Hello everyone, last lecture we discussed the theory of property and flavour of medicine And learned that the four properties does not refer to the four kinds of flavour including savoriness, stink, and fishy and foul flavour. but refers to the four properties of being warm, hot, cool and cold. "Five flavours" are also not totally equal to the flavour of the medicine, And we should know that the four properties and five flavours of medicine are closely related to its function. This lecture we will thoroughly discuss the theory of ascending, descending, floating and sinking in Chinese Traditional Medicine. Can you figure out what is the channel tropism of Chinese Traditional Medicine? And what is the theory of ascending and descending? Is channel tropism of Chinese Traditional Medicine related to the term channel and collateral in the theory of channel and collateral and zang-fu organs? Could it be said that Chinese Traditional Medicine has the function of ascending and descending? The answer is yes. Chinese Traditional Medicine has the selective property aiming at certain channels and collaterals and zang-fu organs. Some Chinese Traditional Medicine even has influence on the ascending and descending function of both physiology and pathology. The channel tropism of medicine refers to the fact that medicine has obvious impact on some zang-fu organs and Channels and Collaterals while has little impact on others So when we catch a cold and cough, we often take the chuanbei pipa syrup and often it is effective. Then do Chuanbei and Pipa belong to lung meridian? Such thought accords with the meridian tropism theory in Chinese Traditional Medicine This patent medicine contains Buibus Fritillariae cirrhosae and folia eriobotryae What we should pay attention is that it is the leaves of loquat instead of the fruits. Then their functions are clearing heat and resolving phlegm, moistening lung and relieving cough as well as moistening lung, resolving phlegm and relieving cough They are effective in treating the cough caused by the disorder of the lung, and therefore these two ingredients firstly belong to lung meridian Ginger has the effect of harmonizing stomach and arresting vomiting, then does ginger belong to stomach meridian、 The answer is yes. Similarly, radix geutianae treat the disorder of gallbladder and belong to gallbladder meridian. Then agastache can treat the disorder in spleen-stomach and belongs to spleen meridian and stomach meridian. Therefore the meridian theory of medicine is based on the theory of zang-fu organs and channel and collateral. and are defined according to the diseases that they treat Since the meridian theory of medicine was ultimately related to a certain zang-fu organ, Why they are defined as channel tropism instead of zang-fu organs? It is a good question. Although the Channels and Collaterals are closely related to zang-fu organs, the two have their own systems. So there is a difference in dialectics between the Channels and Collaterals and zang-fu organs That results in the different definition of the channel tropism of some medicine For example, although both Notopterygium and the rhizome of oriental water plantain belong to bladder meridian, their connotations are different. Notopterygium can treat ache in the head and body caused by external contraction and wind-cold. The aching pain in the joint etc. is considered by meridian dialetics. So it mainly belongs to the Urinary Bladder Meridian of Foot-Taiyang The the rhizome of oriental water plantain refers to promoting urination and draining dampness It makes sense through visceral syndrome differentiation, so it belongs to bladder organ. Unlike Notopterygium, it belongs to bladder organ in the bladder meridian So to correctly tell the difference, we need to learn more professional knowledge In the Five Phases diagram, five flavours are also in correspondence with zang-fu organs. Does it mean that five flavours are also related to channel tropism in the Chinese Traditional Medicine? It is a good question and such correlation really exists. It is known that sour flavour is related to liver, bitter flavour is related to heart and acrid flavour is related to lung. Sweet flavour is related to spleen and salt flavour is related to kidney. Let’s have a look at an example For example, Chinese herbaceous peony is good for the liver meridian so it is sour in flavour In fact its flavour is sour when we taste it. Does every kind of Chinese Traditional Medicine only belong to one meridian and zang-fu organ? It is not necessary. More often than not, some Chinese Traditional Medicine does not belong to only one meridian and zang-fu organ. For example, folia eriobotryae mentioned just now belong to lung meridian. In fact, except lung meridian, it can also be categorized into stomach meridian The reason is that it also has the effect of harmonizing stomach, descending adverse qi and arresting vomiting. So it is also effective to such kind of patients. Is meridian in Chinese Traditional Medicine is based on the same principle with target principle in Modern pharmacology ? It is an interesting question. In 1906, the concept of targeted drug delivery was first put forward by Enrilich It can distribute the selective property of medicine to the lesion part to decrease the toxic and side-effect to the normal issues. and increase the concentration in the lesion part so that the effect of the medicine is enhanced. Such a concept brought about the researches on targeted drug delivery in the branch of modern pharmacology. So far, the research into active targeted drug delivery. For example the drug was tranported to the targeted parts by chemical molecules such as particular enzyme. It is similar to the channel tropism in Chinese Traditional Medicine but not exactly accords with it. The meridian in Chinese Traditional Medicine is aimed at the medicine the ingredients of witch is complex. While the modern targeted drug delivery is in terms of a definite chemical medicine. Therefore, the meridian in Chinese Traditional Medicine still needs more scientific research and application. Then what is ascending, descending, floating and sinking in Chinese Traditional Medicine ? It refers to the different functional tendency of the medicine on human body. The term ascending means the tendency to ascend, the term descending means the tendency to descend, and the term floating means the tendency to disperse. While the term sinking means the tendency to astrict and to relax the bowels and urine. How are these related to Chinese Traditional Medicine? It will not have its value until it is related to the effect of Chinese Traditional Medicine. Generally speaking, the Chinese Traditional Medicine with the ascending and floating quality has the effect of elevating yang and relieving exterior, expelling wind and dissipating cold, emetic and resuscitation, etc. The Chinese Traditional Medicine with the descending and sinking property has the effects of Purgation, clearing heat, promoting urination and draining dampness, tranquilization with heavy material, Removing stagnation, descending adverse qi and arresting vomiting, and relieving cough and asthma Does it mean that the outbreak of disease has different tendencies. Then Chinese Traditional Medicine can treat it from the opposite direction? It is right. Chinese Traditional Medicine holds the opnion that the ascending, descending, exiting and entering of qi movement are fundamental to vital movements. Or it will belong to pathogenicity. When the ascending, descending, exiting and entering of qi movement is blocked, The body will demonstrate a different disease, and bring about different symptoms and tendencies. For example, the symptom will be vomiting and coughing when it comes to be ascending. And the symptoms will the diarrhea and prolapse of anus, etc. when it comes to be descending. The symptoms will be spontaneous sweating and night sweat when it comes to be outward. The symptoms will be no-releasing exterior when it comes to be inward. Then the medicine which can improve and remove such kinds of symptoms has the properties of ascending, descending, floating and sinking. They are contrary to the symptoms. Are there any instances of the common Chinese Traditional Medicine? Yes ,such as ginger, bergamot, rheum officinale and rattletop Shall we have a discussion to see how to decide the property of ascending, descending, floating and sinking involved in those four kinds of Chinese Traditional Medicine When someone feels like vomiting, he drinks some ginger juice which has the effect of arresting vomiting. It demonstrates that the ginger juice has the property of descending. Peppermint has the effect of dispersing wind and dissipating heat. It is used in the swelling and pain in throat caused by wind-heat cold and headache in the early period of febrile disease. So it has the property of floating. It is a perfect analysis. Ginger is effective in arresting vomiting So it has the name of the best medicine in arresting vomiting. Therefore it has the obvious property of descending. But except warming stomach and dissipating cold and harmonizing the middle, descending adverse qi and arresting vomiting It also has the effect of inducing sweating to releasing exterior. For this time, it has the property of floating. However, compared with others, the effect of relieving exterior syndrome by diaphoresis was a little weak. It is often used in combination with other medicines. Therefore, to judge the ascending, descending, floating or sinking of a certain medicine, you should first have a look at what kind of disease it is used for. On the contrary, let’s look at a kind of medicine called Melon Stalk Its effect opposite to ginger. It has the effect of contributing to emetic phlegm, so it has the function of ascending. We just mentioned that rattletop has the effect of raising yang qi. So it can treat spleen deficiency and sinking of spleen qi, and therefore it has the property of ascending. While rheum officinale has the effect of purge the invading accumulation and clearing heat and purging fire. So it is often used for treating hard stool and gastrointestinal stagnation. So it has the property of sinking. So let us imagine, if a patient suffered from chronic diarrhea and prolapse of rectum, If we use a lot of rheum officinale to treat him, what result will be brought about? That will probably result in serious symptoms such as continuous diarrhea and aggravating prolapse of rectum. More serious, it will result in deaths. It is exactly the truth, therefore, to know the property of ascending, descending, floating and sinking is of importance. What we should pay attention to is that in terms of how to utilize and control such properties of Chinese Traditional Medicine, a lot of research has been done. And methods have been invented during the process of application, such as processing and drug compatibility. They have the effect of drawing on the advantages and avoiding disadvantages, and expanded the application of Chinese Traditional Medicine to a large extent. Take the processing for an instant, processing drugs with the help of accessories can strengthen the medicinal property. For example, to fry it with wine can strengthen its property of ascending. If the ginger is fried, it will have the property of diffusing; If the vinegar is fried, it will have the property of astricting; If the salt water is fried, it will have the property of descending; So sometimes for example the Pinellia If it is steeped in ginger juice, it is called ginger Pinellia and the effect of arresting vomiting will be strengthened Of course except the method of steeping Two kinds of medicine can also be combined and use in a compound formula For example ginger and Pinellia were used in little Pinellia Decoction Such kind of combination has an effect of treating stomach cold and vomiting. In conclusion, the channel tropism of Chinese Traditional Medicine and the property of ascending, descending, floating and sinking, are very important for both acquiring the functional features and reasonable application. Ok, that is all for today. In the next lecture we shall discuss the toxic theory of medicine.
