"Fushou Yanchun Dan" (Longevity-Extending Spring Pellet) for Stroke Sequelae
"Fushou Yanchun Dan" comes from Puji Fang (Prescriptions for Universal Relief). It treats left or right paralysis, deviated mouth and eye, and hemiplegia—what in modern medicine we call stroke sequelae, the most common aftereffect of stroke (cerebral hemorrhage or cerebral infarction).
"Fushou Yanchun Dan" is composed of: Radix Ginseng (renshen) and Poria (bailingfu), each 2 liang (60 g); Radix Polygalae (yuanzhi, pith removed), Radix Achyranthis Bidentatae (niuxi, soaked in wine), Cortex Eucommiae (duzhong, stir-fried to remove fibers), Radix Astragali (huangqi), Rhizoma Acori Tatarinowii (changpu), Radix Angelicae Sinensis (danggui), Rhizoma Atractylodis (cangzhu, soaked in rice-water and peeled), Flos Chrysanthemi (gan juhua), and Cortex Lycii Radicis (digupi), each 1 liang (30 g); Rhizoma Gastrodiae (tianma), Rhizoma Pinelliae (banxia, prepared), raw Radix Rehmanniae (sheng dihuang), prepared Radix Rehmanniae (shu dihuang), Fructus Alpiniae Oxyphyllae (yizhiren), and Rhizoma Dioscoreae Hypoglaucae (bixie, soaked in wine), each 5 qian (15 g).
Preparation: powder all the above herbs together finely, make a paste with wine, and form into pills the size of a phoenix-tree seed. Take 30–50 pills each time, on an empty stomach, washed down with warm wine. According to TCM theory, this formula supplements qi and blood, dispels wind-damp, and strengthens sinew and bone, and so can treat stroke sequelae.
From the standpoint of modern pharmacology, in this formula Ginseng, Poria, Acorus, Gastrodia, Polygala, Alpinia, Pinellia and Rehmannia have a certain therapeutic effect on damage to the cranial nervous system; Achyranthes, Eucommia, Astragalus, Angelica and Atractylodes have some effect on improving blood flow; Chrysanthemum, Lycium bark and Dioscorea hypoglauca have anti-inflammatory and diuretic actions. Thus these herbs can modify the symptoms of stroke sequelae from multiple angles and reduce the patient's suffering.
Fushou Yanchun Dan is not available as a ready-made patent medicine. If a patient wishes to use it, he may prepare the pills himself according to the composition, or process it into an electuary/extract (gao) to take. Before preparing pills or an electuary, one may first try the decoction form to observe the effect. If the patient improves somewhat after taking the decoction, he may continue by preparing pills or an electuary according to this recipe. Stroke sequelae have a long course, basically requiring three months or more, and long-term treatment with pills or an electuary is more suitable.
The decoction dosage is as follows: Radix Ginseng (or Radix Codonopsis, dangshen) 12 g, Poria (fuling) 12 g, Radix Polygalae (yuanzhi) 6 g, Radix Achyranthis Bidentatae (niuxi) 6 g, Cortex Eucommiae (duzhong) 6 g, Radix Astragali (huangqi) 6 g, Rhizoma Acori Tatarinowii (changpu) 6 g, Radix Angelicae Sinensis (danggui) 6 g, Rhizoma Atractylodis (cangzhu) 6 g, Flos Chrysanthemi (juhua) 6 g, Cortex Lycii Radicis (digupi) 6 g, Rhizoma Gastrodiae (tianma) 3 g, prepared Pinellia (fa banxia) 3 g, raw Radix Rehmanniae (sheng dihuang) 3 g, prepared Radix Rehmanniae (shu dihuang) 3 g, Fructus Alpiniae Oxyphyllae (yizhiren) 3 g, Rhizoma Dioscoreae Hypoglaucae (bixie) 3 g. Decoct in water; one dose a day, taken morning and evening.