Chinese Materia Medica ⁽⁶³⁾

Not long ago, an old classmate told me that her grandmother had asthma; she herself gathered some Lalyang in summer, dried it, and used it to make tea, and after drinking it her wheezing and coughing stopped. But when I myself had a cough and…

Mention Yimucao (Motherwort, Leonurus), and few adults do not know it. It is a very common gynecological herb; patent medicines made from it, such as Yimucao granules, are routinely used in obstetrics and gynecology. Yimucao excels at activating blood and regulating menses, and dispelling stasis…

The core of medicine is safety and efficacy; medication safety concerns the patient's life and health and admits not the slightest negligence. Yet the treatment of many diseases cannot avoid toxic drugs. Used well, they cure; abused, they kill. When a doctor uses toxic Chinese…

Zhizi (Gardenia) is the fruit of the Rubiaceae plant Gardenia jasminoides. Gardenia flowers have a faint, delicate fragrance that refreshes the heart; the plant is a common ornamental landscape shrub. The fruit of Gardenia is a commonly used Chinese medicinal. It has very low toxicity,…

I first came to know phoenix-tail fern when, on a herb-gathering trip with my father, I spotted a clump of it growing by a roadside gully. My father told me this herb was called phoenix-tail fern, and he mentioned a liver-cancer patient in our village…

Bleeding is one of the most common symptoms in cancer patients: hemoptysis in lung cancer, hematemesis in gastric cancer, bloody stools in bowel cancer, and vaginal bleeding in cervical and ovarian cancer, among others, are all frequently seen clinically. Generally, bleeding of various kinds in…

Prunella (Xiakucao, Selfheal spike) is a very common Chinese medicine. Its actions are to clear liver heat, dissipate nodules, promote urination, and lower blood pressure. It can be used to treat scrofula (lymph-node tuberculosis), thyroid nodules, mammary hyperplasia, and also eye pain, photophobia and tearing,…

Origin and morphological characteristics of CephalotaxusCephalotaxus, also called feizu (plum yew), is an evergreen tree. Its branchlets are opposite, and its winter buds are terminal. The leaves are arranged spirally in two rows, linear-lanceolate, slightly curved, with white stomatal bands on the underside. The flowers…

This year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Professor Jeffrey I. Gordon of Washington University in St. Louis, for his long and meticulous research on the gut microbiota, which discovered that gut dysbiosis is closely linked to malnutrition, obesity, diabetes, and other…

A friend consulted me: a relative of his had chronic atrophic gastritis, and a TCM physician included Chuanlianzi (Fructus Toosendan) in the prescription for pain relief for two months, causing hepatotoxicity that landed the patient in the hospital as an emergency. Chuanlianzi has slight toxicity.