What is the difference between Chuanwu and Caowu?

Kidney deficiency is a common disease. As people age, most people will suffer from kidney deficiency. If kidney deficiency is not treated and controlled, it will worsen and cause great harm to people's health. There are many ways to treat kidney deficiency, but Chinese medicine is very effective in treating kidney deficiency. Chinese medicine generally uses a drug called Aconitum kusnezoffii to treat kidney deficiency. What is the difference between Chuanwu and Aconitum kusnezoffii?

Aconitum is a general term for Chuanwu and Caowu, which are two different plants from the same species. The stem of Chuanwu is upright, generally about one meter high, with purple flowers. The roots are clumpy. The lateral roots are aconite, which becomes the commonly used aconite root after processing. Because it grows on the main root of Chuanwu, it is named Aconite. The stem of Aconitum carmichaelii is a creeping climbing vine, generally about three meters long, and it blooms purple flowers. The root of Aconitum kusnezoffii is long and blocky, without the aconite.

Medicinal differences: Both are highly toxic, and both have the effects of dispelling wind and dampness, warming the meridians and relieving pain. However, Chuanwu is less toxic, while Caowu is more toxic. Most of the current Chuanwu are domestically grown, and there are very few wild ones. This is the place of origin, and there are wild ones, but they are also few. The toxicity of wild ones is much greater than that of domestic ones, and they are generally not taken internally.

TCM analysis: Aconitum, a perennial herb of the Ranunculaceae family, Aconitum napellus, Aconitum truncatum and other wild Aconitum of the same family but different genera are all called Aconitum because their tap roots are black and resemble a crow's head. Its main root is like a potato seed, which can produce many small rhizomes. Surrounding the main root, they are connected by small stems, which are the offspring of Aconitum. They are attached to the surrounding area, so they are called Aconite, and therefore its sub-roots are called Aconite. The main root and its sub-roots have been used as medicine throughout history, hence the name Wuyao.

So Aconitum is its main root, and Linderae yao is the name of the whole plant, which also includes various types of Aconitum and Aconite. The aconite produced can be used as seeds to reproduce the next generation of aconite in the next year. Compared with the next generation of aconite, the original generation of aconite used as seeds is called Aconitum. Therefore, the only difference between Aconitum and Aconite is the growth age of the medicinal materials. This is probably the original meaning of the name of Aconite and Aconitum.

Due to the rapid population growth and the increase in social demand, wild aconite can no longer meet the demand, so large-scale production of domestic aconite is inevitable. Sichuan is the origin of aconite, and there are documents of large-scale and standardized cultivation as early as the period of Emperor Shenzong of Song Dynasty. For example, Yang Tianhui's "Records of Aconite in Zhangming County" has detailed records of the planting range, planting time, planting methods, harvesting season, processing methods, and plant characteristics of Sichuan aconite.

In fact, it was not only grown in Sichuan province at that time, but also in Guangxi, Yunnan, Shaanxi, Xiamen, Zhejiang and other places. However, the Aconitum produced in Sichuan had the greatest influence and the best effect. Over time, all domestically grown Aconitum were named Sichuan Aconitum, and all the sub-roots of Aconitum were called Aconitum. In fact, this custom has been used until now. At present, the Aconitum grown in major Chinese medicine markets such as Shaanxi, Hunan, Hubei, etc. is called Chuanwu, and the processed root products of Aconitum in various places are called Fuzi.