Around the summer solstice, the weather in Beijing continues to be hot, but the weather is unpredictable, sometimes cold and sometimes hot, we all feel a lot of symptoms of discomfort, mainly weakness, sleepiness, dizziness, poor performance, chest congestion, insomnia, etc. This is the discomfort of the human body caused by the “summer humidity” in the six qi (wind, cold, summer, humidity, dryness, fire) in Chinese medicine.
A, the concept of summer and seasonal characteristics
The current season will soon enter the sixth month of the lunar calendar, the ancients called long summer, long summer is basically equivalent to what the ancients called the three volt days, “vol” means that the yin is forced by the yang to hide underground. The so-called three volts is the collective name of the first, middle and last volts, roughly in mid-July to mid-August of the solar calendar. The lunar calendar starts with the third g day after the summer solstice as the first volt (early volt), the fourth g day as the middle volt (second volt), and the first g day after autumn as the last volt (third volt), with each volt lasting ten days for a total of thirty days. In some years, the “mid-volts” are 20 days, so there are 40 days. According to the meteorological data of Beijing Meteorological Station, the highest temperature, highest rainfall, highest humidity (76%), lowest wind speed (1.5 m/s) and lowest air pressure can be found in the Beijing area from mid-July to mid-August, i.e. during the period of three volt days. This period is called summer humidity in Chinese medicine.
According to Chinese medicine, summer heat is in season after the summer solstice and before the beginning of autumn, the summer heat is a summer evil, which is hot, rising and dissipating, and easily consumes qi and hurts yin and disturbs the mind. Therefore, this period of external disease, that is, the summer disease in Chinese medicine, more than the characteristics of the evidence of the combination of heat and humidity. Modern medicine believes that under normal circumstances, the body needs to balance heat production with heat dissipation, and the body mainly dissipates heat through four ways: radiation, evaporation, convection and conduction. In summer, when the temperature is higher than 25 degrees Celsius, especially when the temperature exceeds 32 degrees, radiation heat dissipation will be significantly reduced, and the human body will be forced to absorb heat from the external environment, at this time, the evaporation of sweat becomes the main way of heat dissipation of the human body, and the air humidity in summer is often greater than 60%, about 76%, which will lead to a significant reduction in sweat evaporation, especially when the air humidity reaches 90%, sweat evaporation will completely stop, while At the same time, when the environment in which there is no wind, the air flow rate drops significantly, the conduction pathway of heat dissipation will also be greatly reduced, which leads to the body temperature regulation disorders, the summer season prone to heat stroke.
Second, the characteristics of heat stroke and prevention
Long-term outdoor work in a hot environment, strong physical labor; high room temperature and poor ventilation in the environment of the elderly, frail, obese people are most likely to heat stroke. Chinese medicine calls it Yang heat stroke. That is, the Ming Dynasty Zhang Jinyue said “summer months by the heat of the people” (“where the summer heat, or in the long distance, or in the field, do not hesitate to labor, resulting in heat poisoning Yin, and the disease for the headache irritability, muscle great heat, great thirst and sweating, pulse floating gas panting, or no gas to move and other evidence”).
The most important manifestations are heat cramps and heat exhaustion.
1. Central nervous system
High temperature affects nerve cell metabolism and causes cell death, resulting in headache, dizziness, irritability, drowsiness, coma, etc. In Chinese medicine, it is believed that the summer heat evil internally offends the heart camp and disturbs the heart and mind.
2. Cardiovascular system
Skin vasodilation, increased cardiac output, increased cardiac work, myocardial ischemia, palpitations, chest tightness and other symptoms, easy to induce cardiovascular disease.
3.Respiratory system
The body increases the respiratory rate in order to increase heat dissipation, which can cause respiratory alkalosis if not resolved continuously. In Chinese medicine, it is believed that summer heat injures the lungs.
4, water and electrolyte metabolism disorders
High temperature sweating causes loss of water and electrolytes, leading to dehydration and electrolyte disorders, and severe sodium can lead to muscle cramps. Chinese medicine says that summer heat hurts the fluids, and qi leaks with the fluids, leading to heavy sweating, weakness, and thirst. It even causes convulsions and spasms.
5. Kidney
Large amount of sweating leads to dehydration in the body, insufficient perfusion of the kidneys, concentrated urine, and low urine and yellow urine. Chinese medicine says that summer heat hurts fluid and heart fire moves down to the small intestine, resulting in short, red urine.
6. Digestive system
Due to the dilatation of blood vessels on the body surface, blood flow redistribution, insufficient blood perfusion in the gastrointestinal tract, reduced peristaltic capacity, reduced secretion of digestive juices, reduced digestive and antibacterial capacity, prone to poor appetite, diarrhea, abdominal distension, etc.. Chinese medicine believes that the spleen is the master of long summer, dampness is easily trapped in the spleen and stomach, and the spleen is unable to transport and transform poor appetite, vomiting, loose stools, abdominal distension.
8, muscle
High temperature causes hypoxia and dissolution of the transverse muscle, resulting in muscle pain. Chinese medicine says that the spleen is the main muscle, summer dampness invasion, obstructing the qi, dampness heavy turbidity, so the limbs are sore and heavy.
For Yang summer heat, TCM believes that we should use a combination of heat clearing, dampification and nourishment, heat clearing means to clear the summer heat and clear the heart fire, dampification means to transport the spleen and stomach, the spleen is the master of long summer and is a Taiyin damp earth, dampness takes advantage of the spleen, so we should transport the spleen dampness, summer dampness hurts the body’s qi and fluids, so we should properly benefit the qi and fluids.
Recommended remedies for summer heat.
Summer heat prevention and clearing drink for adults
Prescription】 Patchouli 3g, Chrysanthemum 3g, White foxglove 3g, Peppermint 2g, Ume plum 1.
Functions】 Aromatizing dampness, clearing heat and generating body fluid.
Suitable for] People who work or live in high temperature or high heat environment.
How to take】 Put the above 5 herbs into a cup, add 350~450 mL of boiling water, cover and smother for 30 minutes. Drink as tea. 1 dose per day can be taken by 3 to 5 people.
Children’s drink against heatstroke
Prescription】 Patchouli 2g, lotus leaf 2g, white foxglove 5g, raw hawthorn 2g.
Functions】 Aromatizing dampness, clearing heat and generating body fluid.
Suitable for] Children under 14 years old.
How to take】 Put the above 4 herbs into a cup, add 500mL of boiling water, cover and steep for 30 minutes. Drink as tea. For 3 to 5 people.
Recommended summer heat remedies.
Cool mung bean soup: 30g of mung beans, 9g of rhizome, 3g of licorice, wrap rhizome and licorice in gauze, add water and boil with mung beans for 5-10 minutes. Remove the medicine package. Drink both hot and cold.
Clearing heat and relieving summer heat two beans and barley porridge: adzuki beans, mung beans, barley and rice in appropriate amounts. Boil porridge, cold or hot can be consumed.
Cold dishes: fresh amaranth, fresh fishy grass, fresh heartwort, fresh purple-backed asparagus, fresh sage leaves, fresh mint, etc., washed, blanched in boiling water and served cold.
Second, the characteristics and prevention of summer heat illness
With the improvement of people’s living standards in recent years, the summer season to strengthen the use of measures to prevent and cool down the summer heat has been significantly reduced, but on the one hand, the gradual spread of air conditioning, on the other hand, cold drinks in summer, including cold beer, ice cream, etc. gradually become a regular guest on the summer table, which can easily lead to the Ming Dynasty famous doctor Zhang Jinyue said “because of the summer heat and cold sufferers These are likely to lead to what the famous Ming dynasty doctor Zhang Jingyue called “the cold because of the heat” of the “Yin summer disease” more common. Yin summer disease is actually a disease caused by poor lifestyle in the summer season. That is, “all people who are afraid of the heat and greedy for cold, not to avoid the cold, or in the deep hall building, or in the wind and the shade of the trees, or at the first hot and cold, not careful clothing. So that the cold attack on the surface of the muscle, and the disease for fever and headache, no sweat and vicious cold, body shape detention, limb pain and other evidence. This summer months by the cold, so the name Yin summer, that is, typhoid.” ; “And there are careless mouth and abdomen, over-eating cold, resulting in cold injury to the organs, and for vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain and other evidence, this is also due to the summer by cold, but with cold within, treatment should be warm in the main, is also the genus of Yin summer.” The main manifestations are air-conditioning disease and gastrointestinal cold.
The treatment should use Chinese medicine to dispel heat and dampness, which is commonly used in clinical practice. For gastrointestinal colds, mainly due to internal diet and external wind-cold, we mainly use Huoxiang Zhengqi Water and Huoxiang Zhengqi Capsules.
Recommended remedies for summer heat illness
Preventing summer heat and harmonizing the stomach
Prescription】 Patchouli 3g, Elsholtzria 3g, Andrographis paniculata 3g, Ginger 2 slices.
Functions】 Relieving heat stroke, harmonizing the stomach and intestines.
Suitable for] People who work or live in air-conditioned environment, and people who usually crave cold and drink too much.
How to take】 Wash and cut thick slices of ginger, put it in a cup with other 3 herbs, add 350-450 mL of boiling water, cover and steep for 30 minutes. Drink as tea. For 3 to 5 people to take.
Fourth, on the three volcanoes of winter diseases and summer treatment.
Winter illnesses and summer treatment is a treatment for untreated diseases under the guidance of Chinese medicine theory. Winter illnesses refer to diseases that occur in winter, or are easily aggravated in winter, mainly seen in chronic cough and phlegm wheezing diseases of the respiratory system, such as bronchial asthma, chronic bronchitis, emphysema, pulmonary heart disease, etc. The main pathogenesis of these chronic cough, phlegm and asthma diseases in TCM is the deficiency of Yang Qi and the internal vagueness of cold phlegm, and in summer, the above diseases are usually in remission and stable. According to the theory of Chinese medicine, in the summer, when the Yang energy is at its peak, the Yang energy is released, the Qi and blood tend to be on the surface of the body, and the skin is relaxed and the pores are open. In accordance with the summer time, the Yang energy has a tendency to rise and flourish in the summer, and the cold Qi in the body is easy to be solved, so the application of pungent, warm and dispersing topical drugs, with the help of warm stimulating medicinal power, to stimulate the Yang energy, and the combination of heaven and man, to get rid of the cold evil, it is easiest to eliminate the evil of winter diseases in the dormant state, which can reduce the symptoms of these diseases in winter, reduce the number of attacks, and even cure the effect. It can reduce the symptoms of these diseases in winter, reduce the number of attacks and even cure them. However, it is contraindicated for patients with hyperactive Yang heat and internal Yin deficiency, such as bronchial dilatation and tuberculosis.
V. Long summer health and disease prevention rules
Long summer health and disease prevention should be in accordance with the “Su Wen – Four Qi Tuning Shen Da Lun” said: “Summer in March, this is a luxuriant show. The sky and the earth, all things are flashy, sleep at night and get up early, not tired of the day, so that the will do not anger, so that Huaying into the show, so that the gas can be released, if the love of the outside, this summer gas should be, the way to raise long; reverse it is sad, autumn for malaria, the bong harvest less, the winter solstice heavy disease.”
1, careful living: avoid the hot, humid, cold and shady places. The right amount of exercise, the right amount of sweat, the sweat when the sweat to sweat, to help dissipate heat, get rid of internal dampness, so that the Yang Qi stretch, enhance the body’s ability to withstand heat and resist disease.
2, adjust the diet: light, nutritious, easy to digest. Avoid spicy, greasy products, spicy help fire, greasy help damp.
3, the spiritual aspect: emotions should be smooth, cheerful, optimistic, quit anger.