Story from "Compendium of Materia Medica": Atractylodes removes dampness and strengthens the spleen

Author: Pang Wenya, Mei Quanxi, Shenzhen Baoan Pure Traditional Chinese Medicine Treatment Hospital

"Compendium of Materia Medica", Chapter 12, Atractylodes Atractylodes removes dampness and strengthens the spleen

Xu Quanwei's ability Fang Yun: Wei Yan has been drinking for thirty years. When he was growing up, he was sitting on his left side while writing essays, so he ate and drank too much on his left side. In the middle of the night, he will drink several glasses of wine and lie down on his left side. When you are strong, you don’t notice it. Three to five years later, I felt that the noise from the lower left side of my body stopped after drinking, the pain in my hypochondrium and the noise after eating subsided, and it stopped after drinking half a cup. For more than ten days, I will vomit several liters of sour water. During the summer months, there was sweating on the right side, but not on the left side. I visited famous doctors and Haishangfang, and occasionally got sick, but it stopped for more than a month. ... Then I studied all the medicines, only one pound of Atractylodes, peeled and sliced ??into powder, half a pound of raw oil and sesame, two cups of water, grind the juice, fifty jujubes, boil, peel and core, pound and make balls of Wuzi. big. Take 50 pills in the abdomen at room temperature every day, increasing to 1 or 200 pills. Avoid peach, plum and sparrow meat, take it for three months and the disease will be cured. "Compendium of Materia Medica" Volume 12 "Atractylodes Invention"

Regarding Atractylodes' ability to remove dampness and strengthen the spleen, "Compendium of Materia Medica" records such a story:

Once upon a time there was Xu Bachelor, which was the honorific name given to Xu Shuwei, a great medical expert in the Song Dynasty. It is said that Shu Wei was extremely diligent in his youth and studied until late at night every day before going to bed. Xu Xueshi has a habit of drinking before going to bed. This is probably based on the folk proverb "A sip of wine before going to bed can make you live ninety-nine", which means using wine to maintain health! This habit lasted for 30 years, and gradually developed an addiction to alcohol. A few years later, he often felt a gurgling sound in his stomach, pain in his lower ribs, his diet decreased, and he would vomit some bitter and sour gastric juice every ten and a half days. Every summer, the left half of his body does not sweat, only the right half of his body sweats. What kind of strange disease is this?

Xu Shuwei didn't know it himself. He sought treatment everywhere, but no results came from famous doctors, and he was very distressed. Finally, Xu Xueshi abandoned the belief that "medicine is not autonomous" and began to save himself. He carefully analyzed and studied his illness and believed that his illness was mainly caused by "dampness blocking the stomach". Therefore, according to his consistent academic thought of "refining the essence of medicine", he chose Atractylodes as the main medicine, mixed 1 pound of Atractylodes powder, 50 jujubes, and half a liang of raw sesame oil to make pellets, and insisted on taking 50 pills every day. Later, the dosage was gradually increased, taking 100 to 200 tablets daily. Avoid peaches, plums, and sparrow meat. After taking it for three months, the disease was cured. This shows that Atractylodes has the function of drying dampness and strengthening the spleen.

Atractylodes, also known as Shanjing, Red Atractylodes, Horse Thistle, Qingshu, and Xianshu, is the dried stem of the perennial herb Atractylodes Atractylodes or Atractylodes Atractylodes in the Asteraceae family. Atractylodes is mainly distributed in Shandong, Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Henan, Hubei, Sichuan and other places. It is cultivated in many places, but the one produced in Maoshan, Jiangsu has the best quality, so it is named Atractylodes, or Maoshu for short. Beicangzhu is mainly distributed in Northeast China, North China, Shaanxi, Ningxia, Gansu, Shandong, Henan and other northern regions, so it is named Beicangshu. It is widely cultivated in medicinal gardens across China. Wild in hillside grasslands, understory, shrubs and rock crevices. It can be harvested in spring and autumn, and the best quality is harvested after autumn. Atractylodes decoction pieces are better if they are firm in texture, have many cinnabar spots on the cross-section, and have a strong aroma. Atractylodes atractylodes is generally considered to be of better quality.

The difference between Atractylodes atractylodes and Atractylodes atractylodes:

Characteristics: Atractylodes atractylodes is irregularly beaded or nodular cylindrical Shape, grey-brown surface, solid texture, yellow-white or off-white cross-section, scattered with many orange-yellow or brown-red oil cells. After sliced, the cross-section of Atractylodes atractylodes is yellow-white or gray-white, and very obvious orange-yellow or brown-red spots are scattered. The oil chamber is commonly known as "cinnabar point". When Atractylodes atractylodes slices are exposed to the air for a long time, white needle-like crystals will precipitate on the surface, which is commonly known as "frost". Many people think that the medicinal materials have become moldy after being left for a long time. In fact, this is not the case. This is a normal phenomenon. Atractylodes atractylodes has a strong aroma, with many "cinnabar points" in the cross section, good quality, and a unique aroma and slightly sweet, pungent, and bitter taste.

Compared with Atractylodes Atractylodes, Atractylodes Atractylodes is in the shape of lumps and has a looser texture. There are also yellow-brown oil chambers or "cinnabar spots" on the cross section, but the number is smaller and no white needle-like crystals are precipitated. The aroma of Atractylodes Atractylodes is lighter. , pungent and bitter in taste.

Active ingredients: Although both are Atractylodes, their ingredient contents are different. The volatile oil content of Atractylodes rhizome is 5-9, and the volatile oil content of Atractylodes rhizome is 1.5 (the main components of volatile oil are atractyl alcohol, β-eucalyptol, and a mixture of atractyl alcohol). In addition, there are atractylone and atractyrin, etc., with different contents in their origins. Also different.

There is another kind of Atractylodes guanzi distributed in Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Inner Mongolia, Hebei and other places. In some areas, it is mixed with Atractylodes for medicine. It is not a species included in the pharmacopoeia and should be Pay attention to the distinction. Atractylodes rhizome is mostly nodular and cylindrical, with a dark brown surface. The texture is loose, the broken surface is uneven, the fiber is strong, and there are network cracks or small cavities. The difference between Atractylodes atractylodes and the other two medicinal Atractylodes stipulated in the pharmacopoeia is that there are no oil spots on its cross section, because the smell is mainly It comes from oil spots, so Atractylodes atractylodes has a special smell but the taste is relatively weak.

Atractylodes is widely used in modern clinical practice, and is mainly used in the following aspects:

1. Treat dampness blocking the spleen and stomach resulting in abdominal distension, loss of appetite, For symptoms such as fatigue and fatigue, white and greasy tongue coating, it is often used in combination with magnolia bark, tangerine peel, etc.

2. To treat cold-damp leucorrhea, it can be used with Angelica dahurica.

3. For damp-heat bets, swelling and pain in the ankles and knees, flaccidity and weakness, it can be used with Phellodendron cypress, Achyranthes bidentata, Yiren, etc.

4. It is especially suitable for numbness and pain caused by cold and dampness. It can be used in conjunction with Qianghuo and Duhuo.

5. It is used for headaches, body aches, and anhidrosis caused by wind, cold, and dampness. It is often used with Qianghuo, Asarum, and Fangfeng.

6. This product also has the function of improving eyesight and is an important medicine for treating night blindness. It can be used in combination with pig liver or sheep liver, Cassia, etc.

In addition, this product has a fragrant smell and can ward off filth. Folks use Atractylodes and moxa leaves to burn indoors during the Dragon Boat Festival of the Lunar calendar to ward off diseases. Recent human experiments have shown that this method can indeed inhibit and kill viruses and bacteria. Therefore, Atractylodes atractylodes has also been widely used in the prevention and treatment of COVID-19. The "COVID-19 Diagnosis and Treatment Plan" published by the National Health Commission and the Bureau of Traditional Chinese Medicine includes the Cold and Dampness Blocking Fei Recipe for the early stage of COVID-19 and the novel coronavirus pneumonia that are used internally to treat COVID-19. Atractylodes is used heavily in the mid-term epidemic prevention prescription, the Hubei Health and Medical Commission’s No. 1 prescription for preventing new coronavirus pneumonia, and the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University’s prescription for preventing new coronavirus pneumonia. In the usage (fumigation or sachet) method, the external Chinese medicine prescriptions for preventing new coronavirus pneumonia recorded in the "New Coronavirus Pneumonia Traditional Chinese Medicine Diagnosis and Treatment Manual" (indoor fumigation or grinding into a sachet to wear) and the use of Atractylodes, Atractylodes, Atractylodes is also used when grinding mugwort leaves into powder and using them for indoor fumigation.

Traditional Chinese medicine believes that the nature and flavor of Atractylodes Atractylodes are pungent, bitter, and warm. Returns to the spleen, stomach and liver meridians. It can remove dampness and strengthen the spleen, expel wind and cold, and improve eyesight. It is used for abdominal distension, diarrhea, edema, athlete's foot, rheumatic arthralgia, wind-cold cold, night blindness and blurry eyes. The pungent powder of Atractylodes Rhizome is strong in bitterness and dryness, strengthens the spleen due to internal dryness, dampness and turbidity in the middle Jiao, and dispels wind-dampness and cold (internal dampness and external dampness) externally. It is especially suitable for people suffering from rheumatic paralysis due to dampness, and those suffering from exogenous wind-cold and dampness. Regarding its efficacy, "Compendium of Materia Medica" records: "Cure dampness and phlegm retained in water, or blood stasis formed into cysts, spleen dampness flowing down, turbid discharge, diarrhea, intestinal wind." "Compendium of Materia Medica" records: "It stops Watery diarrhea, heat-induced diarrhea caused by food damage, and "Jade Catalpa Medicinal Solution" records: "Dry soil and diuresis, purge water and eliminate phlegm, remove blood stasis, relieve depression, remove leakage, resolve ringworm, remove symptoms, and manage the symptoms." Swallowing acid can remove rot, eliminate miasma in mountains and rivers, restore weakness in muscles and bones, and clear away turbidity. "These herbal works describe the efficacy and application of Atractylodes very clearly. Modern research shows that the rhizome of Atractylodes contains volatile oil, and the components in the oil are a mixture of atractylol, β-cineol and atractylol, as well as atractylone and atractylol.

Pharmacological studies have shown that Atractylodes has the effects of regulating gastrointestinal motility, anti-ulcer effects, hepatoprotective effects, antibacterial effects, antiviral effects, promoting bile secretion, and inhibiting the movement of uterine smooth muscle. It also has certain effects on blood sugar, anti-hypoxia, central inhibition, anti-tumor, promotion of bone calcification, and cardiovascular effects.

Regarding Atractylodes, there are many folk prescriptions and prescriptions, which are all effective in clinical application. Such as:

1. Home remedies for treating COPD

Atractylodes 20 50 grams. Boil 3 bowls of water into 1 bowl of water and drink it in 3 portions. 1 day amount.

2. Treatment of optic atrophy

18 grams of Atractylodes, 3 grams of ginseng, and 50 grams of mother-of-pearl. First, break the mother-of-pearl and boil it for 30 minutes, then add the atractylodes and ginseng and boil it together. 1 dose per day, once in the morning and once in the evening, 7 days for a course of treatment, 2 to 3 courses of treatment, and then stop for 21 days before taking again.

3. Treatment of night blindness

4 taels of fresh pork liver slices, 30 grams of Atractylodes, 1 bowl of millet. Soak the millet in 3 bowls of water for 30 minutes, then put the soaked millet water into a pot and cook the pork liver and atractylodes until it reaches 1 bowl of water. Eat the pork liver and drink the soup before going to bed at night. In mild cases, 2 doses are effective, in severe cases, 14 to 15 doses are effective.

4. Treatment of rotten legs due to diabetes

Dry Phellodendron cypress and Atractylodes rhizome into powder and apply to the rotten area. Do not use other medicines during this period. . It takes 7 days to take effect, and the sore spots will basically scab and close in two months.

5. Treatment of eczema

10 grams each of Phellodendron cypress and Atractylodes rhizome, boil in water for 30 minutes, let it dry to warm, then use a sterilized cotton ball dipped in the liquid to wash. Then sprinkle a little talcum powder on the affected area. 2 times a day, continuous treatment for 3 to 7 days.

6. Treatment of burns and scalds

Dry appropriate amount of Atractylodes rhizome and grind it into fine powder, mix it with sesame oil into a thin paste, apply the paste on the burned area , 3 times a day until recovery.

7. Treat bone and joint pain and bone hyperplasia

Add 5 jins of Atractylodes rhizome to 5 jins of rice wine and an appropriate amount of water. Place it in a large pot and simmer over low heat. After 6 hours, filter to remove residue and concentrate. Add half of the concentrated liquid to honey and make a paste for oral administration. Add the other half to frankincense powder to make a paste for external application on the affected area. It has better curative effect.

8. Treatment of diarrhea due to food injury

100 grams of Atractylodes macrocephala and 50 grams of small pepper (fried with the eyes removed). The top is made of very fine vinegar paste and made into pills as big as tung seeds. Take 20 to 30 pills each time with warm water before meals.

9. Treatment of diarrhea

Use 9~10g of Atractylodes rhizome and Coptidis chinensis powder, mash it with glutinous rice distiller’s grains, and knead it with the medicinal powder to make a round cake. Like, apply externally to the Shenque point on the umbilicus of the child, cover it with thin plastic, and fix it with a bandage. Apply it 1 to 2 times a day, 4 to 6 hours each time, and it has a good effect.

10. Treatment of rickets

Use Atractylodes volatile oil microcapsules (each capsule contains 0.33mL of Atractylodes volatile oil) to treat rickets in children aged 2 to 3 years old 2 times each time capsules, 3 times a day, for 1 week in initial cases and 2 weeks in acute cases, and reexamined 1 month after stopping the drug. Or use atractylodes syrup (containing 9g of atractylodes and 1g of egg skin powder per 10mL) to treat rickets in children, 5mL each time, twice a day for 15 consecutive days, with good curative effect.

It should not be used by those with yin deficiency, internal heat, qi deficiency and excessive sweating.

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