Effects and functions of Houttuynia cordata

Houttuynia cordata root (English name HERBA

HOUTTUYNIAE) is a medicinal herb included in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia. The medicinal herb comes from the dried above-ground part of the Houttuynia cordata Thunb. of the Saururaceae family. Harvest in summer when the leaves and stems are lush and there are many flower spikes, remove the residue and dry them.

The role and efficacy of Houttuynia cordata root

1. Used for lung abscess, cough with spitting of thick blood, wind-heat cough, yellow and thick sputum, etc. The former is often used together with tangerine stem, reed root, wax gourd seed, etc. to enhance the effects of clearing away heat and fire, reducing swelling and releasing pus; the latter is often used together with lung-moisturizing, phlegm-resolving and cough-relieving medicines such as bupleurum, fritillaria, and mulberry bark.

2. Used for heat-toxic sores, often used together with Viola yedoensis, honeysuckle tea, lotus forsythia and other heat-clearing and detoxifying drugs. It can be taken orally or applied externally.

3. It is used to treat painful urination caused by heat and is often used together with diuretic and stranguria-relieving drugs such as Akebia, Feldspar, and Plantago seed.

4. It is used nowadays to treat lung abscess, pneumonia, acute and chronic bronchitis, urinary tract infection, etc. Modern pharmacology experiments show that this product has the effects of antibacterial, antiviral treatment, enhancing the body's immune ability, and promoting urination. Clinical medicine reports show that it is widely used to treat pneumonia, hemoptysis, respiratory tract infection, chronic bronchitis, whooping cough, influenza, lung abscess, cancerous pleural effusion, fever and cold, lung cancer, cervical erosion, suppurative arthritis, chronic constipation, subacute bacterial dysentery, subacute icteric hepatitis, nephrotic syndrome, herpes simplex keratitis, rhinitis, suppurative otitis media, mumps, papular urticaria, chronic pharyngitis, anorectal disease, prostatitis, lupus erythematosus, hemangioma, and prevent Neisseria meningitidis, etc.

5. Common Chinese herbal prescriptions with Houttuynia cordata root as the main ingredient include Houttuynia cordata root injection, which has the effects of clearing away heat and detoxifying, removing toxins, clearing heat and removing dampness, and is used for lung abscess, phlegm-heat cough, secretions, urinary tract infection, carbuncle, etc. For example, compound houttuynia tablets (composed of houttuynia root, bupleurum, isatis root granules, and lotus forsythia) have the effect of clearing away heat and removing fire, and are used to treat sore throat and tonsil inflammation caused by exogenous wind-heat.