In Zhang Zhongjing's Treatise on Febrile Diseases in the Eastern Han Dynasty, * * * recorded 250 prescriptions, of which 120 prescriptions used licorice.
The reason why licorice is used so much is mainly the following aspects:
Many people have a wrong understanding that the so-called Chinese medicine has no toxic side effects. This concept is actually incorrect, because there are many toxic and violent Chinese medicines in Chinese medicine. In the process of use, if you are not careful, it may cause harm to your body. Traditional Chinese medicine is divided into three grades according to the toxicity of drugs: toxicity, low toxicity and non-toxicity.
For example, Radix Aconiti Lateralis, which warms and tonifies yang, has a good clinical effect of warming yang, but it is a toxic Chinese medicine. If used improperly, it is likely to cause poisoning. Therefore, in clinical use, not only long-term decoction, but also licorice can be used to alleviate the medicinal properties.
For example, some drugs have no obvious toxicity, but their properties are fierce, which is the so-called fierce medicine. Although the treatment with strong drugs is effective quickly, it will also cause harm to the body. For example, nourishing velvet antler has a strong effect of warming yang and benefiting essence and blood, but it is easy to cause the problem of getting angry.
The use of licorice will help to alleviate the medicinal properties.
For example, White Tiger Decoction in Treatise on Febrile Diseases is used to treat high fever. Gypsum and Anemarrhena asphodeloides have good heat-clearing effect, but it may be harmful to the body, so it is compatible with licorice and japonica rice to protect stomach qi.
In many cases, a prescription will mix different cold and heat drugs. In order to make all kinds of drugs work together, * * * will work with Qi Xin. At this time, licorice will be used to blend various drugs.
In other words, the role of Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch, like the political commissar and instructor in the army, can alleviate the contradiction of various drugs in a prescription, and then Qi Xin will work together to treat the disease.
For example, reconcile Wei Ying's famous prescription Guizhi Decoction, stimulate Wei Qi with cassia twig and ginger, and warm Yang qi; Paeonia lactiflora and Zizyphus jujuba are both used to nourish Yin Ying, so the drugs in both directions need to be roasted with licorice to reconcile their medicinal properties and twist them into a rope, thus playing a role in reconciling Wei Ying.
In Treatise on Febrile Diseases, there is a prescription called "Shaoyao Gancao Decoction", which uses licorice to treat acute joint diseases, and it is used to treat leg and foot spasms, pain and fear of flexion.
Among them, Paeonia lactiflora nourishes yin and relieves pain, while Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch relieves pain.
This prescription has been used to treat headache and stomachache, such as colic and stuffy pain, and achieved good results.
Another example is Ganmai Jujube Soup in Synopsis of the Golden Chamber, which uses jujube, wheat and licorice to relieve pain and treat "dirty mania". That is, similar to depression, I always want to cry, yawn, stretch, feel depressed and fidgety. , more common in menopausal women and women with postpartum depression.
Licorice also has nourishing effect, but when it is used for nourishing, it should be processed with honey and made into roasted licorice.
The medicinal properties of Radix Glycyrrhizae Preparata are relatively warm and tonic, which has a good conditioning effect on weakness of spleen and stomach and deficiency of lung yin.
It can relieve abdominal pain, anorexia, diarrhea and other symptoms caused by spleen deficiency.
For example, in Treatise on Febrile Diseases, there is a recipe mainly made of roasted licorice: roasted licorice soup, which uses roasted licorice, jujube, ginseng, Ophiopogon japonicus, scream, hemp seed, cassia twig, ginger, sake and so on. Supplementing qi and nourishing yin, warming meridians and dredging collaterals are used to treat heart diseases characterized by "pulse knot and palpitation" such as coronary heart disease and myocarditis in modern medicine.
Just like the antidote in martial arts novels, licorice can be used to treat many kinds of drug poisoning.
As early as Sun Simiao, a famous doctor in the Tang Dynasty, recorded in Qian Jin Fang that licorice can cure all kinds of drug poisoning, such as aconite poisoning and croton poisoning, and all of them can be treated with licorice soup.
In Treatise on Febrile Diseases, it is also recorded that licorice is used to solve the poisoning caused by improper use of beef.
Later, licorice was widely used as an antidote to various drug poisoning.
Raw licorice is cold, has the functions of clearing away heat and toxic materials and relieving sore throat, and has a good effect on treating sore throat.
When treating tonsillitis, pharyngolaryngitis and other diseases with sore throat, licorice and platycodon grandiflorum are usually used for treatment. Platycodon grandiflorum is also beneficial to pharynx and phlegm.
Modern research has found that licorice also has good expectorant and antitussive effects, which can dilute sputum and treat cough diseases such as sticky sputum and difficulty in expectoration.
Modern compound licorice tablets, mainly made of licorice and opium powder, have good antitussive and expectorant effects.
However, because the drug contains opioid powder, it may be addictive, so it cannot be taken in large quantities for a long time.