Appreciation of Professor Meng Qingyun's Use of Loquat Cough Syrup for Acne

Professor Meng Qingyun is a native of Qiqihar, Heilongjiang, born in 1939. After graduating from the medical department of Harbin Medical University in 1965, he became interested in Chinese medicine during clinical work and enrolled in a Western-medicine physicians' TCM training class for two years. Still feeling that was insufficient, he entered the graduate program of the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences in 1978, earning his master's degree and becoming a physician proficient in both Chinese and Western medicine. From 1971 to 1990, Professor Meng taught at Heilongjiang Chinese Medicine College and the Beijing College of Acupuncture and Orthopedics, lecturing on Western diagnostics, Chinese materia medica, the various schools of TCM, the Neijing, mathematical statistics, and TCM research methods. He is not only well versed in both traditions but also skilled in both teaching and clinical practice.

He has a most interesting case: he used the Chinese patent medicine Pipa Zhike Lu (Loquat Cough Syrup) to treat seemingly unrelated acne, and achieved a good result. The patient, Li, was a 22-year-old female teacher who first saw Professor Meng on July 16, 1989. Her chief complaint at the first visit was facial acne of over three months' duration, with mild itching, accompanied by poor appetite, a dry nose, and constipation. Examination showed scattered red maculopapular lesions on the face; the tongue was red with a slightly yellowish coating, and the pulse was thin and rapid.

Professor Meng differentiated the condition as accumulated heat in the lung wind, and treated it by dispelling wind and clearing the lung. He had the patient take the patent medicine Pipa Zhike Lu, 25 ml orally three times daily, and advised her to avoid spicy, sweet, and rich foods. After one week, her bowels moved freely, her appetite increased greatly, and the acne cleared completely.

Acne is mostly related to increased androgen secretion, but from the TCM perspective, the lung governs the skin and body hair; this skin disease is therefore related to the lung and belongs to "lung-wind acne," so treatment focuses on the lung.

Professor Meng's case embodies exactly this principle, applying treatment without rigid adherence to labels. The patent medicine Pipa Zhike Lu is, by its indications, a cough remedy; the package insert states it treats cough. But from TCM theory, Pipa Zhike Lu works by dispelling wind and clearing heat to resolve constrained heat in the lung, thereby stopping the cough. Pharmacologically, therefore, it can also treat acne caused by lung heat.

Patent medicines are more convenient to take than decoctions and cheaper, making them more acceptable to patients. Professor Meng's treatment plan earned the patient's approval and cooperation, and the results after taking it were ideal—a win-win outcome. Many patients are skeptical of patent medicines prescribed by physicians when the drug's listed indications do not match their own condition; this is an information gap arising from patients' unfamiliarity with how TCM works. Clinicians should explain patiently to allay such concerns.