Regarding blood deficiency, many people know what will happen if the heart and blood are deficient, or what will happen if the spleen is deficient, but they don’t know the relationship between liver and blood. In this case, I also need to let everyone know, liver blood What will happen if it is empty!
Liver blood deficiency is a traditional Chinese medicine syndrome, which is mainly characterized by a decrease or abnormality in the nourishing function of liver blood. It is characterized by numbness of the limbs, difficulty in flexing and extending joints, dizziness, dry eyes, blurred vision, or menstruation. Low blood flow or amenorrhea, itchy skin, pale tongue, stringy and thready pulse are common syndromes. Clinically, it is more common in dizziness, headache, paralysis syndrome, impotence syndrome, spasm syndrome, hair loss, low menstrual flow and light color or amenorrhea, skin pruritus and other symptoms. Treatment is mainly based on nourishing yin and blood, and replenishing the liver and kidneys.
I know that everyone prefers to read the medical records, but we have to study them systematically anyway. Well, without further ado, let’s satisfy everyone and let’s take a look at the medical records!
Medical Records
Today we are talking about Zhang Xichun’s medical records. It is said that there was a patient with insomnia. This patient’s name was Xu Youmei. He was a Taoist doctor at that time. What was this Taoist doctor? Woolen cloth? In our words today, to put it simply, he is a civil servant with a high position. This person "suffered from insomnia in Jichun" and "often had a fever in his heart, was too lazy to eat, and reluctantly ate too much. He always felt that he had stopped eating, his stomach was not going down, and his stool was dry." Later, it was said that this person "liked to associate with scribes."
You see, in just a few strokes, Zhang Xichun pointed out this person’s status, his job, what kind of disease he had, and the time when he got the disease. This is very important, because Chinese medicine pays attention to a scope and an environment when treating patients, and any information from it may be the key to "breaking the situation." In fact, at this point, you have almost everything you need to treat the disease.
If you get this disease in spring, what does spring correspond to? Everyone should be aware that spring corresponds to liver disease. Then what is the cause? Because he particularly liked poetry, he must have often discussed poetry and songs with his friends. In order to write poetry, I must be thinking about this word and that word every day, how to make it more appropriate, or how to make it rhyme better. I think about it often, and often think about one or two words every day. Do you think the work pressure there is not low, but here we are still thinking about it every day, can the blood of the liver not be depleted?
Then Zhang Xichun checked what his pulse was like? "The left part of the pulse is floating and stringy, and the right pulse is particularly stringy and hard at the same time, with five pulses in one breath." This floating string in the left pulse is the most powerful evidence of insufficient liver blood.
So how to treat it? The recipe is here: raw yam (one tael), Dagan wolfberry (eight qian), raw ocher (six qian, rolled into fine pieces), Scrophulariaceae (five qian), North Adenophora ginseng (five qian), raw Hangshao ( Five qian), jujube kernels (four qian, stir-fried and pounded), raw malt (three qian), raw chicken gizzard (half a qian, yellow, pounded), wormwood (half a qian), licorice (two qian). (One tael = 30 grams, one penny = 3 grams)
This medicine doesn’t seem to be used to treat insufficient liver blood. Is it useful? Not to mention, this person took two doses of decoction and slept until two or three o'clock at night. His heart was no longer feverish, his food intake increased slightly, his stool was still stagnant, but his pulse was no harder than before.
Let me tell you, the basic theory of Chinese medicine is still imperfect, that's why you have this question. Why don't you fill in the gaps for you today?
The storehouse of blood - liver
Earlier, we said that the functions of the liver include catharsis and purification, but in fact the most important function of the liver is to store blood. What does this mean? The liver in the human body is equivalent to the treasury and reserve center of our country. In normal times, it must ensure that the treasury is full, with money, food, and various resources. But if something goes wrong, the liver will be able to deploy and rescue immediately. This is the meaning of the liver storing blood.
The liver’s ability to store blood should be divided into three points: storing blood, regulating blood volume, and preventing bleeding. When it comes to storing blood, through examples, I think everyone can understand that it means the treasury. What about regulating blood volume?
One of the blood volume adjustments
When the human body sits, lies, and stands up every day, some emergencies will occur, such as suddenly a lot of brain activity. At this time, it is necessary to urgently adjust blood from the liver to support it. , if there is a deficiency of blood in the liver, a person will faint if he becomes anxious at this time.
Blood Volume Adjustment 2
Also, for example, when we exercise a lot, many people suddenly become pale and cannot get enough blood. There are also people who, after hearing some bad news, become nervous and pale, and their blood cannot be regulated. There are also people who have cold hands and feet who cannot get blood, which reflects the symptoms of anemia.
Blood Volume Adjustment 3
When the weather is hot, people often feel dry eyes, and some people may suffer from insufficient grip strength. This is because the liver opens to the eyes and its essence is to the claws.
The "Nei Jing" also says: "The eyes can see after receiving blood, the hands can hold after receiving blood, the fingers can take pictures after receiving blood, and the feet can walk after receiving blood." These are actually reactions of the liver, and the blood in the liver is If it is not sufficient, it will directly show up in the hands, feet and eyes. If there is a problem in these places, it is likely to be blood deficiency.
There is also the last point to prevent bleeding. The mechanism of the liver to prevent bleeding has three aspects:
Liver blood deficiency and insomnia
You haven’t even talked about it for a long time. Do you think there is any relationship between liver blood deficiency and insomnia? Don't worry, just listen to my explanation.
In other words, if the liver blood is insufficient, then the liver does not store blood and the soul has nowhere to return, so the person will be energetic at night and will always be unable to sleep.
Do you understand now? "Your explanation is much clearer. But I still have a question, why don't these medicines in this prescription have anything to do with the disease?"
Everyone must have a general understanding when studying Chinese medicine. It seems that when a person has insufficient liver blood and relatively strong liver fire, how will it be affected? A very important organ will be affected, that is the spleen and stomach. To use a traditional Chinese medicine term to describe it, it is called "liver wood overcoming the spleen earth", so the function of the spleen and stomach is affected.
Why use this recipe?
When most people see this medical record, they will definitely think about nourishing the blood and calming the nerves first, but Zhang Xichun is different. They first think about regulating the liver and spleen together. Now you should know this idea. What happened to the yam?
Then this recipe contains eight qian of Dagan wolfberry. What is this wolfberry used for? Wolfberry can nourish the essence of liver and kidney. Only when the kidney yin is sufficient can the liver yin be sufficient, and when the liver yin is sufficient, the liver blood can be sufficient, so it is very important to replenish the yin of the liver and kidneys.
Then add raw Hangshao, which is white peony five cents. White peony is astringent and soft to the liver, plus the licorice at the end, this is peony and licorice soup. This recipe can make it sour and sweet. Negative. Therefore, wolfberry, scrophulariaceae, and adenophora, plus peony and licorice, all nourish the yin of the liver and kidneys.
Then add four qian of fried jujube kernels. This medicine can nourish the liver and blood. Further down, this recipe contains raw malt, so what is raw malt used for? Raw malt is to generate liver qi, because if you think often, the liver qi will definitely be uncomfortable, so it is necessary to generate liver qi.
Then it is paired with raw chicken gizzard, which can remove blood stasis. At the same time, it has an appetizing effect and can help reduce stomach qi. As you can see in this recipe, it takes into account nourishing the spleen and stomach, and then considers nourishing liver yin, softening the liver, and soothing the liver qi. These are all considered, and it is a very comprehensive recipe.
"I understand this recipe, but it is too complicated and we dare not use it!" I have also considered this aspect and recommend a recipe to everyone.
Angelica sinensis soup!
The recipe consists of 30g of Astragalus membranaceus and 6g of Angelica sinensis, and the weight ratio is 5:1. In this prescription, astragalus plays a major role, while angelica is a supplementary product. Some people asked, why not name it after Astragalus Buqi Decoction instead of Danggui Buxue Decoction?
This is because "Qi is the commander of blood, and blood is the house of Qi." If Qi is deficient, the blood will have nothing to absorb; if blood is deficient, the Qi will have nothing to rely on. The two are interdependent.
As mentioned in "Yizong Jinjian Collection": "Among the five flavors, only sweet can nourish. Angelicae is sweet and thick, and the thick flavor is to nourish blood; Astragalus is sweet and thin, and the thin flavor is to nourish Qi. ; Nowadays, astragalus is used to nourish blood, because the visible blood cannot generate itself, and it is generated by invisible Qi. The scriptures say that "Yang generates Yin and grows".
In addition, Chinese medicine believes that " When the middle burner receives Qi, the juice changes and becomes red, which is called blood." ("Lingshu Jue Qi Chapter") It can be seen that blood is mainly transformed by water and grain essence. Therefore, traditional Chinese medicine wants to replenish blood, which is different from modern medicine's direct transfusion of blood to replenish blood volume. Its focus is to stimulate the spleen and stomach qi and stimulate the source of biochemistry. If blood medicines such as Angelica sinensis are used heavily to nourish and replenish greasiness, it will hinder the spleen yang and block the middle qi. , causing the spleen to not move and transform, how can it "disperse body fluid" and "turn redness into blood"?
In addition, I would like to remind everyone, don’t think that if you are sleeping well now, everything will be fine. If you really have to wait until you really suffer from insomnia, it will be too late. At that time, your mental state will not be good, and your temper will be bad. , how can you maintain your health with peace of mind? So here are some suggestions for nourishing and protecting the liver.
(1) Emotions should be stable
Traditional Chinese medicine mentions that "anger hurts the liver." Excessive emotional fluctuations can easily affect the liver. Usually, people who have high self-esteem and are impatient are more likely to have anxiety and uneasiness. In traditional Chinese medicine, this is a constitution that is more likely to produce liver fire.
Liver belongs to wood, and wood likes to be harmonious. You can think of the liver as a big tree. Trees like to be free and unrestrained. Therefore, the first priority in nourishing the liver is emotional regulation and a happy mood.
(2) Get enough sleep
The liver stores blood. "Huangdi Neijing·Suwen" once mentioned: "When a person lies down, blood returns to the liver." Enough sleep, the liver Only then can it be fully repaired.
From the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, the body should be given a complete rest at night, otherwise the repair function of the liver will be affected, physical strength will not be restored, and the ability to think will also become sluggish.
Poor sleep quality can also cause increased liver fire. Therefore, it is recommended not to engage in work that consumes too much mental energy at night, as it can easily affect sleep quality. Proper rest will help strengthen the liver. Take a rest when you are tired. The best way to treat your liver is to find time to rest every day.
Our bodies are very sensitive. As long as we are busy or tired, we can adjust and take breaks at any time, such as taking a nap at noon, and the tired feeling can usually be eliminated.
(3) Eat a light diet
Spicy and exciting foods, such as fried foods, high-concentration coffee, tea, etc., are also causes of liver fire. Try to avoid excessive consumption. Natural green vegetables and fruits will not increase the burden on the liver and are rich in antioxidants, which are very helpful in repairing the liver.
In addition, some simple foods can also help reduce heat: mung beans, barley, asparagus, loofah, watermelon, aloe vera, etc. can clear away heat. You can also take red beans and winter melon to remove dampness and heat in the body.