Properties: Salty, cold
Meridans Entered:
Primary: Heart, Lung, Bladder and Kidney
Traditional Actions/Indications:
- Nourishes Yin and descends Fire
Steaming bone fever
Postpartum aenemic fainting
- Stops bleeding and dissipates Blood Stasis
Coughing blood due to consumptive disease
Nosebleed, traumatic injury
Vomiting blood
Suggested Daily Dosage: Drink fresh or decocted.
Cautions: It has been suggested that this was used as a possible clean source of water in the past but today is rarely used, except amongst some yoga practitioners who drink their own. It could be easily substituted with Han Lian Cao or Sheng Di Huang that also nourish the Yin and stop bleeding.
Notable Constituents:
- Urea
Nitrogenous compound used for hydration of the skin and stopping itching in creams. Internally, it has been used as a diuretic and to treat hyponataemia.
Does not appear in any formulae listed on this site
Research Links & References: (click to display)
Research Links:
Reference Notes:
Individual herb information has sourced mainly from TCM Wiki and American Dragon for basic data and then updated manually with my own notes. Zhou, Xie and Yan (2011): Encyclopedia of Traditional Chinese Medicines, Vol. 5, and A+ Medical Encyclopaedia have been used for entries not available from those sources with additional material searched for and filled in where available. Western herbs not appearing in the Chinese literature have used Ross (2010): Combining Western Herbs and Chinese Medicine: A Clinical Materia Medica, White Rabbit Institute of Healing and therapeutika.ch. Choices of which source to use or combine have been my own.
These pages are intended to assist clinicians and are not intended for self-diagnosis or treatment for which a qualified professional should be consulted. Actions and indications are taken from traditional uses and do not necessarily reflect the evidence base which should be researched independently. Dosages are for guidance only and will vary dependening on the potency of the batch and the tolerance of the individual so should be evaluated by a professional based on individual needs.
