TCM has no name for Parkinson's syndrome, the TCM condition of "head-tremor wind" (yaotou feng) has clinical symptoms similar to Parkinson's syndrome. The Huangdi Neijing (Inner Canon of Huangdi) says: "All wind-vertigo and tremor belong to the liver." TCM holds that Parkinson's is caused by kidney yin insufficiency and liver yang hyperactivity, so TCM treatment of head-tremor wind follows the approach of nourishing kidney yin, astringing liver and anchoring yang, and extinguishing wind to stop spasms.
In Academician Dong's medical case, Shengdi, Biejia, Guiban, Baishao, and Zhi Shouwu all belong to yin-nourishing herbs; Sheng Muli, Sheng Shijueming, Zishiying, Gouteng, Tianma, Jiangcan, and Quanxie belong to yang-anchoring and wind-extinguishing herbs. His treatment approach was simple, direct, clear, and uncomplicated; the effect was immediate, and the course was short. Such a medical case is a living textbook for treating Parkinson's syndrome.