The "roots" from the mountains can actually cure many serious diseases

In the 1970s, I used to grow medicinal herbs at the medical station of Hexin Brigade in Panlong Commune. Once, a teacher from the commune health center took me to collect herbs and taught me about a plant called spotted bamboo on the hillside, whose root is the Chinese medicinal knotweed. The functions of Polygonum cuspidatum are clearing away heat and detoxifying, promoting bile secretion and relieving jaundice, dispelling wind and removing dampness, dispersing blood stasis and relieving pain, and relieving cough and reducing phlegm.

1. Polygonum cuspidatum is often used to treat hepatitis. It has the effects of lowering enzymes and relieving jaundice. It is often used in combination with Artemisia capillaris, red peony root, Salvia miltiorrhiza, and Ganoderma lucidum. For example, the Yiqi Huoxue Qinggan Decoction I developed for the treatment of active hepatitis B is composed of 30 grams of Astragalus, 15 grams of Codonopsis pilosula, 20 grams of Atractylodes macrocephala, 20 grams of Poria, 15 grams of Bupleurum, 15 grams of Red peony root, 30 grams of Salvia miltiorrhiza, 20 grams of Artemisia capillaris, 20 grams of Polygonum cuspidatum, 12 grams of Ganoderma lucidum, 20 grams of Epimedium, 20 grams of Viscum album, 30 grams of malt, and 10 grams of Licorice.

2. Polygonum cuspidatum can also be used to treat fatty liver, which is often accompanied by elevated transaminase. In clinical treatment of fatty liver, I often use Polygonum cuspidatum in combination with Hawthorn, Alisma orientale, Cassia seed, lotus leaf, etc.

3. Polygonum cuspidatum can clear away heat and detoxify, remove blood stasis and cool blood. It is also often used to treat acne. In my experience, the self-made loquat soup with modifications works best. Modified loquat soup is made with Polygonum cuspidatum, Radix Rehmanniae, Radix Rehmanniae, Cortex Moutan, Cortex Morus alba, Angelica sinensis, Hedyotis diffusa, loquat leaves, licorice and other drugs.

Polygonum cuspidatum can also treat lung heat cough (pneumonia, bronchitis), with clinical manifestations such as coughing up purulent sputum, large amounts of yellow sputum, or asthma, dry and bitter mouth, etc. Polygonum cuspidatum is often used in combination with Scutellaria baicalensis, Platycodon grandiflorum, Houttuynia cordata, Trichosanthes kirilowii, Apricot kernel, and Peucedanum chinense.

In addition, Polygonum cuspidatum has an anti-rheumatic effect and can be used for rheumatic arthritis or for the treatment of gout. He Shaoqi (deceased), a disciple of the national medical master Zhu Liangchun, believed that Polygonum cuspidatum has the function of regulating the gastrointestinal tract and facilitating defecation and urination. Therefore, he often used it to treat diabetes, gout (high uric acid), high blood lipids, high cholesterol, simple obesity, habitual constipation, hypertension, etc. It has a good effect on regulating the body's metabolic disorders.

In clinical practice, I usually use 20 to 30 grams per dose, for two days.