Reviewing the information

[Guest guest]

My thanks again to Wiseweeds for allowing me to forward the Schisandra

information onto this list.

 

I want to use parts of the information she provided to help students review and

learn new information.

 

>Meridians affected: Lung, Kidney and Liver

 

Herbs in TCM are classified according to which meridians they have a special

affinity for.

 

>In Traditional , this herb is used to treat

deficient Kidney, deficient Kidney Chi and depletion of jing.

 

At this point you are familiar with the term Deficiency. This herb is used to

treat some Deficiency states, particularly those of the Kidney/ kidneys. Chi or

Ch'i is an alternate spelling of Qi. Jing will be covered in later posts. For

now know that Jing is one of the " Three Vital Treasures " (Qi, Shen, and Jing)

and is associated with the kidneys. (As you learn more you'll find out the

Kidney, kidneys play some critical roles in maintaining health and longevity.)

 

> Schisandra builds wei chi, known as the the defense energy of the body,

 

Wei chi is Defensive Qi.

 

>Primarily used to revitalize someone who is depleted, tired, fatigued.

 

Which of the Eight Principal Patterns should you automatically consider when you

see the word " fatigue " . Deficiency states. See the previous paragraph that

states it's used to treat Kidney Deficiency.

 

>Helpful for people who sweat profusely and for night sweats, this herb

is assists in restoring balance to the body in cases of HIV, where

someone

has diarrhea from what is known in TCM as deficient Spleen. This type of

 

Note the use for Spleen DEFICIENCY.

 

Also, sweating a lot can be a symptom of Qi Deficiency, in particular Deficiency

of the Protective Qi. Note the previous paragraph which talks about Schisandra

building wei chi (Protective Qi).

 

Protective Qi is what gives people resistence to changes in weather and to

invasion by " evils " . When the Protective Qi is weak, the person tends to be very

weather sensitive. The person may also tend to catch a lot of infections.

Another herb which helps Protective Qi is astragalus.

 

>When people have disturbed shen-- insomnia (Yin insomnia) agitation--

they may be so depleted that they don't have the energy to sleep.

Schisandra is a good herb to use in this situation.

 

Shen will be covered in later posts. For now know it's one of the Three Vital

Treasures (Qi, Jing, and Shen), it resides in the Heart, and disturbances in

Shen can be the basis for some cases of insomnia and emotional turmoil. Severe

disturbances of Shen and the Heart can be the basis of severe mental illnesses.

 

CONTRAINDICATED (do not use): Be careful with people who get easily

stimulated. People like this should only take Schisandra in the morning.

 

Even though Schisandra increases Yin, and Yin is by nature calming, you do need

to be careful with some cases of Yin Deficiency because this herb also can

excite. Note that in the paragraph that talks about meridians, it targets the

Kidney, Liver, and Lung meridian.

 

>In cases of External Pernicious Influences with True Heat, some people

may experience digestive upset as this herb may reduce gastric

secretions.

 

You know what something attacking Externally is from the post on Exterior/

Interior and the Eight Principal Patterns. Pernicious influences or pernicious

evils refer to Cold, Heat, Dryness, Dampness, Wind, and Fire. You're familiar

with Cold and Hot from the discussion of the Eight Principal Patterns. There has

been some mention of Fire (any pernicious evil can change into Fire as in the

case of Wind Cold (common cold) getting trapped in the Lung, turning to Heat,

and then to Fire (pneumonia). You have some familiarity with Wind from reading

Dagmar's newsletters which cover Liver/ Gallbladder.

 

The Pernicious Evils will be gone into in more detail in later posts.

 

Victoria

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

FYI,

As I learned this info initially from David Winston, the meridians affected are

Kidney, Liver and Lung.

And Ron Teeguarden also lists these as the meridians affected by Schisandra.

However, Michael Tierra's " The Way of Chinese Herbs " lists Kidney, Lung and

HEART.

 

Cathy, Wise Weeds

http://www.freeyellow.com/members6/wiseweeds/

 

 

> victoria_dragon wrote:

> Even though Schisandra increases Yin, and Yin is by nature calming,

> you do need to be careful with some cases of Yin Deficiency

> because this herb also can excite. Note that in the paragraph

> that talks about meridians, it targets the Kidney, Liver,

> and Lung meridian.

>

[Guest guest]

>As I learned this info initially from David Winston, the meridians affected are

Kidney, Liver and Lung.

>And Ron Teeguarden also lists these as the meridians affected by Schisandra.

>However, Michael Tierra's " The Way of Chinese Herbs " lists Kidney, Lung and

HEART.

 

Henry C. Lu and J.W. Fan, M.D., list only the Lung and Kidney meridians. The

Rocky Mountain Herbal Institute lists Lung, Kidney, and Heart like Tierra does.

 

At this point I'm not too concerned with the minor disagreements among

authorities on which meridians an herb specifically targets. That's really

fine-tuning it a lot.

 

The info from the RMHI goes to say it stops spontancious sweating from either

Deficiency of Yang or Deficiency of Yin.

 

Lu classifies it as a Class 17 herb, herbs to constrict and obstruct movements.

The RMHI classifies it as Astringent. Different ways of saying the same thing.

 

The RMHI also says, " Astringes the Lung Qi and stops coughing from Deficiency of

Lung and Kidney Qi. Astringes Essence and stops diarrhea; used for excessive

urination, spermatorrhea, and day-break diarrhea. " (vol.2 text, p. 138) I guess

another way of putting it is it stops up leaks (diarhhea, excessive urination,

excessive sweating, etc) which are due to Deficiciency of Yin and/or Yang. (You

will occasionally run across people who are both Yin and Yang Deficiency, but

usually it's either/or.)

 

I want to point out to beginners that it's not enough just to stop up the

" leaks " . You also want to treat the underlying problem, the Yin and/or Yang

Deficiency which are causing the leaks. You may want to take a Yang tonic and/or

Yin Tonic herb at the same time as taking the Schisandra in order to get at the

root of the problem which is Yang and/or Yin Deficiency. Otherwise, you may just

be treating symptoms, and that only works for so long.

 

I also want to call beginner's attention to one of the contraindications: Excess

Heat. A person who is Yin Deficient probably is going to be too hot and bothered

by Heat. BUT, the Heat of Yin Deficiency is Deficiency Heat. It's only cases of

Excess Heat that Schisandra is contraindicated for. Actually, it's also

contraindicated for Exterior Evil conditions, but it's ok for Deficiency Heat

conditions.

 

Here's some info that I found interesting. Schisandra has been used to promote

labor as it increases uterine contractions.

 

The RMHI also mentions the adaptogenic properties and the use in treating

hepatitis.

 

Victoria

 

 

 

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