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Chinese Herbs > Intro/ Basics > Flashcards

Intro/ Basics Flashcards

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Chinese (Mandarin) flashcards
1
Q

Name the function of the three herbal categories: The Upper, Middle and the Lower class of herbs

A
  • Upper class of herbs which heal spiritual disease.
  • Middle class of herbs which focus on constitutional treatment.
  • Lower class of herbs which expel disease.
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2
Q

Define DI DAO and PAOZHI

A

(Di) These are the source of the appropriate locale where an herb traditionally, in classical times, was grown.
(Dao) The specific growing areas, methods, times, seasons and harvesting methods used.
(Paozhi) The all important methods used in the processing

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3
Q

List the 4 purposes of processing Chinese herbs (Paozhi):

A
  1. Decrease toxicity of the herb and minimize side effects.
  2. Change function of the herb (either enhance one function of the herb or deplete one function of the herb)
  3. In order to store herb
  4. Take out the part that is not useful
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4
Q

There are 13 methods of processing, list 6:

A 
Soaking 
Bleaching
Refining with water
Dry-frying
Frying with liquids
Calcining
Quick-frying
Dry-curing or baking
Roasting in ashes
Steaming
Boiling
Quenching
Simmering
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5
Q

Name the four natures:

A

Cold and Cool
Warm and Hot
Neutral

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6
Q

List the 5 flavors and examples of them:

A
  • Acrid foods include green onion, chive, clove, parsley and coriander.
  • Sweet foods include sugar, cherry, chestnut and banana.
  • Sour foods include lemon, pear, plum and mango.
  • Bitter foods include hops, lettuce, radish leaf and vinegar (I list vinegar as bitter because the Chinese call vinegar “bitter wine.” Vinegar tastes both sour and bitter; it is common for some foods to have two simultaneous flavors).
  • Salty foods include salt, kelp and seaweed.
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7
Q

What are the functions of Acrid (xin)?

A

disperse (promote Qi and blood circulation), lift

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8
Q

What are the functions of Bitter (ku)?

A

descend, clear and purge, dry (up dampness), consolidate (Yin)

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9
Q

What are the functions of Sweet (gan)?

A

tonify, coordinate herbs and reduce herbs’ side-effects , reflex spasm

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10
Q

What are the functions of Sour (suan)?

A

astringe (i.e. to bind together) and control (Qi, blood, Body fluid, shen and essence)

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11
Q

What are the functions of Salty (xian)?

A

purge, soften (masses)

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12
Q

What are the functions of Bland (dan)?

A

Promote urination for eliminating damp

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13
Q

What are the functions of Astringent (shoulianji)?

A

similar to sour (estrange and control)

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14
Q

What are the directions or tendencies or action of herbs?

A

lifting and lowering, floating, and sinking

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15
Q

What are the flavors of lifting and floating, lowering and sinking herbs?

A

Lifting and Floating herbs—acrid or sweet and warm or hot

Lowering and Sinking herbs—sour, bitter, salty or astringent and cool or cold

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16
Q

The lifting and floating herbs possess (6):

A 
upward and outward action
have a function to lift Yang
eliminate wind and cold
open orifices
induce sweat
and promote Qi circulation.
17
Q

The lowering and sinking herbs possess(6):

A 
downward and inward action
have a function to calm the shen
subdue hyperactivity of Yang and internal wind
eliminate food retention
purge and clear heat
promote urination and descend Qi.
18
Q

What are the 5 techniques for combining herbs?

A
  1. mutual reinforcement between herbs (xiang xu)
  2. mutual assistance between herbs (xiang shi)
  3. mutual detoxification (xiang sha/xiang wei)
  4. mutual antagonism (xiang wu)
  5. incompatibility between herbs (xiang fan)
19
Q

Principles for combining herbs include(4):

A

increasing therapeutic effectiveness,
minimizing toxicity or side-effects,
accommodating more complex symptom patterns,
and modifying actions of primary herbs in the formula.

20
Q

What are the 7 reasons for combining or not combining herbs in formulas:

A 
Mutual accentuation
Mutual enhancement
Mutual counteraction
Mutual suppression
Mutual antagonism
Mutual incompatibility
Single effect
21
Q

Describe mutual accentuation:

A

Combining 2 or more substances with SIMILAR actions to accentuate or strengthen those actions

ie: shi gao and zhi mu (Bai Hu Tang) to clear heat and drain fire

22
Q

Describe mutual enhancement:

A

Combining 2 or more substances with DIFFERENT actions in which one enhances the effect of another in specific clinical situations

ie: fu ling and huang qi for edema (Fang Ji Fu Ling Tang)

23
Q

Describe mutual counteraction:

A

One substances toxicity or side effect is relieved by another

ie: ban xia and sheng jiang (Xiao Ban Xia Tang)

24
Q

What is mutual suppression?

A

One substance reduces the side effects of another

ie: ze xie and shu di huang (Liu Wei Di Huang Wan).

25
Q

Describe mutual antagonism:

A

The ability of 2 substances to reduce or neutralize each other’s positive effects.

ie: lai fu zi reduces ren shen’s ability to tonify qi

26
Q

Describe mutual incompatibility:

A

The combination of 2 substances gives rise to side effects or toxicity

27
Q

What is the single effect for an herb?

A

Using a single herb to treat a patient

ie: ren shen to treat collapse of qi and yang.

28
Q

Other important techniques of combining herbs for more complex cases include:

A

a) Simultaneous attack and reinforcement: This is used in cases where the patient is both excess and deficient. A clearing herb is used for the excess and a tonifying herb for the deficiency at the same time ie: huang qin and ren shen in Xiao Chai Hu Tang.
b) Hot and cold herbs will be used simultaneously to gain the benefits of each ie: huang lian and wu zhu yu for stomach fire induced nausea and GERD in Zuo Jin Wan.
c) Ascending and descending herbs will be used simultaneously to clear or open an area of stuck qi ie: chai hu and zhi shi in Si Ni San to move stuck liver qi.
d) Dispersing and astringing herbs will be combined for the same reasons as above, to open or move an area of stuck qi ie: xi xin and wu wei zi in Xiao Qing Long Tang.

e) Adding a qi or blood moving herb to a qi or blood nourishing formula respectively to prevent the nourishing herbs from cloying or causing stagnation ie: chuan xiong in
Si Wu Tang or chen pi in Liu Jun Zi Tang.

29
Q

What are 3 major categories of contraindications or prohibitions in using Chinese herbs:

A
  1. Prohibited Combinations: traditionally there were said to be certain combinations of herbs that should be avoided because they either reduce each other’s effectiveness or lead to toxicity or undesired side-effects.
  2. Contraindications during Pregnancy: some Chinese herbs can cause problems for a fetus or even lead to miscarriage. These should not be given during pregnancy. Outright toxic or extremely harsh herbs are absolutely contraindicated. In general herbs that move blood or those that move qi in a downward direction tend to be contraindicated or should be used with caution during pregnancy.
  3. Dietary incompatibilities: Some foods are prohibited with some herbs for similar reasons that some herbs are incompatible with each other. Also, some types of foods should be avoided with certain diagnoses ie: cold, raw, dairy, greasy and/or sweet foods should be avoided when the spleen qi is deficient.
30
Q

List some contraindications during pregnancy:

A 
Ba Dou (croton seed), 
Qian Niu zi (pharbitis seed), 
Da Ji (euphorbia root), 
Yuan Hua (Genkwa flower), 
Li Lu (vetarum root), 
Shang Lu (pokeberry root), 
She Xiang (musk), 
Shui Zhi (leech), 
Meng Chong (gadfly), 
ban Mao (mylabris), 
chuan Wu and Cao Wu (aconite), 
San Leng (sparganium rhizome), 
E Zhu (zedoaria), 
Xiong Huang (realgar), 
Pi Shuang (arsenic), 
Shui Yin (Mercury)
31
Q

Name some herbs that are used with caution during pregnancy:

A 
Niu Xi (achyranthes root), 
Chuan Xiong (ligusticum ), 
Tao Ren (persica seed), 
Hong Hua (red flower), 
Mu Dan Pi (red peony), 
Zhi Shi (immature bitter orange), 
Da huang (rhubarb), 
Fan Xie Ye (senna leaf), 
Mang Xiao (mirabilite ), 
Fu Zi (aconite), 
Rou Gui (cinnamon bark)
32
Q

What are the basic weights and measures used in Chinese herbs:

A

1 Liang = 30 grams
1 Qian = 3 grams
1 Fen = 0.3 grams
1 Li = 0.03 grams

33
Q

What are the 9 types of preparations for herbs?

A
  1. Decoction (tang)
  2. Powers (san)
  3. Pills (wan)
  4. Dan (special pill)
  5. Syrup or soft extract (gao)
  6. Plaster (gao)
  7. Tincture (ding)
  8. Medicinal wine (yao Jiu)
  9. Injection (zhu she ye)
34
Q

Name the 8 principals in Chinese herbs:

A 
Yin
Yang
Cold
Hot
Deficient
Excess
Interior 
Exterior
35
Q

What are the “8 Therapeutic Methods” (ba fa) that were developed during the Qing dynasty remain as the foundation for all current TCM herbal strategies?

A 
Sweating
Committing
Draining downward
Harmonizing 
Warming
Clearing
Reducing 
Tonifying
36
Q

Describe the traditional treatment strategies for Sweating:

[2 common single (-) and 5 combination (*) strategies]

A
  • acrid and warming to release the exterior
  • acrid and cooling to release the exterior
  • benefit qi and release the exterior
  • warm the yang and release exterior
  • nourish the yin and release exterior
  • drive out fluids and release the exterior
  • release the exterior and cool the interior
37
Q

Describe the traditional treatment strategies for Vomiting:

[1 common single (-)]

A
  • indicate vomiting reduce phlegm

Chinese Herbs (2 decks)

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