Chuanxiong

　　Ligusticum chuanxiong is the rhizome of the Umbelliferae plant Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort. It is mainly produced in Sichuan, Guizhou, and Yunnan, and those produced in Sichuan are of high quality. Department of artificial cultivation. Excavate in May, remove sediment, dry in the sun, and then remove fibrous roots. When used, slice it raw or roast it in wine.

　　[Properties] Pungent, warm. Returns to the liver, gallbladder, and pericardium meridians.

　　[Efficacy] Promotes blood circulation and qi, dispels wind and relieves pain.

　　【application】

　　1. Pain caused by blood stasis and qi stagnation. This product is pungent, dispersing and warming. It can not only activate blood circulation and remove blood stasis, but also promote qi and relieve pain. It is a "qi medicine in the blood" and has the effect of unblocking qi and blood. Therefore, it can treat chest, flank and abdominal pain caused by qi stagnation and blood stasis. If it is used to treat chest pain caused by blood stasis in the heart, it is often used with Salvia miltiorrhiza, cinnamon twig, and sandalwood. If it is used to treat hypochondriac pain caused by liver stagnation and qi stagnation, it is often used with Bupleurum, white peony root, and Cyperus rotunda, such as Bupleurum Shugan Powder ("Jingyue Complete Book"). If it is used to treat injuries caused by falls, blood stasis, swelling and pain, it can be used with frankincense, myrrh, notoginseng and other medicines.

　　Ligusticum chuanxiong is good at "lowering the menstrual flow and relieving stagnation". It is an important gynecological medicine. It can activate blood circulation and regulate menstruation, and can be used to treat various obstetric and gynecological diseases. If it is used to treat blood stasis, amenorrhea and dysmenorrhea, it is often used with red peony root and peach kernel, such as Xuefu Zhuyu Decoction ("Yi Lin Gai Cuo"); if it is cold coagulation and blood stasis, it can be used with Guixin, Angelica, etc., such as Wenjing Decoction ("Women's Complete Prescriptions"); if it is used to treat postpartum lochia If there is no menstruation and abdominal pain caused by blood stasis, you can use angelica, peach kernel, paojiang, etc., such as Shenghua Decoction ("Fu Qingzhu Women's Department"); if you want to treat irregular menstruation, early or late menstruation, you can use motherwort, angelica, etc., such as Yimu Shengjin Dan ("Medical Insights").

　　2. Headache, rheumatic arthralgia. The pungent Wen Sheng Powder of this product can "go up the head", expel wind and relieve pain, and is an important medicine for treating headaches. It can be used according to the combination of headaches caused by wind-cold, wind-heat, rheumatism, blood deficiency, and blood stasis. Therefore, Li Dongyuan said, "Chuanxiong must be used for headaches." To treat headache due to wind-cold, it can be combined with Qianghuo, Asarum, and Angelica dahurica, such as Ligusticum chuanxiong tea powder ("Heji Bureau Prescription"); if used with chrysanthemum, gypsum, and silkworm, it can be used to treat headache due to wind-heat, such as Ligusticum chuanxiong powder ("Health Care"); if it is used to treat rheumatism headache, it can be combined with Qianghuo, Duhuo, and Fangfeng, such as Qianghuo Huoshengshi Decoction ("Treatise on Differentiating Internal and External Injury"); combined with Angelica sinensis and white peony root, this product can dispel wind and relieve pain. It can treat blood deficiency headaches, such as modified Siwu Decoction ("Jin Gui Yi"); if it treats blood stasis headache, it can be combined with red peony root and musk, such as Tongqiao Huoxue Decoction ("Yi Lin Gai Cuo").

　　This product is pungent and warm, can dispel wind, dredge collaterals and relieve pain, and can also treat rheumatic arthralgia. It is often used with Duhuo, Qingenzi, Fangfeng, Guizhi and other medicines, such as Duhuo Jisheng Decoction ("Qianjin Prescription").

　　[Usage and Dosage] Decoction and take, 3~9g.

　　[Usage Precautions] Use with caution in patients with bleeding syndromes such as yin deficiency and excessive fire, excessive sweating, excessive heat and no blood stasis, and pregnant women.

　　[Abstract from ancient books]

　　1. "Shen Nong's Materia Medica": "It is mainly used for strokes that enter the brain, headache, cold paralysis, slow tendons and pulses, golden sores, and women with blood constriction and childlessness." ”

　　2. "Compendium of Materia Medica": "Xiong rhizome, ascending to the head, descending to regulate menstrual water, opening stagnation in the middle, and a medicine for qi in the blood." It is tasted by Angelica sinensis. It is not only effective in treating blood, but also has a magical effect in treating qi... It tastes pungent and has a yang nature. The qi is good at flowing without the viscous state of yin coagulation. Although it enters the blood, it can remove all wind and regulate all qi. ”

　　3. "New Compilation of Materia Medica": "Ligusticum chuanxiong... can clear blood blockage, disperse external infection, treat head wind and other diseases, and relieve the pain of gold sores." This medicine can be used by a king or a minister, and can also be used as an assistant, but it cannot be used alone... If it is used solely to replenish blood, the blood will move and there is a risk of loss. If it is used solely to relieve pain, the pain will stop and there will be fear of sudden death. ”

　　【Modern Research】

　　1. Chemical composition: This product contains alkaloids (such as ligustrazine), volatile oils (mainly ligustilide, fennelene, etc.), phenolic substances (such as ferulic acid), visfatin, vitamin A, folic acid, sucrose, fatty oils, etc.

　　2. Pharmacological effects: Ligustrazine can dilate coronary arteries, increase coronary blood flow, improve myocardial blood oxygen supply, and reduce myocardial oxygen consumption; ligustrazine can expand cerebral blood vessels, reduce vascular resistance, significantly increase brain and limb blood flow, and improve microcirculation; it can reduce platelet surface activity, inhibit platelet aggregation, and prevent the formation of thrombosis. ,; The neutral component of ferulic acid contained in it promotes uterine smooth muscle in small doses and inhibits uterine smooth muscle in large doses; the decoction has a sedative effect on the central nervous system of animals and has an obvious and lasting antihypertensive effect; it can accelerate the absorption of local hematomas in fractures and promote the formation of callus; it has anti-vitamin E deficiency effects; it can inhibit a variety of bacilli; it has antihistamine and choleretic effects.

　　3. Clinical research: Ligusticum chuanxiong is widely used clinically. For example: taking equal parts of Chuanxiong and safflower into tablets, taking orally 3 times a day, 4 tablets each time (each tablet contains 1.25 grams each of Chuanxiong and safflower), 84 cases of coronary heart disease and angina pectoris were treated, and 83 cases were effective. (Beijing Regional Coronary Heart Disease Cooperative Group. Data Collection (Second Series), 1972, 12). Intravenous infusion of 80-100 ml of ligustrazine into 500 ml of 5% glucose solution once a day, 10 times as one course of treatment, treated 66 cases of ischemic stroke in the acute stage, 154 cases in the recovery stage, and 47 cases in the sequelae stage. Results: The effective rate was 100% in the acute phase, 95.4% in the recovery phase, and 70.2% in the sequelae phase. (Shaanxi Traditional Chinese Medicine, 1988. (9): 408). Use 24-28 grams of Ligusticum chuanxiong, 30 ml of white wine, and 250 ml of water. After soaking for 1 hour, cover and simmer over a slow fire for 2 times. People who do not drink can just add water and simmer for 29 cases of functional uterine bleeding. All of them were effective (Shaanxi Traditional Chinese Medicine, 1990, 11(4): 150).