What is a keel?

Dragon bone is actually a common Chinese medicinal material. Its clinical application can be said to be quite extensive, especially in Shandong, Yunnan Province, Qinghai and other places, which are high-yield areas of dragon bones. There are some detailed information about this medicinal material in "Ben Jing" and "Wu Pu Materia Medica". It can be said that dragon bones have good health-care effects from ancient times to the present, so they have been passed down to this day.

So what are dragon bones? What are the health benefits of dragon bones? What is the introduction about dragon bones in traditional Chinese medicine or some other records? With these questions, let us take a brief look at the health benefits of dragon bones and discover their health benefits and chemical composition.

Dragon bone-Chinese herbal medicine original state

The medicinal materials are produced in Henan, Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Shandong, Inner Mongolia, Hubei, Sichuan, Yunnan, Guangxi, Qinghai and other places.

Ecological environment of plants and animals: living in a warm environment. It is mainly produced in Tertiary sedimentary rocks (mudstone, siltstone) and Quaternary sediments. Through crustal activity, it mixes with sand and mud and forms fossils or rock strata.

[Harvesting and storage]: After digging out, remove the soil and impurities. The bones of the five-flowered dragon are brittle and easily broken when exposed to the air after being unearthed, so they are often glued together with rough paper.

This product is the fossil of the bones of ancient mammals such as elephants, rhinos, and three-toed horses. [2]

【Research】: From

1. Original Sutra.

2. Wu Pu's Materia Medica: Dragon bones[3] with a bluish-white color are good.

3. "Leigong Paozhi Lun": Dragon bones, those grown in Shanzhou and Cangzhou and Taiyuan are the best. Those with fine bones and wide patterns are female, while those with thick bones and narrow patterns are male. Bones with five colors are the best, white ones are medium, black ones are second, and yellow ones are slightly better. Do not use bones that have not been cleaned by meridians.

4. "Bielu": Dragon bones grow in the valleys of Jin and in the caves on the banks of rocks and water in Taishan. There is no time to pick.

5. Tao Hongjing: Dragon bones are now mostly found in Yizhou and Liangzhou, and there are also some in Bazhong. The bones are like the spine and shank, with a white background and brocade patterns. The ones that stick to the tongue are good when licked. The teeth are small and strong, and still have tooth shape. The horns are strong and solid.

6. "Compendium of Materia Medica": Dragon bones, teeth and horns are now common in many counties and cities in Hedong.

7. "Compendium of Materia Medica": I have been to mountains and valleys in Jin and Shu to look for the places where dragon bones are produced. There were steep rocks and winding streams, and there were things like dragon scales, hidden as claws and teeth. I dug them up everywhere and found they were all dragon bones. How could there be so many dragon bones and why are they all piled up in Liang and Yi mountains? They are all of the same kind as stone swallows and stone crabs, formed by steam, turning into stone rather than dragons.

Medical effects

【Chemical composition】: Mainly contains hydroxy calcium phosphate Ca5(PO4)3(OH) (hydroxyapatite); also contains a small amount of calcium carbonate and iron, aluminum, magnesium, manganese, strontium and other elements.

【Physical and chemical identification】：

1. This product is insoluble in water, but it can be dissolved and produce bubbles when added with dilute nitric acid. It has identification reaction of calcium salt and phosphate. See gypsum for identification reaction of calcium salt. For identification reaction of phosphate: take the solution of this product, add ammonium molybdate test solution and dilute nitric acid, and then heat to produce yellow precipitate; after separation, the precipitate can be dissolved in ammonia test solution. Add ammonia test solution to reverse the above reaction and dissolve it.

2. Identification by X-ray diffraction: The characteristic diffraction peaks of hydroxyapatite and calcite should be visible on the X-ray diffraction pattern of the sample.

【Notes】：

1. The "dragon bones" sold on the market are kaolin from minerals. They are embedded in stones and look like knee-shaped lumps or bones. Due to the infiltration of iron oxide, manganese oxide, etc., they form spots, but they have no bone structure.

2. Dragon Teeth: Fossilized teeth of ancient mammals such as elephants, rhinos, and three-toed horses. They are conical or cylindrical, more or less curved, and shaped like teeth. They are usually crushed after being calcined. This product is astringent and cool, can calm nerves, eliminate irritability and heat, treat palpitations, and insomnia. 9-15 g of calcined dragon teeth can be decocted in water and taken orally.

Drug properties and efficacy

【Nature and flavor】: sweet and astringent, neutral.

① "Ben Jing": "Taste sweet, neutral."

② "Bie Lu": "slightly cold, non-toxic."

③ "Medicinal Properties": "It is slightly toxic,"

④ "Compendium of Materia Medica": "Sweet, flat, astringent."

⑤ "Medical Records of Chinese and Western Medicine": "It tastes light and slightly spicy, and has a neutral nature."

[return through]: enters the heart, liver, kidney and large intestine meridians.

① "Compendium of Materia Medica": "It enters the Shaoyin and Jueyin meridians of the hands and feet."

② "Ben Cao Jing Shu": "It enters the foot Jueyin, Shaoyang, Shaoyin meridians, and also enters the hand Shaoyin and Yangming meridians."

【Functions and indications】: It can calm the nerves, soothe the nerves, stop sweating and consolidate semen, stop bleeding and astringe the intestines, promote tissue regeneration and heal sores. It is used to treat epilepsy, mania, palpitations, forgetfulness, insomnia, spontaneous sweating, night sweats, spermatorrhea, vomiting, nosebleeds, bloody stools, metrorrhagia, leukorrhea, diarrhea, prolapse of the anus, and ulcers that do not heal for a long time.

① "Ben Jing": "It is used to treat cough and vomiting, diarrhea with pus and blood, vaginal discharge in women, hard masses and lumps, and epilepsy caused by heat in children."

② "Bie Lu": "It can treat abdominal distension, limb weakness, sweating, self-startling when sleeping at night, anger, hidden qi in the heart and unable to breathe, intestinal carbuncle, genital erosion, stop sweating, reduce urination, hematuria, nourish the spirit, calm the soul. It can calm the five internal organs." "White dragon bone can treat spermatorrhea in dreams and spermatorrhea in urine."

③"Medicinal Properties": "It can expel evil spirits, calm the mind, stop cold dysentery and pus and blood, treat metrorrhagia and leukorrhea in women, stop nocturnal emission and sexual intercourse, treat hematuria, and can be used for deficiency and frequent dreams."

④ "Rihuazi Materia Medica": "It strengthens the spleen, astringes the intestines and stomach, stops diarrhea, thirst, miscarriage during pregnancy, intestinal wind and bleeding, metrorrhagia, leukorrhea, nosebleed, vomiting blood, and stops sweating."

⑤ "Pearl Capsule": "It can cure large intestine dislocation."

⑥ "Compendium of Materia Medica": "It can nourish the kidney and calm the nerves, stop malaria, absorb dampness, treat anal prolapse, promote tissue regeneration and heal sores."

Modern Research

Main ingredients : mainly calcium carbonate, calcium phosphate, also contains iron, potassium, sodium, chloride, sulfate, etc.

Pharmacological action :

1. Experiments on sedation, hypnosis and anticonvulsant effects show that oral administration of 20% dragon bone suspension (20 ml/kg) to mice can significantly increase the hypnotic rate of sodium pentobarbital and also has an antagonistic effect on convulsions caused by huisuling.

2. Other effects: 20% dragon bone suspension 20ml/kg was administered to mice orally, which shortened the blood coagulation time of normal mice.

What is dragon bone? It can be said that dragon bone is a health product with sedative and sleep-inducing effects. In clinical practice, it can be said that dragon bone is a good medicine for treating many diseases. Of course, all medicines are poisonous. Improper use of the method of taking it will also affect the efficacy of the medicine. Therefore, you must pay attention to it when taking it in daily life.