Midterm 2 (Unit Test, Sessions 4-7) Flashcards
Herbs that clear heat, cool the blood (category overview):
- TASTE: bitter + sweet or salty
- TEMP: Cold
- CHANNELS: LV, HT
- CAUTIONS: These herbs are cold & bitter → may damage spleen
- MAIN ACTION: Clear heat from Ying Level : heat at this level injures yin and exhausts the fluids… some of these herbs are sweet and nourish fluids
Sheng Di Huang (latin name):
Rehmanniae Radix, rehmannia root
Rehmanniae Radix (pinyin):
Sheng Di Huang
“Raw Earth Yellow”
Sheng Di Huang - category, properties, channels, dosage:
- Cat: Herbs that clear heat, cool the blood
- Prop: Sweet, bitter, cold
- Channels: HT, KD, LV (deep yin organs)
- Dose: 9-15g (high)
Sheng Di Huang - Actions & Indications:
- Clears heat and cools the blood (category) - for YING level heat : fever, thirst, scarlet tongue..
- Nourishes Yin and generates fluids - for yin xu w/ heat signs: thirst, dry mouth, constipation..
Sheng Di Huang - cautions & contraindications:
- Sheng Di Huang is very sticky and cloying and may cause middle-jiao upset …
- Contraindicated in dampness from spleen xu : loose stools and abdominal fullness.
Herbs that clear heat and dry dampness (category overview):
- TASTE: Bitter
- TEMP: Cold
- CHANNELS: ??
- CAUTIONS: These herbs are cold & bitter → may damage spleen.
- MAIN ACTION: Clear heat and dry dampness - damp-heat patterns in upper, middle, lower jiao (dysentery, urination problems, jaundice, skin problems)
Huang Qin (latin name):
Scutellariae Radix
Scutellaria, Chinese skullcap - purple flowers
🧠 PURPLE LIGHTSABER drying damp Jedi robe in swamp
Scutellariae Radix (pinyin):
Huang Qin
“Yellow Root”
The SKULL has a CHIN
Huang Qin - category, properties, channels, dosage:
- Cat: Herbs that clear heat and dry dampness
- Prop: Bitter, cold
- Channels: LU, ST, GB, LI (repositories of damp)
- Dose: 3-9g (std.)
Huang Qin - Actions & Indications:
- Clears heat and dries dampness (category) - esp. damp-heat in stomach or intestines / urination problems.
- Clears heat and “resolves toxicity” - esp. in upper jiao (LU and LV heat)
- Clears heat and stops bleeding
- Calms the fetus* in pregnancy
- Sedates ascendant Liver Yang - headache, irritability, red eyes & face, bitter taste
Huang Qin - cautions & contraindications:
Cold → caution in cases of cold from SP & ST xu, can further weaken digestion
Herbs that clear heat and resolve toxicity (category overview):
‘Toxicity’ as major systemic HEAT
“Du” = toxins = fever and other adverse effects pf infectious disease … attributed to accumulation of pathogens.
- TASTE: Bitter
- TEMP: Cold
- CHANNELS: ??
- CAUTIONS: These herbs are cold & bitter → may damage spleen.
- MAIN ACTION: Clear heat toxicity (skin infections with pus, dysentery, viral infections)…
++ some of these herbs also have anti-cancer properties
Jin Yin Hua (latin name):
Lonicerae flos
Honeysuckle flower
Lonicerae flos (pinyin):
Jin Yin Hua
“Golden Silver Flower”
🧠 Clump of many small flowers like accumulation of toxic pathogens … disperse!
Jin Yin Hua - category, properties, channels, dosage:
- Cat: Herbs that clear heat and resolve toxicity
- Prop: Sweet, cold
- Channels: LU, LI, ST [ all 3 jiaos represented ]
- Dose: 6-20g (high)
Jin Yin Hua - Actions & Indications:
- Clears heat and resolves ‘fire toxicity’ (category*) - hot, painful sores & swellings, LI abscesses, diarrhea w/ blood and pus
- Expels wind-heat invasion - early stages + summer heat
- Clears damp-heat from the lower jiao
Jin Yin Hua - cautions & contraindications:
Cold → caution in cases of deficiency cold from SP & ST xu, can further weaken digestion
Herbs that clear heat from deficiency (category overview):
- Enter yin aspect → used when LV/KD yin xu leads to fire from deficiency : tidal fever, 5 center heat, night sweats, loss of semen…
- Also for later stages of warm pathogen dx where yin fluids have been damaged!
- TASTE: Bitter
- TEMP: Cold
- CHANNELS: LV, KD
- CAUTIONS: These herbs are cool in temp → caution w/ weak middle jiao.
- MAIN ACTION: clear heat due to LV and KD yin xu
Qing Hao (latin name):
Artemisiae annuae herba
Sweet wormwood
Artemisiae annuae herba (pinyin):
Qing Hao
“Green Grass”
🧠 Tired, yin deficient person lying in cool green grass… heat draining into earth + protected from mosquitoes
Qing Hao - category, properties, channels, dosage:
- Cat: Herbs that clear heat and from deficiency
- Prop: Bitter, acrid, cold
- Channels: KD, LV, GB ( major yin (deficient) organs + GB)
- Dose: 6-12g (add near end, delicate)
Qing Hao - Actions & Indications:
- Clears summerheat - first action NOT category
- Clears deficiency heat - KD/LV yin xu, latent heat/lingering fever, ‘steaming bone’ patterns
- Cools the blood and stops bleeding
- Treats malaria - artemisinin drug, RBC plasmodium parasite
Qing Hao - cautions & contraindications:
Contraindicated in those with weak digestion / watery diarrhea
