Epimedium is a medicine named after its efficacy. It is a herbaceous plant of Berberidaceae, which has three small branches and three leaflets on each branch, so it is called three branches and nine leaves, but this name is rarely mentioned. The ancients found that the mating ability of sheep increased after eating this grass, especially the number of times increased, so it was named. Later, someone gave it an elegant nickname-Xianlingpi.

Folk legend

It is said that it is a delicious food for herbivores in mountainous areas. Sheep growing in the north of Xichuan frequently copulate every day and are regarded as "promiscuous sheep". However, people didn't know the reason for the excessive copulation of sheep until 1500 years ago when the famous doctor Tao Hongjing demonstrated the name of Epimedium. At that time, people called bean leaves "Huo", and its leaves were very similar to bean leaves, also known as "Huo". Tao Hongjing pointed out: "There is a prostitute sheep in the north of Xichuan, which is caused by eating this herb, so it is named Epimedium."

efficacy

Sexual taste: pungent, sweet and warm.

Nature and taste: liver and kidney meridians entered.

Efficacy: tonify kidney yang, strengthen bones and muscles, and dispel wind and dampness. Used for impotence, nocturnal emission, muscle weakness, rheumatism, numbness and contracture; Climacteric hypertension.

Modern research

Epimedium contains icariin, volatile oil, wax alcohol, phytosterol, tannin, vitamin E and other components. It can stimulate sexual function and promote semen secretion in animals. There are also antihypertensive (causing peripheral vasodilation), hypoglycemic, diuretic, antitussive and expectorant effects and vitamin E-like effects. Pharmacological experiments show that Epimedium can increase cardiovascular and cerebrovascular blood flow, promote hematopoietic function, immune function and bone metabolism, and has anti-aging and anti-tumor effects. Medical experts in Singapore have found that Epimedium can effectively kill breast cancer cells, but its clinical application needs further study.

Researchers from the Natural Medicine Laboratory of the University of Milan, Italy, sampled and analyzed some traditional Chinese herbal medicines with aphrodisiac effects, and found that Epimedium contains ingredients similar to PDE5 inhibitor, which is the main ingredient of Viagra. Researchers believe that compared with western medicine, Epimedium may have fewer side effects and should be popularized.

tonifying kidney yin

Modern pharmacological studies have found that Epimedium can increase the number of male sperm and enhance sperm vitality.

When epimedium is used to strengthen yang and treat infertility, impotence and palace cold, it must be combined with drugs that tonify essence and blood. Because kidney yang is based on kidney essence or essence and blood, it can't simply invigorate its function during treatment, otherwise it will exhaust its vitality and further damage kidney essence.

Expelling wind and dampness, strengthening bones and muscles

Epimedium can also dispel wind and damp, strengthen bones and muscles, and can be used for wind-cold-dampness arthralgia, which can be used for muscle weakness caused by kidney deficiency and rheumatism arthralgia syndrome.

In ancient herbal works, Epimedium has a name called "Abandoned Cane Grass", which means that patients with flaccid bones and muscles can lose their crutches after using this medicine. At present, when treating diseases such as osteoporosis and osteoarticular degeneration, the frequency of Epimedium is relatively high.

Can be used for treating cough and asthma due to yang deficiency.

Some patients with cough, asthma, phlegm and yang deficiency can be treated with epimedium. Classification of Herbs says that Epimedium "cures cough, removes wind, tonifies kidney and strengthens Yuanyang".

In addition, it is reported that it can treat the high blood pressure caused by menopause in women, which can be selected according to the actual situation.