Insights and Updates

Danggui Shaoyao San (Dong Gui and Peony Powder) comes from Zhang Zhongjing's Jin Gui Yao Lue (Essential Prescriptions from the Golden Coffer) of the Han dynasty. Its composition: Danggui 3 liang (9 g), Shaoyao 1 jin (48 g), Fuling 4 liang (12 g), Baizhu 4…

Antike Jiaonang (Antike Capsule) is a commonly used anti-cancer patent medicine whose ingredients include Chanpi (toad skin) and Danggui. It is commonly used for blood-stasis patterns of esophageal cancer and advanced primary liver cancer, as adjuvant therapy during chemotherapy for mid-to-late gastric cancer, or alone…

Lower-limb lymphedema is a chronic progressive disease in which impaired lymphatic return causes lymph to accumulate continuously in the subcutaneous tissue, even leading to fibrous tissue proliferation. Modern lymphedema is divided into primary and secondary types. The cause of primary lymphatic obstruction is often unclear;…

The patient, a woman surnamed Zhang, born in 1986 and from Hanzhong, Shaanxi province, in 2001, at age 15, accidentally noticed swelling of her right leg. At her local township hospital, the primary-care doctor suspected calcium deficiency. After taking calcium tablets for a whole summer…

Sanjieling Jiaonang (Nodule-Dispersing Effective Capsule) is a variant formula of Xiaojin Wan (Small Gold Pill). It is composed of Ruxiang (Olibanum, vinegar-processed), Moyao (Myrrha, vinegar-processed), Wulingzhi (Trogopterori Faeces, vinegar-processed), Dilong (Pheretima), Mubiezi (Momordicae Semen), Danggui, Shichangpu (Acori tatarinowii Rhizoma), Caowu (Aconiti kusnezoffii Radix, processed with…

Among the various chronic coughs, one is gastroesophageal reflux cough—a chronic cough caused by reflux of gastric contents. It is easily misdiagnosed as pharyngitis-related cough, cough-variant asthma, postnasal drip syndrome, chronic bronchitis (especially eosinophilic chronic bronchitis), pulmonary tuberculosis, emphysema and other chronic diseases. This disease…

Proven Formula 1: Lan Gen Bai Jiang Tang (Isatis and Patrinia Decoction; source: Chinese Journal of Integrated Traditional and Western Medicine, 1989, issue 6, p. 377) Baihuasheshecao (Hedyotidis Herba) 60 g, Xiakucao (Prunellae Spica) 15 g, Shengmuli (Ostre Concha) 30 g, Biejia (Amydae Carapax) 12…

Danbie Jiaonang (Danbie Capsule) is a patent medicine developed by contemporary TCM. Its ingredients include Danshen (Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma), Biejia (Amydae Carapax), Sanqi (Notoginseng Radix et Rhizoma), Sanleng (Sparganii Rhizoma), Ezhu (Curcumae Rhizoma), Taoren (Persicae Semen), Danggui (Angelicae Sinensis Radix), Duzhong (Eucommiae Cortex),…

Can TCM prescriptions be written like solving a math problem, grouping similar formulas and herbs together like combining like terms? The answer is yes. From ancient times to the present, many great clinical TCM physicians have done exactly this; they simply call it by different…

Zhishi Daozhi Wan (Immature Bitter Orange Stagnation-Directing Pill) is an empirical formula of Li Dongyuan, one of the four great masters of the Jin-Yuan dynasty. It is recorded in Li Dongyuan's Neiwaishang Bianhuo Lun (Discrimination of the Confusion between Internal and External Damage). Its composition:…