Infectious Disease Herbs

A pertinent issue now in the middle of winter and for other reasons that don't need to be expressly stated...

Infectious illnesses in Chinese Herbology fall under exterior disease and they are classified as either hot or cold 'ínvasion'..

Both types have simultaneous chills and fever - this symptom alone is enough to define an exterior condition.

Hot type has more fever than chills, sore throat, sweating, phlegm congestion with yellow or green expectoration and usual cold/flu symptoms such as headache are likely to be increased by heat and relieved by coolness.

Cold type has two subtypes which are the same but separated by the symptom of sweating where one involves sweating and the other does not.

Both have more chills than fever, scratchy throat, phlegm congestion with clear or white expectoration, body aches and pains and severe fatigue.

Hot type can be treated with herbs such as Mulberry Leaf (Sang Ye), Chrysanthemum Flower (Ju Hua) added to the normal exterior releasing herbs such as Cinnamon Twig (Gui Zhi), Fresh Ginger (Sheng Jiang), Apricot Kernel (Xing Ren), Japanese Catnip (Jing Jie) and Balloon Flower Root (Jie Geng).

*Chinese Pin Yin Herb names added in brackets for clear identification

Cold types with sweating are treated with the following herbal formula:

Cinnamon Twig (Gui Zhi), White Peony Root (Bai Shao), Fresh Ginger (Sheng Jiang), Chinese Red Dates (Da Zao), Licorice Root (Gan Cao)

Then, added to this can be herbs like Apricot Kernel (Xing Ren) for cough and Balloon Flower (Jing Jie) for phlegm blockage in the nose and lungs.

Cold types without sweating are treated with:

Ephedra (Ma Huang) (Currently on a list of prohibited herbs in Australia due to the ability to manufacture illicit drugs from this plant), Cinnamon Twig (Gui Zhi), Apricot Kernel (Xing Ren) and Licorice Root (Gan Cao).

To replace ephedra, a combination of Japanese Catnip (Jing Jie) and Angelica Pubescens (Du Huo) can be used to promote sweat provided the person does not already have any severe night sweating and feelings of heat prior to the infection.

The above herbs are safe to take at the onset of infectious illness and are available from various internet sources (search by the Pin Yin name).

The theory is that the herbs have anti-viral properties and have a diaphoretic effect, that is to open the pores and cause sweating..

This comes about by increase body temperature via the hypothalamus and this aids in killing the viral agent.

After taking any of the above herbs (mixed together and boiled in water for 20 minutes, drink the water only and retain the herbs for another mixture), wrap yourself in a light blanket and lay down to generate a *light* sweat.

The only exception is the cold type with sweating, this formula harmonises the exterior to slow the sweating and reduce fluid loss but ultimately a cold type with sweating is usually self limiting anyway, the reason for treatment is to avoid damage to the body's fluids which can occur with excessive sweating - fluid intake must be monitored when giving the above herbs and caution exercised when providing the above to the frail, young or elderly.

Thank you, very helpful.

Centralforce666 said:

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I think the way TCM classifies and comparatively simply treats infections gives credence to the Terrain theory in the sense that the main issue is just the elemental state of the body, which provides for an infection to take place. Furthermore, we know that humans today have very low bioenergy compared to normal, hence why it seems like we have to keep away from every single germ.

Additionally, it is no coincidence that illnesses occur during the seasonal changes, as the body is impacted by different external, elemental stressors. Even further, we know that most of these herbs or foods that influence a proper balance often grow during these same times, as well.

We also know that there are many microorganisms in our body and skin that are beneficial to us, therefore it is silly to wage war on all the bacteria of the body, or at least very impractical to "safely" do so.

Interesting post, thank you