Ma Huang

[Guest guest]

> In chinese herbal medicine, what is recommended for metabolism?

 

If you are looking at digestion, the Spleen is primary. Also the

Stomach. (Note the capitalization. The TCM concept of the Spleen is

not equivalent to the anatomical spleen. The TCM concept of the

Spleen also includes many functions of the pancreas.)

 

Certain other aspects of metabolism fall under the TCM concept of the

Kidneys, which embodies many of the funcions of the adrenal glands.

 

> I see Ma Huang a lot - but isn't that what ephedrine is derived

from?

 

Ma Huang is ephedra. In TCM ephedra is NEVER used for weight loss as

it can make the underlying causes of obesity worse in the long-run.

Ma Huang is classified as an herb to release the Exterior,

specifically Wind Chill. (The Exterior being the head, neck,

shoulders, arms, legs, skin, muscles, bones, and meridians (pathways

of Qi (energy) flow. The Interior is the trunk of the body,

specifically the internal Organs.)

 

Some people for various reasons are sensitive to weather conditions -

Cold, Heat, Wind, Dampness, and/or Dampness. For example, when the

temperature drops and especially if the wind is blowing, the Wind

Chill starts to invade the body, affecting the skin, muscles, bones,

meridians, etc. at first. This results in symptoms like headaches,

arthritis, and colds, some cases of asthma (not all), and flu if the

Wind Cold starts to reach the Interior, etc. Ha Huang is one of the

herbs used to disperse the Wind and Cold, get it out of the Exterior.

Part of the way it does this is to induce sweating.

 

BTW, Wind Cold is not the only possible Root of headaches. There are

quite a few. Wind Cold headaches usually will manifest first in the

back of the head and neck. Arthritis, called Bi Syndrome or Painful

Obstruction Syndrome, is seen in TCM as being due to Wind, Cold,

and/or Damp invading the body. The common cold usually is caused by

Wind Chill, but Wind Heat also can weaken the body and make a person

susceptible to developing a cold. The treatment will vary according

to what the Root of the cold is. The same remarks apply to the flu.

 

Excessive sweating will disperse Qi (pronounced Qi, roughly though

inadequately translated as " energy " ). For this reason it is to be

used very, very cautiously or not at all in cases of Qi Deficiency as

the person already lacks enough Qi. It also raises blood pressure.

 

You may want to look at the earlier posts in the message base and

look at those having to do with the Spleen and Qi Deficiency. Often,

what are described as " metabolism " problems with have a TCM Root of

Spleen and/or Kidney imbalance.

[Guest guest]

Hi Greg,

 

Ma Huang has been illegal in Belgium since a cyclist on ephedrine told the

reporters that he had gone to see a Chinese doctor for a common cold...

however there are back doors so we can still get the herb. People use almost

no raw herbs in Belgium, just granule extracts, so I cannot comment on the

processing.

Is it the same in the rest of the world i.e. ma huang forbidden but can you

still find it if you want to? I guess people are more careful in litigious

USA; litigation is not that frequent in Belgium so if we get caught all we

get is a fine (IF we get caught : ) , chances are really small, nobody in

Belgium has ever been caught for the illegal use of Chinese herbs)

 

Tom.

 

 

----

 

Greg A. Livingston

03/03/06 00:21:34

Chinese Medicine

Ma Huang

 

Dear Group,

 

I was just wondering what is going on in various parts of the world with

access to and use

of Ma Huang.

 

Can you get it where you live/practice?

 

If so, do you get it raw or processed (usually that means honey-fried)?

 

If you can get it unprocessed, do you ever prescribe it that way, or do you

process/honey-

fry it before dispensing it to patients?

 

If you don't process it, do you have patients cook it for a while on it's

own before adding

the other herbs to the pot?

 

Thanks in advance for your responses.

 

Warm regards,

 

Greg

 

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Thanks to everyone who replied to this question. I am just curious to learn

about the state

of affairs because in some way it may be indicative of things to come.

 

Here in China mahuang is also regulated. Pharmacies only dispense it with a

prescription

and are only allowed to dispense honey-fried mahaung. I recently asked a

professor of

mine about this, and she said that in nearly all classical prescriptions using

mahuang it

was to be pre-cooked, thus eliminating/reducing it's toxicity (she's my Shang

Han Lun

teacher, and all of Zhang Zhong-Jing's formulas instruct pre-cooking). She said

that

honey-frying produces the same results as pre-cooking and thus when prescribing

honey-

fried mahuang there is no need to pre-cook. If a doctor here insists on using

raw

mahuang they can probably find it, but it is illegal and if there is any problem

resulting

from their use of it they are liable, could lose their license, or at worst end

up in jail. Most

docs use the honey-fried stuff for this reason. :-)

 

Greg