Tianma Shouwu Tablets: Blood-Pressure-Lowering, Lipid-Lowering and Analgesic
Tianma Shouwu Pian (Gastrodia-Polygonum Tablet) is a commonly used Chinese patent medicine, included in Volume I of the 2005 edition of the Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China; several pharmaceutical factories produce this patent medicine. It is composed of: Rhizoma Gastrodiae (tianma), Radix Angelicae Dahuricae (baizhi), Radix Polygoni Multiflori (heshouwu), Radix Rehmanniae Praeparata (shu dihuang), Radix Salviae Miltiorrhizae (danshen), Rhizoma Chuanxiong (chuanxiong), Radix Angelicae Sinensis (danggui), fried Fructus Tribuli (cha jili), Folium Mori (sangye), Herba Ecliptae (mohanlian), Fructus Ligustri Lucidi (nüzhenzi), Radix Paeoniae Alba (baishao), and Rhizoma Polygonati (huangjing), each in appropriate amounts.
The preparation method: take the above fourteen herbs, powder the Rhizoma Gastrodiae, Rhizoma Chuanxiong and Radix Polygoni Multiflori into fine powder, sift and mix well. Then extract the volatile oil from Radix Angelicae Dahuricae and Radix Angelicae Sinensis and set it aside; boil the dregs together with the remaining herbs in water twice, two hours each time, combine the decoctions, filter, and concentrate the filtrate to a clear extract (relative density 1.28–1.30, measured hot). Add the above herb powder, mix well, dry, pulverize and sift to make granules; spray in the above volatile oils of Radix Angelicae Dahuricae and Radix Angelicae Sinensis, seal, compress into 1000 tablets, and coat with sugar or film coat. That is the preparation.
According to traditional Chinese medicine theory, Tianma Shouwu Pian has the actions of nourishing blood and extinguishing wind, and tonifying and nourishing the liver and kidney. It is indicated for headache, dizziness and vertigo caused by liver-kidney yin deficiency; bitter mouth and dry throat; a red tongue with scant coating; a wiry pulse; diminished vision and hearing; aching lower back and weakness; hair loss and white hair; cerebral arteriosclerosis; early-stage hypertension; vascular neurologic headache; and seborrheic alopecia.
Modern pharmacological research shows that Tianma Shouwu Pian has blood-pressure-lowering, analgesic and lipid-lowering effects, making it a good anti-aging medication.