The Uses of the Patent Medicine Gejie Dingchuan Wan
Gejie Dingchuan Wan is a modern Chinese patent medicine. The formula is included in Volume I of the 2005 edition of the Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China. Its composition is: Gecko (gejie) 11 g, Trichosanthes Seed (gualouren) 50 g, Asteris Radix (ziwan) 75 g, Ephedrae Herba (mahuang) 45 g, prepared Amydae Plastrum (zhibiejia) 50 g, Scutellariae Radix (huangqin) 50 g, Glycyrrhizae Radix (gancao) 50 g, Ophiopogonis Radix (maimendong) 50 g, Coptidis Rhizoma (huanglian) 30 g, Lilii Bulbus (baihe) 75 g, Perillae Fructus (zisuzi, stir-fried) 25 g, Gypsum Fibrosum (shengshigao) 25 g, Gypsum Ustum (duanshigao) 25 g, Armeniacae Amarum Semen (kuxingren, stir-fried) 50 g.
The above 14 ingredients are ground into fine powder, sieved and mixed well. For every 100 g of powder, 10–25 g of refined honey is used, with an appropriate amount of water added to make water-honey pills, which are then dried. Alternatively, 70–100 g of refined honey may be added to make small honey pills or large honey pills. Oral dose is 6–9 g each time, twice daily. Various patent medicines based on this formula are on the market; besides pills, it is also available in capsule form. Patients may choose according to preference and need not prepare the pills themselves.
This formula nourishes yin and clears the lung, stops cough and calms wheezing. It is indicated for consumptive chronic cough, senile asthma, shortness of breath with fever, chest fullness and oppression, spontaneous and night sweating, and poor appetite. Modern pharmacological studies show that intragastric administration of Gejie Dingchuan Wan or its capsules, given continuously, prolongs the latent period of sulfur-dioxide-induced cough in mice; a single intragastric dose prolongs the acetylcholine-chloride-induced asthma latent period in guinea pigs.
This is an effective formula for treating chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or emphysema. The formula contains both symptom-relieving and root-treating herbs. For example, Ephedra (mahuang), Gecko (gejie), Aster (ziwan), Lily bulb (baihe), Perilla seed (zisuzi) and Apricot kernel (xingren) are commonly used cough-and-wheezing-relieving drugs, while Scutellaria (huangqin), Coptis (huanglian) and Gypsum (shigao) have broad-spectrum antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects that can address the chronic airway inflammation present in COPD patients. This formula also combines supporting zheng qi (healthy qi) with dispelling xie qi (pathogenic factors): Gecko, tortoise plastron, Ophiopogon and Licorice support the root and nourish yin to moisten the lung, while Trichosanthes, Ephedra, Gypsum, Scutellaria and Coptis dispel pathogenic factors.
Chronic diseases such as COPD and emphysema are all related to human immunity. The author has found that for such patients, adequate sleep can relieve symptoms and reduce medication. The author himself is a COPD patient; by adjusting his routine, going to sleep before becoming fatigued, or taking a short nap as soon as he feels slight chest tightness, his symptoms can be significantly reduced. By this method, he even went more than ten years without a relapse. Later, however, overwork caused a recurrence, and after recurrence, continuing this routine-adjustment method again led to recovery.
Therefore, COPD patients need to combine medical treatment with recuperation. When symptoms are severe, appropriate medication may be used to control them. At the same time, rest should be increased and one's own immunity strengthened so as to resist the disease through that immunity.
This formula may also be used for symptomatic treatment of cancer patients (especially those with lung tumors or pulmonary metastases) who develop deficiency-type wheezing. However, the formula's tumor-inhibiting effect is limited; it cannot fundamentally solve such patients' problems, and patients must simultaneously receive effective anti-tumor treatment.