🌿 Folk Prescriptions

Pulmonary heart disease1
This condition refers to a group of diseases caused by primary lesions in lung tissue or pulmonary arteries and their branches, leading to increased pulmonary circulation resistance, resulting in pulmonary hypertension, left ventricular enlargement, and failure.
In traditional Chinese medicine, invasion by external pathogens such as wind, cold, dampness, heat, and dryness causes lung dysfunction in dispersion and descent, obstructing airways with phlegm and qi, leading to cough, sputum production, and shortness of breath. Chronic cough and wheezing damage lung Qi, eventually developing into lung distension, forming the basis of this disease. Lung Qi deficiency affects spleen and kidney; when spleen and kidney are affected, fluid retention occurs, manifesting as edema, palpitations, and shortness of breath, worsening the condition. Common clinical folk remedies and effective prescriptions are listed below.
[Formula I]
Appropriate amount of coffee beans. Roast coffee, decoct 10g daily, drink the infusion.
[Formula II]
Cat’s eye herb (Euphorbia pekinensis) stem and leaves 30–60g, 2 eggs. Wash Cat’s eye herb, chop finely, add 500ml water, then add eggs and boil. When eggs are cooked, remove shells and prick several holes, return to the pot and boil for several minutes. Strain, consume eggs first, then drink the decoction. One dose daily.
[Formula III]
Stir-fried white mustard seed, Yuan Hu each 21g, Gan Sui, Xi Xin each 12g, Yang Jin Hua, Dry Ginger, Camphor, Phenobarbital. Grind white mustard seed, Yuan Hu, Gan Sui, Xi Xin into fine powder, then mix with Yang Jin Hua, Dry Ginger, Camphor, and Phenobarbital to form a paste. Alternate application on Group A and Group B acupoints: Group A includes Xinshu (dual), Feishu (dual), Gegeshu (dual); Group B includes Tiantu, Zhongfu, Dazhui, Lingtai, Gao Huang (dual). Rub the acupoints before application until skin reddens, or perform cupping. Apply for 4–6 hours each session, once or twice weekly, 6 sessions per course. Alternatively, apply once per summer, three times consecutively over three summers.
[Formula IV]
One pear, 10g apricot kernel. Cut the pear open, scoop out the core, fill the cavity with crushed apricot kernels, replace the lid, steam until cooked. Take once daily, in the evening.
[Formula V]
Pig pancreas 3 pieces, 100 jujubes, 3–5ml alcohol. Soak for several days, filter out residue, take 20ml each time, twice to thrice daily.
[Formula VI]
Herba Houttuyniae 60g, honeysuckle 6g, Artemisia 20g, Danshen 8g. Prepare the above herbs into injection solution, 30ml per vial. Add to 5%–10% glucose solution for intravenous drip. Adults receive one dose daily, one course lasts 10–15 days.
[Formula VII]
Tai Zi Shen 9g, Huang Qi 15g, Yu Zhu 9g, Fu Pian 6g, Bu Gu Zhi 9g, Yin Yang Huo 15g, Danshen, Chisha each 9g, Honghua 6g, Hu Zhang 15g. Form into sugar-coated tablets, 0.3g per tablet, 6 tablets each time, three times daily. One course lasts 3 months, continue for two courses.
[Formula VIII]
Dang Shen 9g, Danggui 24g, Danshen, Sheng Ruxiang, Bai Bu each 15g, Hupo 9g, Rou Cong Rong 15g, Zi He Che 9g, Shu Fu Chong 24g. Grind into fine powder, divide into 90 packets, take one packet each time, three times daily with warm water. One course lasts 30 days.
This formula applies to remission phase of chronic pulmonary heart disease.
[Formula IX]
Dong Hua, Xing Ren, Bai Bu, Gan Cao, Mai Dong, Zi Wan, Ju Geng each 10g, Di Long 12g, Huang Qin 15g, Danshen, Chisha each 12g, Pu Gong Ying 15g, Zhi Mu 15g, Gua Lou 20g. Decoct and take orally, twice daily. One course lasts 15–20 days.
[Formula X]
Nan Sha Shen 50g, Huang Jing, Su Zi, Chisha each 30g, Mu Hua Fei 10g, Di Long 12g, Zhi Nan Xing, Ting Li Zi each 15g, Huang Qin 30g, Gan Cao 15g, Chen Xiang 6g (powdered, divided into six doses for oral administration).
Decoct and take orally. First, add adequate water, boil for 15 minutes, strain and collect juice. Add fresh water, boil for 20 minutes, strain and collect juice. Add fresh water again, boil for 25 minutes, strain and collect juice. Combine all three decoctions, shake well, divide into six portions. For severe cases, take three times daily, one at night; for mild cases, take three times daily. Consume one-sixth while warm, store remaining juice in refrigerator, reheat five times and consume warm.
This formula is a famous TCM prescription by Li Kongding from Sichuan. Function: nourish yin and Qi, clear heat, stop phlegm, descend qi, activate blood, and guide Qi to the kidney. Suitable for conditions where long-term cough and wheezing lead to dysfunction of five zang-organs, impaired flow of qi, blood, and body fluids, common symptoms of asthma, cough, and phlegm, and even fluid accumulation under the skin causing edema. Applies to TCM “Lung Distension” and modern medical “emphysema” or “pulmonary heart disease” without external pathogenic factors.
Do not discontinue medication upon symptom improvement. Remove Ting Li Zi from the formula, halve the dosage of Su Zi, Di Long, Huang Qin, Chisha, and add Bai Zhu 15g, Nv Zhen Zi 10g to enhance lung, spleen, and kidney function, improve resistance to external pathogens, and reduce recurrence. For severe palpitations and shortness of breath, increase Nan Sha Shen to 100g, Ting Li Zi to 30g; for excessive phlegm and unsatisfactory cough, increase Zhi Nan Xing to 30g; for long-term steroid users, increase Gan Cao to 30g, gradually taper off steroids, and reduce Gan Cao dosage accordingly; for phlegm and blood stasis obstructing lung Qi and stagnating in heart-lung, presenting with cyanotic lips and nails, or masses under ribs, add Tao Ren, Wu Jia Pi; for yang deficiency with fluid overflow causing facial and lower limb edema, reduce Gan Cao dosage, add Fu Ling, Fu Pian; for impending collapse of heart yang, add Ren Shen or combine with Shengmai San and add Fu Pian, Long Gu; for phlegm obscuring the orifices of clarity, mental confusion alternating between lucidity and delirium, add Shi Chang Pu, Yuan Zhi.
<Treatment of Heart Disease>