Patent Chinese Medicine ⁽⁹³⁾

Meihua Dianshe Dan comes from Waike Zhengzhi Quansheng Ji (Complete Records on the Pattern and Treatment of External Disorders). It was a secret family formula of the famous Qing-dynasty physician Wang Weide (style name Hongxu, 1669–1749), who made it public in that book. After Waike…

Compound Fufangteng Mixture is composed of Fufangteng (Caulis Euonymi Fratris), Huangqi (Radix Astragali), and Hongshen (red ginseng). It has the actions of boosting qi and nourishing blood, and fortifying the spleen and nourishing the heart. It is used for deficiency of qi and blood and…

Shenghua Tang (Generation-and-Transformation Decoction) is an empirical formula of the famous late Ming/early Qing physician Fu Qingzhu, recorded in Fu Qing Zhu Nü Ke (Fu Qingzhu's Gynecology). Fu Qingzhu was skilled in treating gynecological diseases and left behind many empirical gynecological formulas; Shenghua Tang is…

Ankangxin Capsules are an anticancer Chinese patent medicine developed by contemporary TCM. Their main ingredients are eighteen Chinese herbs including Astragali Radix (Huang Qi), Ginseng Radix (Ren Shen), Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma (Dan Shen), Ganoderma (Ling Zhi), Psoraleae Fructus (Bu Gu Zhi), Schisandrae Fructus…

Shenqi Wan (Four-Miracle Pill) is recorded in Yi Fang Ji Jie (Systematic Explanation of Medical Formulas). It consists of four herbs—Psoraleae Fructus (Bu Gu Zhi), Schisandrae Fructus (Wu Wei Zi), Myristicae Semen (Rou Dou Kou), and Evodiae Fructus (Wu Zhu Yu)—together with Zingiberis Rhizoma (Sheng…

Ganfule tablets (capsules) are a modern Chinese patent medicine. Its ingredients include: Codonopsis (Dangshen), turtle shell (Biejia, vinegar-processed), Paris rhizome (Chonglou), white atractylodes (Baizhu, stir-fried), Astragalus (Huangqi), tangerine peel (Chenpi), ground beetle (Tubiechong), rhubarb (Dahuang), peach kernel (Taoren), Scutellaria barbata (Banzhilian), Patrinia (Baijiangcao), Poria (Fuling),…

Zaofan (black alum, ferrous sulfate) is the mineral goslarite (a sulfate mineral) or a chemically synthesized product, whose main component is ferrous sulfate heptahydrate; its aliases are green alum and blue alum. It has been used as a medicinal in China since antiquity. Traditional TCM…

This summer and autumn, because of the heavy rain, many people developed common skin diseases such as eczema. Just after summer vacation began, my son went to military training and, because he sweated too much, developed eczema. Not long ago, my mother-in-law back in my…

Yesterday I wrote an article introducing the effects of Centipeda minima (Ebushicao), "Centipeda minima: A Fine Herb for Treating Nasal Conditions and Allergies". Some readers asked me to further explain how to use Centipeda minima to make medicine at home for treating rhinitis and nasal…

A few days ago, while picking vegetables in my small garden, I was wearing athletic shorts and was accidentally bitten by a venomous insect hiding in the grass. At first I thought nothing of it, assuming that applying something like essential balm would do. But…