The “Elderly Fitness Pill” Recommended by Professor Liu Duzhou
In his work 100 Medical Essays and Clinical Remarks of Liu Duzhou, Professor Liu Duzhou has an article titled "“Returning to Youth—the Elderly Fitness Pill". In this article, Professor Liu recommends a formula originating from Sun Simiao’s Beiji Qianjin Yaofang (Essential Prescriptions for Emergencies), which Liu named the Elderly Fitness Pill. Based on his own decades of clinical experience, Professor Liu considered the Elderly Fitness Pill most effective in treating various deficiency-exhaustion diseases of the elderly.
The composition of the formula is as follows: Sheng Shanyao (raw Dioscorea) 60 g, Roucongrong (Cistanche) 120 g, Wuweizi (Schisandra) 100 g, Tusizi (Cuscuta seed) 90 g, Duzhong (Eucommia bark) 90 g, Niuxi (Achyranthes) 30 g, Zexie (Alisma) 30 g, Shengdihuang (raw Rehmannia) 30 g, Shanzhuyu (Cornus fruit) 30 g, Fushen (Poria with pine root) 30 g, Bajitian (Morinda root) 30 g, Chishizhi (halloysite) 30 g.
The preparation and administration method is: grind all the above herbs together into a fine powder, and process with refined honey into small honey pills the size of a parasol tree seed. Take 30 pills warmed with yellow wine before meals, twice a day, morning and evening. Diet contraindications: vinegar, garlic and pickled foods. Professor Liu said that after about one week of taking the pill, ordinary elderly people will find their limbs and body moist and lustrous, their lips turning red, their hands and feet warm, their facial complexion glowing, their appetite increased, and their voice clear. After ten days, both mind and body feel light.
The Elderly Fitness Pill recommended by Professor Liu has a good anti-aging effect and is suitable not only for elderly patients but also for tumor patients with low immunity. Most of the herbs in this formula are kidney-tonifying, spleen-strengthening and spirit-calming herbs; among the kidney-tonifying herbs, some supplement kidney yang and others supplement kidney yin, so from the perspective of traditional TCM this is a formula that supplements both yin and yang. Long-term use by the elderly and those with chronic illness has the effect of strengthening the spleen, tonifying the kidneys and calming the spirit. On the basis of this formula, tumor patients may also add Mohanlian (Eclipta) 30 g, Nüzhenzi (Ligustrum fruit) 30 g, Sheng Huangqi (raw Astragalus) 90 g, Huangjing (Polygonatum) 60 g, Danggui (Angelica) 30 g, Shayuanzi (Astragalus complanatus seed) 30 g and Yiyiren (Coix seed) 150 g, to support the healthy and secure the root, taken long-term.
This formula is suitable for elderly patients with constipation. Roucongrong in the formula, besides warming and supplementing kidney yang, also moistens the intestines and promotes bowel movement. Because elderly people move less and have insufficient intestinal peristalsis, many have difficulty passing stools; this formula can improve the difficult defecation of the elderly. If the laxative effect of this formula is not good enough, 60–120 g of Huomaren (hemp seed) and 60–120 g of Songziren (pine nut) may be added. However, elderly or chronic patients who normally have loose stools or tend to diarrhea should have Roucongrong removed.
This formula can also improve symptoms such as soreness of the waist and pain of the legs in the elderly, and can lower blood pressure, because Duzhong in the formula has the action of supplementing the liver and kidneys and strengthening the sinews and bones. It can treat soreness and pain of the lower back and spine, weakness of the feet and knees, dribbling urination, genital damp itching, threatened abortion and restless fetus, and hypertension. Bajitian in the formula also warms and supplements kidney yang and treats soreness of the waist and legs. For severe lower-back pain, Xuduan (Dipsacus) 60 g may also be added.