The prescription of Chinese medicine is concerned with “medicine introduction”. What is the function of the medicine guide? According to the literature of the past generations, the medicine guide has the function of inducing the meridian (i.e., concentrating the drug ingredients to the lesion) to enhance the therapeutic effect and to detoxify, protect the stomach and correct the taste. Commonly used medicine primers are
Salt.
Salty, cold, enters the kidney, stomach and large intestine meridians, and has the effect of clearing water and detoxifying. The treatment of kidney yin deficiency of six flavors of Dihuangwan, Qiju Dihuangwan, it is advisable to use light salt water water delivery, to take its salty can enter the kidney.
Ginger
Pungent, slightly warm, enters the lung and spleen meridians, has the effect of relieving sweating, warming the middle and relieving cough, and warming the lung to stop cough. When treating wind-cold colds and stomach-cold vomiting, 3-5 slices of ginger are often used as a guide to enhance the therapeutic effect.
White onion
Pungent and warm, enters the lung and stomach meridians and has the effect of dispersing cold and Yang, detoxifying and dispersing knots. When treating cold and wind chill and cold blockage of urine, white onion is often used as a primer.
Langshen Herb
Sweet, light, slightly cold, enters the heart and small intestine meridians, clears the heart and relieves irritation, diuresis and laxative. It is used as a primer for treating heart fire and short, red urine.
Japonica Rice
Sweet and flat, enters the stomach meridian and has the effect of benefiting qi and strengthening the stomach. When large doses of bitter-cold drugs are needed for treating fire-heat illnesses to prevent bitter-cold from defeating the stomach, a small handful of japonica rice is often taken as a primer to protect stomach qi.
Jujube
Sweet, warm, belongs to the spleen and stomach meridians, can benefit the qi, tonify the middle, nourish the blood and calm the mind, and harmonize the medicinal properties. When using harsh drugs (such as Gansui, Coriander, Daji, Scapularia), jujube is often taken as a guide to ease the medicinal properties.
Honey
Sweet, flat, enters the lung, spleen and large intestine meridians, nourishes, moistens and detoxifies. It can nourish, moisten and detoxify. It is often used as a primer to treat lung deficiency, dryness and heat, and constipation.
Vinegar
Sour and flat, with the effect of dispersing blood stasis and relieving pain, astringent and solid. Vinegar is often used as a primer for the treatment of women’s dysbiosis, blood fever and leakage, and abdominal pain of roundworms.
Brown Sugar
Sweet and warm, can tonify the middle and dispel blood stasis. Brown sugar is often used as a primer for treating symptoms of maternal dew and cold pain in the abdomen.
Tang: Tang is a liquid dosage made by decocting or soaking herbs and then removing the residue and extracting the juice. The soup is adapted to the principle of diagnosis and treatment in Chinese medicine, and it is added and reduced according to the symptoms. It is simple and easy to prepare, quick to absorb, and can quickly exert its medicinal effect. Most of the soup formulas are compound formulas, and the drugs can promote and control each other, thus achieving the purpose of enhancing the curative effect and moderating the medicinal properties, and giving full play to the combination effect of the drugs in the TCM prescriptions.
Decoction Apparatus
The decoction apparatus of Chinese medicine is closely related to the quality of the medicinal solution. The ancient people emphasized the use of pottery for decoction because it does not react chemically with the various ingredients contained in the medicine, and the quality of the decoction is good, and because of the uniform heat conduction, gentle heat and low price of the casserole, it is used to this day. These metal utensils can chemically change with certain ingredients in the herbs. Some though can catalyze the oxidation of certain ingredients, affecting the stability and efficacy of the preparation. Therefore, it is generally believed that iron, copper, aluminum and tin-plated utensils should not be used for decoction.
Currently, hospitals use automatic decoction machines, which can automatically control the decoction temperature and time, so that decoction, filtration and decoction packaging can be completed on one machine, which is convenient and hygienic.
Decoction fire
The heat source of decoction is also related to the leaching efficiency and quality of decoction. The decoction method is used in folklore with direct fire. Before boiling, use large fire (also called “martial fire”), and after boiling, use small fire (also called “literary fire”) to maintain a slight boiling state, so as to slow down the evaporation of water, which is conducive to the dissolution of active ingredients.
Decoction volume
The amount of water added to the decoction is a very important factor. The amount of water added directly affects the quality of the decoction. More water will cause “impervious to cooking, not enough decoction”, incomplete leaching of active ingredients, and easy to dry paste; less water, although it can increase the dissolution of active ingredients, but the amount of soup is too large, not suitable for patients. There is a significant difference in the water absorption of drugs with different textures. For drugs with the same weight, the volume of the drug must be large and absorb more water if the texture is easy; the volume of the drug must be small and absorb less water if the texture is solid. The volume of water used for decocting flowers, leaves, whole herbs and herbs with easy texture is greater than the general volume of water used; for decocting minerals, shellfish and other drugs with solid texture, the volume of water used should be less than the general volume of water used. Traditional experience is to place the drug in a decoction pot and add water until it exceeds 3-5cm above the surface of the drug, and the second decoction should exceed 1 to 2cm above the dregs.
Frequency of decoction
Practice has shown that a decoction is more effective than multiple decoctions, and if the thickness of the drug or the size of the crushed tablet is suitable, the decoction can be made 2 to 3 times to achieve the requirements of dipping and lifting. Too many times of decoction not only consume time and fuel, but also increase impurities in the decoction.
Decoction time
Most of the drugs should be soaked in cold water for a proper time before decoction to moisten and soak the herbs to facilitate the dissolution and leaching of active ingredients. The decoction time should be increased or decreased according to the nature and texture of the drug ingredients, the amount of ingredients, and the decoction process and equipment. Generally speaking, the first decoction of antiphlogistic medicine is 10-15 minutes, and the second decoction is 10 minutes; the first decoction of tonic medicine is 30-40 minutes, and the second decoction is 25-30 minutes; for general medicine, the first decoction is 20-25 minutes, and the second decoction is 15-20 minutes; after the decoction of soup, it should be filtered while it is hot to minimize the residue of decoction in the dregs.
Some drugs in the prescription should not be decocted at the same time as the group of drugs, so they should be treated differently.
1.First decoction
(1) Ores, shells and horns are hard and the active ingredients are not easy to be decocted, so they can be decocted for 30 minutes first.
②Toxic drugs such as aconite, aconite, aconite on snow, drop money, shanglu, etc. should be decocted for 1 to 2 hours. First decoction and long decoction can achieve the purpose of reducing or removing toxicity.
③Some botanicals are effective only when decocted first, such as Dendrobium, Tianzhu Huang, Tibetan green fruit, fire hemp seeds, etc.
2.Later down
① Drugs with aromatic smell and volatile oil, such as peppermint, patchouli, rosemary, fine spice, etc. should be decocted afterwards. Generally, 5-10 minutes before the decoction of the Chinese herbal soup into the decoction can be.
② Drugs that should not be decocted for a long time, such as hooked vine, almond, tai huang, senna, etc. should be put down afterwards. Generally, 10-15 minutes before the decoction is ready.
3.Packet decoction
①Pollen-based drugs, such as pine pollen, pu huang; fine seeds and fruits, such as scape seeds, cuscuta.
② drugs containing more starch and mucilage, such as Panicum, pumice, psyllium, etc. are easy to sticky pot bottom coking during decoction, so need to pack decoction.
(3) drugs with fluff, such as spinach, decoction can avoid the fluff off, mixed into the soup to stimulate the throat, causing cough.
4.Melting
Some gum or sugar drugs, such as gum, tortoise shell gum, deer horn gum, etc., should be dissolved with appropriate amount of boiling water, and then be washed into the soup liquid and reduced in the soup liquid to melt.
5.Separate decoction
In order to make some valuable Chinese medicine not to waste, such as ginseng, American ginseng, deer antler, etc., can be decocted separately to get its juice, into the decoction of the soup to take.
6.Rushes
Some valuable drugs that are difficult to dissolve in water, such as niu huang, panax ginseng, antelope horn, cinnabar, etc. should be grinded into a very fine powder and added to the soup, or be taken in the soup.
7.Squeeze juice
Some drugs that need to take fresh juice for application, such as fresh raw earth, raw lotus root, pear, leek, fresh ginger, fresh white foxglove, etc. after squeezing the juice, into the soup to take. Bamboo leach is also not suitable for decoction, but can be taken into the soup.