🌿 Folk Prescriptions

Since autumn began, asthma cases have increased. The saying “internal medicine cannot treat asthma” has become a psychological burden for patients. Many doctors once told asthmatics, “This condition cannot be cured—just take medication, injections, or IV fluids to alleviate symptoms; recovery is impossible.” Upon hearing this, patients felt devastated and hopeless. Based on over half a century of experience treating asthma, renowned Tianjin physician Professor Dong Guoliang has demonstrated that, guided by traditional Chinese medical theory, this condition is indeed curable. Using the combined approach of “promoting lung function to expel pathogens” and “tonifying the body to consolidate the foundation,” he has successfully treated tens of thousands of cases (over 600,000 patients), achieving excellent results.
TCM theory holds that asthma often begins with a cold. External pathogens invade the lungs first, affecting the exterior. Without proper treatment with pungent-warm or pungent-cool exterior-releasing herbs, pathogens fail to evacuate outward, repeatedly penetrating deeper, damaging lung Qi (damaging ciliated epithelium in airways). This disrupts qi regulation, preventing lung Qi from descending to the kidneys, and the kidneys failing to receive and retain lung Qi. Thus, initial symptoms like chills, runny nose, headache, cough, and fever—normal immune responses to infection—transform into a dominant state of wheezing, reflecting allergic or hypersensitive reactions, i.e., dysfunctional immune overreaction. This leads to asthma.
Therefore, curing asthma requires restoring the body’s natural resistance and bronchial function. Simply relying on bronchodilation to temporarily relieve wheezing is inadequate. Long-term use weakens bronchial elasticity, further weakening the airways’ natural clearance and defense functions. Impaired clearance prevents mucus expulsion, turning the airway’s intended “clearance” function into “spasm,” worsening asthma. To cure asthma thoroughly, we must leverage TCM’s unique advantages, following traditional principles to restore the body’s innate ability to resist microorganisms, viruses, and bacteria. We must restore normal immune responses—what TCM calls re-establishing “Lung-Wei Exterior Syndrome”—and re-express pathogenic factors trapped in the lungs, spleen, and kidneys via TCM methods like “promoting lung function to expel pathogens” and “consolidating kidney Qi.” After a period of treatment, patients who later catch a cold will again exhibit chills, fever, headache, and runny nose—“Lung-Wei Exterior Syndrome”—and can be cured with just a small amount of exterior-releasing herbs, without relapsing into the previous state dominated by wheezing and internal organ dysfunction (“Lung-Spleen-Kidney Interior Syndrome”).
One case involved a 6-year-old boy with asthma lasting over five years. Each episode required shoulder lifting, abdominal gripping, and profuse sweating, needing large doses of aminophylline, metaproterenol, salbutamol, terbutaline, and steroids, plus inhalers. On examination, both lungs were filled with wheezing sounds, and he had pectus carinatum. Treatment plan: discontinue all prior medications, adopt traditional TCM methods to restore initial symptoms. Despite temporary massive phlegm production and high fever, after nearly nine months of treatment, he was fully cured. Four years later, still off medication, no recurrence. Another case: a 3-year-old boy with asthma for two years, spending nearly 30,000 yuan, trying countless drugs with no success. Applying the same principle—eliminating residual pathogens—prescribed a single formula. After seven doses costing less than 100 yuan, he was completely cured.
Also, patients should never underestimate colds. Avoid rushing to suppress fever. Hasty, aggressive treatment may yield immediate results but leaves internal pathogens uneliminated. This allows pathogens to penetrate deeper from skin to flesh, potentially causing harder-to-treat illnesses.