🌿 Folk Prescriptions

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NASH) is a clinical pathological syndrome caused by excessive lipid accumulation in hepatocytes due to various etiologies, leading to hepatic steatosis, necrosis, and inflammatory cell infiltration. It evolves from fatty liver and represents a critical stage in progression toward liver cirrhosis. Although modern medicine has conducted relatively in-depth research on the etiology and pathogenesis of NASH, effective therapeutic drugs remain lacking. Over the past three years, Dr. Wu Shengming and colleagues from Jinhu County People's Hospital in Jiangsu Province developed a self-formulated Chaihu Huoxue Decoction for treating 56 cases of NASH, with a comparative observation against 55 cases treated with Western medicine. The results were satisfactory. This study was reported in Issue 12, Volume 24, 2003 of *Jiangsu Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine*.
One hundred eleven NASH patients were divided into two groups. The treatment group received Chaihu Huoxue Decoction, composed of Bupleurum, Salvia miltiorrhiza, Persica, Rhizoma Sparganii, Rhizoma Curcumae, Alisma, Poria, Cassia obtusifolia, Polygonum multiflorum, Artemisia capillaris, and Sedum sarmentosum, with modifications based on symptoms. Each dose was first decocted with 500 ml water to yield 250 ml liquid; second decoction used 300 ml water to yield 150 ml. The two decoctions were mixed and taken in three doses after meals daily. One month constituted one course. The control group received polyene phosphatidylcholine 300 mg and ursodeoxycholic acid 50 mg orally three times daily, plus vitamin E 100 mg daily. One month was also one course. During medication, all patients avoided spicy and cold foods. Obese patients should moderate diet and increase physical activity. Patients with fasting blood glucose >10 mmol/L received conventional Western medicine treatments such as metformin or glibenclamide. After treatment, among the 56 patients in the treatment group, 21 achieved clinical remission, 31 improved, and 4 remained unchanged, yielding an overall effective rate of 92.9%. In the control group of 55 patients, 19 achieved clinical remission, 20 improved, and 16 remained unchanged, with an overall effective rate of 70.9%. Statistical analysis showed significantly better efficacy in the treatment group. Follow-up over six months revealed no recurrence in clinically remitted patients in the treatment group, while 6 recurrences occurred in the control group.
NASH falls within the traditional Chinese medical categories of "costal pain" and "phlegm-dampness," typically resulting from irregular diet, emotional imbalance, sedentary lifestyle, stagnation of turbidity, impaired circulation of qi and blood, internal damp-heat generation, blood stasis, obstruction, and mutual coagulation of damp-heat in the liver. Compared to simple fatty liver, NASH exhibits more severe stagnation and often presents symptoms like costal pain and yellow urine indicating heat transformation. The combined action of the herbs in this self-formulated Chaihu Huoxue Decoction collectively achieves the effects of eliminating blood stasis, resolving stagnation, clearing damp-heat, and restoring smooth flow of qi and blood, thereby removing accumulated fat and stasis. Thus, it proves highly effective in treating NASH. The clinical observations by Dr. Wu Shengming and colleagues further confirm that this formula yields satisfactory outcomes in treating NASH.