Gualou Xiebai Danshen Decoction

Traditional Chinese medicine does not only use one kind of Chinese herbal medicine to treat diseases, but also combines multiple Chinese herbal medicines to make soup or prepare medicines for patients to take. Generally, it is more common to make soup with Chinese herbal medicines. Even with the advanced medical technology nowadays, we still prefer to use Chinese herbal medicines for treatment. I don’t know if you have heard of the Gua Lou Xie Bai Zi Dan Shen Decoction. So what are the functions and effects of Gua Lou Xie Bai Zi Dan Shen Decoction? Regarding this issue, let's take a look at the detailed introduction of the article.

Zhang Zhongjing believed that insufficient chest yang was the pathological basis for the occurrence of chest pain. In "Golden Chamber of Materia Medica", it says: "The pulse should be taken as excessive or insufficient. Yang is weak and Yin is stringy, which will cause chest pain. Why? Because it is due to extreme deficiency. Now we know that yang deficiency is in the upper burner, so chest pain and heart pain are caused by its yin stringy." He summarized the syndrome differentiation and treatment of chest pain in one sentence as "yang is weak and yin is stringy", which means that the yang in the upper burner is deficient, while the yin in the lower burner is abundant. He deliberately emphasized that "yang is weak", that is, the Cun pulse is deep and thin, which means that the yang in the upper burner is deficient and the chest yang is sluggish, "which is due to extreme deficiency." "Yin stringy", that is, the Chi pulse is tight and stringy, which means that the yin evil is internal heat, and water and fluid accumulate in the heart, causing chest pain and heart pain. He also professionally explained the main symptoms of chest pain and developed a prescription: "For chest pain, symptoms include wheezing, coughing, spitting, chest and back pain, shortness of breath, deep and slow pulse at the Cunkou position, and small, tight and rapid pulse at the Hekou position. It can be treated with a decoction of Trichosanthes, Xiebai, and pure grain and wine"; "For chest pain that makes one unable to lie down and heart pain that extends to the back, it can be treated with a decoction of Trichosanthes, Xiebai, and Pinellia tuber."

Zhongjing sorted out the cause of the disease through syndrome differentiation and treatment as "Yang is weak and Yin is stringy", that is, the Yang Qi in the upper burner is deficient, while the Yin Qi in the lower burner is excessive, which is a syndrome of deficiency in the root and excess in the center. In treatment, nine prescriptions were formulated according to different symptoms, including Trichosanthes, Xiebai and Pure Grain Wine Soup, Trichosanthes, Xiebai and Pinellia Soup, etc., which have the effects of warming the body and dispersing cold, relieving numbness and removing dampness, which best reflect Zhongjing's characteristics of syndrome differentiation and treatment of heartache and chest pain.

Gualou Xiebai Banxia Decoction has been continuously developed and expanded by successive generations of Chinese medicine practitioners, and its clinical application scope has become increasingly widespread. According to clinical medical reports, the diseases treated by Gualou Xiebai Banxia Decoction mainly involve cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases: such as coronary heart disease angina pectoris, viral myocarditis, chronic cor pulmonale, arrhythmia, dementia, sequelae of cerebral infarction, cerebral arteriosclerosis, etc.; central nervous system diseases: such as post-herpetic neuralgia, neuritis, vascular neurosis headache, etc.; digestive tract diseases: such as stomach disease, gastric ulcer, colitis, hepatitis, cirrhosis, etc.; genitourinary system diseases: such as kidney stones, nephrotic syndrome, chronic nephritis, etc.; endocrine diseases: such as diabetes, etc.; surgical diseases: such as cervical spondylosis, periarthritis of the shoulder, etc.; gynecological, pediatric, otolaryngological and dermatological diseases, etc.