11:00 a.m., from the provincial Chinese hospital back to see the old lady Wang some tired sitting at the table, looking at the return of a large bag of Chinese medicine some fret, “this classical Chinese medicine I really will boil?” The first time she has seen Chinese medicine for more than 10 years, she muttered in her heart. 1. there seems to be something special about the Chinese medicine in your section? Question: Whether it is the amount of each dose of Chinese medicine, some of the “poisons” used or the method of decocting and taking the medicine, it is different from my usual medical treatment, isn’t it? Answer: As a unique clinical department of Chinese medicine, the Department of Classical Chinese Medicine insists on returning to the classics in all aspects of academic thought and treatment philosophy in order to improve the actual efficacy of Chinese medicine, and implements treatment measures in accordance with the most traditional decoction method. Therefore, the distinctive medication characteristics of the department have been formed: 1) Large dose of medication: The medication used in the classical Chinese medicine clinic is based on the original prescription of Zhang Zhongjing, the sage of medicine in the Han Dynasty (one tael in the Han Dynasty is about 15.625g in modern times), so the dose may be large compared with the dose in the general clinic. If you see a classical Chinese medicine clinic for a long time, it is recommended to purchase a large-capacity Chinese medicine pot for backup; 2) Good use of “toxic drugs”: according to the condition and clinical experience of famous veteran Chinese medicine practitioners, they often use such single drugs as Radix et Rhizoma (including cooked Radix et Rhizoma, canned Tianxiong and raw Radix et Rhizoma), Radix Panax notoginseng, Radix Silybum marianum, Radix Chuanwu (including raw Chuanwu and made Chuanwu), Radix Ephedra, Radix Nanxing, etc. Decoction of drugs with a certain degree of toxicity. On the one hand, there are some deviations in the modern understanding of these Chinese medicines, but on the other hand, a dose of Chinese medicine is equivalent to a carefully composed army, and we have fully taken into account the combination and mutual constraints between drugs. As long as the decoction is taken correctly, not only is there no “toxicity” as the common people think, but also the unique curative effect of Chinese medicine can be fully demonstrated, which is evident from the fact that the outpatient clinics of our department are very busy and the number one is hard to find. (3) Attaching great importance to “helping the righteous to dispel the evil”: according to the physical characteristics of modern people, attaching great importance to the care and supplementation of the righteousness (which can be interpreted as the body’s immune repair ability), especially the yang energy, and emphasizing the care of the successive heavens, thus more warm tonic drugs are often used to “help the righteous to dispel the evil Therefore, more warm tonic drugs are often used to “help the righteous to get rid of the evil”, by mobilizing the autonomous repairing ability of the vital energy to expel the evil from the body (also known as detoxification) to promote the recovery of diseases. Questions about the decoction of the original amount of traditional Chinese medicine (transferred to the Classical Chinese Medicine Department of my hospital) 2. What do you mean by the classical decoction method of Chinese medicine? Question: I used to see a TCM doctor and cook Chinese medicine every day, but why is there a “classical decoction method” today? Answer: Xu Lingtai said in his “Treatise on the Sources of Medicine”, “The most important thing to learn about the method of decoction is that it is all about the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of the medicine.” The classical theory is used, the classical formula is selected, and the classical decoction method is applied to achieve the best clinical efficacy. Compared to the modern decoction method commonly used, we emphasize the following aspects: 1) advocate the best use of ceramic vessels in the casserole, sand pot, because the earth to get earthy, and our spleen and stomach properties match, the smell of Chinese medicine out of the pot mellow, better taste; electronic clay pot pot should have a high fire and low fire two gears, and preferably with automatic power-off protection; pot capacity should be large, 4.5L or 6L is better. Because some prescriptions, such as the dose of Angelica Sinensis Four Reverse Soup is large, the general pot can not be put; 2) because the boiling time of my department is generally long, so the requirements for the advance soaking of drugs is not strict, generally for the large fire (martial fire) first boil, and then a small fire (civil fire) slow boil to the specified time. (3) The emphasis on the combination of drugs and decoction time is on the Chinese herbal medicines such as Radix et Rhizoma (including raw Radix et Rhizoma, Artemisiae, Radix et Rhizoma), Radix et Rhizoma, Radix et Rhizoma, Radix et Rhizoma, Radix et Rhizoma, Radix et Rhizoma, etc. As long as the above drugs are decocted for 1.5 hours (small dose) and 2 hours (medium to large dose) after the water is boiled, it is already very safe, and there is no need to decoct them separately first, and there is no need to worry too much about their so-called toxicity; (4) Conventional medicine taking method are required to boil once divided into morning, lunch and evening 3 times to take, rather than the understanding of a meal, half an hour to 1 hour after taking the drug is appropriate, so that the stomach will be less irritated. Special prescription doctors will specifically explain the method of taking medicine, such as fire-triggering soup is required to be taken twice in the morning and evening, cold and fever medicine may be taken several times a day, to sweat out the fever as the degree; 5) the decoction method of special drugs are common: red ginseng stewed separately (a small bowl of water steamed for 1 hour, then blended into the boiled Chinese medicine); sand seeds after the next (15 minutes after the medicine is ready to boil into). Questions about the decoction of the original amount of sutra herbs (transferred to the Classical Chinese Medicine Department of my hospital) 3. How much water do I have to use? How do I add water? Question: I used to boil Chinese medicine basically with 4 bowls of water and 1 bowl of water, is there a special requirement for the amount of water used for boiling medicine in the classical department? Can I add water in the middle? Answer: 1) the amount of water in Chinese medicine is actually related to many factors, you can not stick to the old concept of “4 bowls of water to boil 1 bowl of water”. Such as the dose of the formula, the decoction time, the size of the fire, etc. are different, the amount of water added will be different, just start boiling need to feel to determine the amount of water for your family. Generally need to boil 1.5h of medicine need to add water more than the surface of the medicine about 75px of water, to boil out the intended dose of liquid as a judgment standard, generally boil out about 450ml is appropriate, each serving about 150ml; should not be too much nor too thick, too much will be mildly bloated, affecting eating, too thick water is not enough, affecting the taste. 2) halfway if the water is too little, you can add water, add boiling water is appropriate, should not add water too many times. 4. should I turn the pot? Can I drink it overnight after boiling? Can I substitute the decoction? Question: Nowadays, Chinese medicine is not cheap, so should I turn over the boil to drink it? Sometimes I am too busy and only have time to cook at night, can I drink the cooked Chinese medicine overnight? Answer: 1) If you consider the efficacy of Chinese medicine, in fact, one dose a day is the most effective, you do not need to turn the pot, or turn the pot and blend the same day three times to finish. If you consider from the economic point of view, you can also turn the pot the next day, but it will affect the efficacy to a certain extent; 2) you can drink the boiled Chinese medicine overnight, but you must pay attention to the high temperature state is prone to deterioration, so in addition to the cold in autumn and winter, it is advisable to keep it in the refrigerator and drink it the next day after it is completely steamed with water, not recommended for a short time microwave heating, because the cold hidden in it may not be thoroughly dispersed out. 3) you can let the hospital decoction On the other hand, the process of decocting Chinese medicine is actually a process of healing, slowing down the pace of life and caring for your body, the efficacy of the medicine will also be different. Questions about the decoction of the original amount of traditional Chinese medicine (transferred to the Classic Chinese Medicine Department of my hospital) 5. What should I pay attention to in my diet while drinking medicine? Question: Some people say that it is not advisable to drink tea or eat radish during the period of drinking Chinese medicine, is this true? Answer: 1) The dietary requirements during the period of drinking Chinese medicine are actually the same as the dietary requirements of the disease, that is, to avoid eating cold and raw food, including things taken directly out of the refrigerator (ice cream, iced fruits, etc.), fruits with heavy coldness (watermelon, kiwi, sorbet), vegetables with heavy coldness (such as bitter melon, kale, tomato, wild rice, water chestnut, cichlid, konjac, hollow cabbage, dandelion, septoria, (fishy grass, horsetail, fern, bitter greens, capers, parsnips, etc.). And seafood, etc. (freshwater fish can be eaten); also avoid taking fried fatty indigestible food; 2) traditional views are persuaded that Chinese medicine should not drink tea, can not eat radish, in fact, this statement is somewhat one-sided, first of all, should be taking Chinese medicine at the same time should not drink tea, but 1 hour later is not absolutely contraindicated, but not recommended to drink too much tea, and not recommended to drink too much cool tea (such as green tea, Tieguanyin, etc., the warm tea Mainly black tea, pu-erh, black tea, etc.); whether you can eat radish is not absolute, mainly depends on two points, one is what the overall medicinal effect of the prescription is, because the efficacy of the white radish is biased towards Qi breaking, cold spleen and stomach weakness or specializing in tonic should not be taken together, while those who focus on regulating Qi and resolving phlegm, lowering Qi and laxative need not be contraindicated; secondly, the white radish is stronger than the carrot to break Qi, relatively cautious to take. Questions about the decoction of the original amount of traditional Chinese medicine (transferred to the Classic Chinese Medicine Department of my hospital) 6. What should I do if I have a reaction after drinking Chinese medicine? Question: My stomach rumbles as soon as I drink this herbal medicine and there is some vague pain, is this a good thing or a bad thing and do I need to deal with it? Answer: The process of Chinese medicine entering the body and taking effect is actually the process of mobilizing the body’s positive qi to correct and restore the balance of yin and yang through the medicinal qi (a very important concept in Chinese medicine, different from the chemical composition in Western medicine), so there will be various reactions, which in classical Chinese medicine is called “reactive reaction”. Depending on the disease of the person and the medication taken, various reactions can occur, which are extremely complex and vary in degree, and are often a cause of concern and worry for patients. Therefore, we will launch a special information on “reactions to disease” in the near future, to tell you how to judge, view and deal with various reactions to disease correctly. Pan Zongqi, Department of Oncology, Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine