Ephedra root, the king of antiperspirant, enters the lung meridian to astringe and consolidate Xinjiang.

Ganping taste should be tasted to stop sweating, and appropriate amount should be taken orally and externally.

It shows that Chinese medicine is the first choice to treat sweating syndrome. Ephedra root has strong antiperspirant ability. It enters the lung meridian and travels on the muscle surface. It has astringent taste, and can actually defend qi, strengthen stomach, and send and receive orifices. It is an important drug for astringing lung, consolidating exterior surface and stopping sweating. Commonly used for spontaneous sweating, night sweats and nervous sweating. The clinical application of ephedra root is mostly oral, but it can also be used externally as appropriate.

Tropism of nature and taste: sweet, slightly astringent and flat. Return to lung meridian.

Efficacy: strengthen the exterior and stop sweating.

Indications: ① Used for spontaneous sweating and treating night sweats. ② Used for sweating syndrome.

Usage and dosage: decocted, 3-9g. Appropriate amount for external use.

All kinds of words:

1. "A Record of Famous Doctors": "Stop sweating, Xia Yue is a mixed powder puff."

2. "Compendium of Materia Medica": "Herba Ephedrae perspires, but it can't be driven away, and the root knot stops sweating, and the effect is like an impact."

3. "Materia Medica Justice": "Its roots go deep into the soil, ... and its expression is particularly important, so it can be collected from the surface and scattered, and its levity can be collected and attributed to the inside. It is the nature of roots to suppress sweat, so you can not sweat, but you can not let sweat escape. This is the reason why ephedra root has antiperspirant ability and is also effective. "

Flour wheat, a commonly used medicine, tastes sweet and cool, enters the heart meridian, benefits the heart qi, astricts the heart fluid and stops sweating, and has the function of treating both the symptoms and root causes; Glutinous rice fibrous roots benefit the stomach, promote fluid production, relieve asthenic heat and stop sweating, and its antiperspirant power is very weak, so it is mainly used for asthenic sweating.

Clinical application of ephedra root has strong antiperspirant ability and excellent curative effect on nervous sweating. Clinically, Herba Ephedrae is often used together with Radix Astragali and Concha Ostreae to treat spontaneous sweating due to qi deficiency, such as Oyster Powder (Hejiju Formula); For the treatment of night sweats due to yin deficiency, it is equivalent to Radix Rehmanniae Preparata and Radix Angelicae Sinensis, such as Danggui Huang Liu Decoction (The Secret Collection of Shi Lan); For postpartum sweating, it is often combined with angelica and astragalus, such as ephedra root powder. If this product is ground into fine powder with oyster, it can be used to treat various sweating syndromes.

Ephedra is a commonly used antiperspirant, and Ephedra is a representative drug for relieving exterior syndrome by pungent-warming. Although different parts of the same plant have opposite behaviors after acting on human body, the mechanism is the same.

Antiperspirants are used to "disperse lung cold"

The first time I knew about "dispersing lung cold": when I was working in a pharmacy, I found a doctor with a teacher background, and "hemp roots" frequently appeared in the prescription, but the corresponding patients hardly sweated, which made people curious. Later, I asked the teacher that "dispersing lung cold" was contradictory. How can blindly stopping sweating have the function of "dispelling cold"? This question is as memorable as the sentence "The sweating of ephedra can't be controlled, but the antiperspirant effect of root nodes is as influential and immeasurable as physical beauty".

Case of expelling lung cold-treating cough: Later, it was found that doctors used ephedra root to treat cough. For treating cough, perilla frutescens, pumpkin, lily, peucedanum, scutellaria baicalensis, aster, honeysuckle, bitter orange, Trichosanthes kirilowii bark and dried tangerine peel are used externally. Epimedium and Herba Ephedrae are often added in case of lung obstruction due to cold and dampness, especially in cases of chronic cough. This pair of drugs, pungent and warm, dispel cold and dampness, make the lungs clear and empty, and stop coughing, commonly known as "universal cause"

The above ephedra root is used for coughing, which must have the meaning of "convergence". And an accident made me feel at a loss about the word "scattered". The ephedra root in the pharmacy was not replenished in time, so the teacher had to replace it with "raw hemp wool" and "asarum", which made me suddenly realize. First, "raw hemp fiber" and "asarum" have no meaning of convergence; Secondly, the three herbs in Lenovo's Mahuang Fuzi Asarum Decoction are lung (exterior), kidney and communicating lung and kidney, so this replacement shows that Mahuang root is scattered between lung (exterior) and communicating lung and kidney, that is, dispersing lung (hiding). In this way, the drug pair composed of Herba Epimedii and Herba Ephedrae is similar to "Mahuang Fuzi Asarum Decoction", in which Herba Ephedrae is actually "dispersing lung cold" and is compatible with Herba Epimedii to warm kidney, so the communication is less yin and less moon.

Dispel qi and stop sweating.

The emergence of Ziwei Buda: Wei Qi comes from the spleen and stomach, and Buda mainly comes from the lungs. For example, "Lingshu Wuwei" "Huangdi said: How was Wei Ying's trip? Gao Bo said: the valley begins in the stomach, and the subtle person first irrigates the five internal organs from the stomach, and the other two lines are the way to health care. "Lingshu Wei Ying Sheng Hui" "People suffer from qi in the valley, which enters the stomach and distributes in the lungs. All the five internal organs are suffering from qi, the clear is the camp, and the turbid is the guard. " Stephy originates from the spleen and stomach, reaches the body surface and hides the viscera of lung cloth. In the related phenomena of body surface (such as sweat), this part of the body surface has always been attached great importance, that is, "lung defense" or "exterior defense"

The function of defending qi in sweating and stopping sweating: qi can produce body fluid and qi can absorb body fluid. It is also a dialectical relationship to defend qi and sweat. "Lingshu Benzang" said that "those who guard qi, therefore, warm and divide the meat, fill the flesh, nourish the skin, and open and close." Warm, full and fat are the symbols of qi's smooth defense. On this basis, the "opening" of the skin will sweat out, while the "closing" will stop sweating. On the route of "spleen and stomach → lung → phlegm", Atractylodes macrocephala acts on spleen, and Astragalus acts on lung and spleen is a typical example. "Materia Medica Seeking Truth, Volume 1" "Raw Astragalus membranaceus can consolidate the exterior, no sweat can be discharged, and sweat can be collected. It means that the exterior is evil, so there is no sweat to send, and the exterior is real, so there is sweat to stop. " "(Atractylodes macrocephala) The book says that you can get rid of sweating without sweating, and sweating can also get rid of sweating ... Because of spleen dampness, you will sweat, and spleen health will make you sweat easily." Spleen dampness and spleen health directly affect the production of Stephy.

Sweating is to dispel the stagnation of Wei, and stopping sweating is to consolidate the exterior. Sweating is commonly used in exogenous heat syndrome. Because "it is impossible to escape, so it is exogenous heat", so it is necessary to get rid of heat through Wei. Deficiency sweating syndrome is often used to tonify qi and defend exterior, such as Yupingfeng powder, Atractylodes macrocephala and Astragalus, Fangfeng powder and defend exterior, and it helps Wei Qi spread. Hyperhidrosis hurts yang, often manifested as hyperhidrosis, leading to sweating. It is because the defensive qi is too scattered, the fixation is insufficient, and even the spleen and lungs are yang-failing, and the limbs are cold. The method of strengthening the body resistance and protecting this law is often beneficial to defending qi, such as eating porridge soup to benefit the spleen and stomach, or adding drugs such as invigorating qi, ginseng and surgery to directly replenish qi.

The relationship between sweat and defending qi is inseparable from the route of "spleen and stomach → lung → phlegm".

Antiperspirant mechanism of ephedra sinica

Ephedra root node and stem sweat seem to have opposite effects, but the mechanism lies in dispersing qi, just "dispersing", with different weight and parts. For example, there is a saying in Materia Medica: "You know that its roots and stems are the same thing, which comes out through the sun, but it is wonderful to come out without knotting."

Ephedra sweating: Ephedra sweating is formed by permeating the superficial Wei Qi of muscles and expelling body fluids from the body. For example, "Herbal Yan Hui" quoted Li Dongyuan as saying, "To vent the qi of fur, to cut the cold evil of camp", "to purify the muscle surface and vent the remaining evil in defense; Big Fu Xuan, go to the camp to suffer from cold and depression. " Because it can disperse exterior qi, when exterior qi is not very good or drugs are too outdated, there is a danger of consuming qi and hurting yang.

Root node stops sweating and disperses lung defense: Mahuang root node stops sweating, not because it has astringency, on the contrary, root saves energy and disperses lung defense, thus achieving the effect of consolidating exterior and stopping sweating. In Compendium of Materia Medica, Li Shizhen clearly stated that "its nature is all over the body, so it can attract all kinds of medicines to the defensive point and strengthen the foundation". Another example is "Herbal Medicine in Southern Yunnan", which says, "Nodules stop sweating, express qi, strengthen deficiency, clear lung qi, relieve sore throat and choke. Throat choking is the gas of plum pit in the throat, which can't be swallowed or spit out. " Thinking about its meaning shows that qi can be solid and deficiency can be solid, which is the result of defending qi. "Clearing lung qi" and "relieving sore throat and choking" indicate that ephedra root has no astringency, but it can spread lung qi and is the product of powder.

For example, ephedra root is a loose but not astringent product, which is also reflected in the compatibility of many prescriptions. Some use root nodes together with stems, and some use root nodes alone. For example, "Taiping Huimin Heji Bureau's Prescription for Treating Accumulation of Heat and Washing Heart": "Treating wind and heat, dizziness and headache, tight shoulders and tight back, upset limbs and pain, hot air rushing up, bitter mouth and hot lips, sore throat, phlegm and saliva stagnation, sticky nose and saliva, restlessness, dry eyes and pain, and colds." Atractylodes macrocephala 1 half, ephedra 6 (hydrolyzed), angelica sinensis (cleaned after seedling removal), Schizonepeta tenuifolia, radix paeoniae alba, licorice (baked) and rhubarb 6 (wrapped, stewed, peeled, cut and baked). For the fine powder, take two yuan each time, a glass of water, ginger and mint, fry them together for seven minutes and take them warm. "For those who only use root knot, such as Sanwu Decoction attached to Ben Cao Hui Yan Ji Cao Bu Ma Shang Huang, it says:" Treat exogenous cold, stuffy nose, slurred speech, cough with excessive phlegm, chest fullness and shortness of breath. Mashed with ephedra root nodes, peeled almond tips and raw licorice. One dose on the right side, three slices of ginger and one onion, decocted in water. "

Both the stem nodes and root nodes of Ephedra have the function of defending qi, which is divergent. Only its stem is hollow, light and clear, and it is good at penetrating the surface; But the root nodes are full, the upward force is weak, and the lungs are scattered. They act on the part of defending qi, such as the difference between raw astragalus and baked astragalus. Decentralized forces, such as cassia twig and cinnamon, tend to "walk" and "keep". Therefore, ephedra achieves the effect of sweating because it announces exterior defense, while ephedra nodules achieve the effect of stopping sweating because it announces lung defense.

biological activity

Hypotensive effect alkaloids and flavonoids in ephedra root have hypotensive effect, among which macrocyclic spermine alkaloid is the main effective component. The antihypertensive active monomer represented by ephedra root B was used to study the antihypertensive mechanism of ephedra root. The results show that the hypotensive effect of ephedra root B is mainly achieved through ganglion block, which has nothing to do with angiotensin.

Tyrosine betaine with antihypertensive effect was first isolated from ephedra root by Japanese scholar Tamada. Pharmacological experiments show that tyrosine betaine has antihypertensive effect on rats, which is similar to ephedrine.

Antiperspirant effect Ephedra root passes through lung meridian and runs on the muscle surface of the whole body. It has astringent taste, and can actually defend qi, strengthen stomach, and send and receive orifices. It is an important drug for consolidating exterior, astringing lung and stopping sweating. Clinically, it is often used for spontaneous sweating, night sweats and nervous sweating. . The supercritical extract of ephedra root was used as the research object to explore its biological activity. It is found that the supercritical extract of ephedra root has strong antiperspirant activity, and its antiperspirant mechanism is realized by changing the formation of sweat gland cells, thus reducing sweat excretion. The different pharmacological effects of ephedra and ephedra root were studied. It is found that ephedra root has antiperspirant effect, and the alkaloids contained in it can inhibit sweating caused by low fever and nicotine.

Effect of reducing heart rate Intravenous injection of ephedrine A, B, C and D has an effect on heart rate in rats. The results showed that intravenous injection of these four alkaloids could reduce the heart rate of rats, and ephedrine B had the strongest effect. Intravenous injection of ephedrine B can reduce the heart rate of Wistar rats and spontaneously hypertensive rats in a dose-effect relationship. Ephedrine A and Ephedrine B also showed similar activities to reduce the heart rate of dogs.

The study of anti-tumor effect showed that ephedrine B had strong anti-tumor activity in vitro, and inhibited the growth of HeLa cervical cancer cells, SGC-790 1 gastric cancer cells and HepG2 liver cancer cells to some extent.

Anti-inflammatory effect Ephedrine A and Ephedrine B have strong anti-inflammatory effects, the mechanism of which is that Ephedrine A and Ephedrine B inhibit the transcription of tumor necrosis factor α( TNF-α) and interleukin-1( IL- 1). Mahuangning has a strong anti-inflammatory effect by inhibiting LPS-stimulated macrophage transcription factor -κB( NF-κB) and p38 mitogen-activated protein phosphorylation (MAP) kinase, and Mahuangning has a better anti-inflammatory effect than Mahuangning.

Ephedra root extract can also stimulate breathing and increase breathing range; Weaken the contractility of isolated and isolated frog hearts and expand the blood vessels of frog hind limbs; Intestinal smooth muscle and uterine smooth muscle contract.

Clinically, Herba Ephedrae is often used with Radix Astragali and Concha Ostreae to treat spontaneous sweating due to qi deficiency, such as Muli Powder "Heji Jufang"; For night sweats due to yin deficiency, it is often combined with Radix Rehmanniae Preparata and Radix Angelicae Sinensis, such as Danggui Huang Liu Decoction "Shi Lan Micang"; For postpartum sweating, it is often used with Danggui and Huangqi, such as Mahuang Sheng Huifang. Ephedra root and oyster are grinded into fine powder and applied to the body, which can treat all kinds of sweating syndrome. When discussing the difference of drug effects of different parts of ephedra, it was found that ephedra root has the function of astringing sweat and consolidating exterior, and is often used to treat spontaneous sweating due to exterior deficiency, spontaneous sweating due to yang deficiency, postpartum sweating, night sweats due to yin deficiency, etc. Clinically, it is mainly used for various deficiency syndromes. Guo et al. invented navel patch, which is helpful to treat spontaneous sweating and night sweats. The patch has obvious antiperspirant effect. Lin Qingjian and others studied the curative effect of Zhihan mixture on sweating syndrome of deficiency of both qi and yin after orthopedic surgery, and found that ephedra root had a good astringent and antiperspirant effect. The compatibility of Herba Ephedrae and Radix Ephedrae can slow down the sweating effect of Herba Ephedrae and treat asthenic asthma and sweating. Wu Jian's herbal tea prescription is used to treat night sweats, which has achieved good results in clinical application.

The antiasthmatic effect of Herba Ephedrae was studied. It is found that ephedra root has the functions of relieving bronchospasm, reducing airway reactivity, eliminating airway inflammation and improving immunity, with few adverse reactions and good clinical effect.

The effect of ephedra root on reducing skin wrinkles was studied. It was found that there was significant difference between young people and old people in the treatment group, and it was found that ephedra was more suitable for improving young people's skin wrinkles.