Astragalus is a Chinese medicine. It has the effects of replenishing qi and raising yang, consolidating the exterior and stopping sweating, promoting diuresis and reducing swelling, promoting fluid and nourishing blood, relieving stagnation and relieving arthritis, expelling toxins and expelling pus, and healing sores and promoting tissue regeneration. It is used for qi deficiency and fatigue, poor appetite and loose stools, sinking of qi in the middle, chronic diarrhea and prolapse of the anus, bloody stool and metrorrhagia, spontaneous sweating due to exterior deficiency, edema due to qi deficiency, internal heat and thirst, sallow complexion due to blood deficiency, hemiplegia, pain and numbness, carbuncle that is difficult to heal, and carbuncle that does not heal for a long time.
Element
1. This product contains saponins, flavonoids, etc. Saponins are mainly astragaloside I and II; flavonoids are mainly formononetin and calycosin isoflavones, etc. It also contains amino acids, betaine, etc.
2. The 2015 edition of the Chinese Pharmacopoeia stipulates that the content of astragaloside I (C 41 H 68 O 14 ) shall not be less than 0.040%, and the content of calycosin glucoside (C 22 H 22 O 10 ) shall not be less than 0.020%.
Characteristics
1. Raw Astragalus slices: quasi-circular or oval slices, 0.8-3.5cm in diameter, 0.25-0.3cm thick. The periphery is grayish yellow or light brown with longitudinal wrinkles. The cut surface is yellowish white with cambium rings and radial textures, the outer layer has tortuous cracks, and the wood is yellow. The texture is hard and slightly tough. It has a bean smell and tastes sweet.
2. Roasted Astragalus: Round or oval slices, 0.1-0.4cm thick. The periphery is light brown or brown, slightly shiny, with visible longitudinal wrinkles or grooves. The cut surface is light yellow in the cortex, yellow in the wood, with radial textures and cracks. It has a honey aroma, sweet taste, slightly sticky, and has a bean smell when chewed.
Main Benefits
It can tonify Qi and raise Yang, consolidate the exterior and stop sweating, promote diuresis and reduce swelling, promote the production of body fluids and nourish blood, relieve stagnation and numbness, expel toxins and discharge pus, and heal sores and promote tissue regeneration.
Indications
It is used for fatigue due to qi deficiency, loose stools due to poor appetite, sinking of qi in the middle, prolapse of the anus due to long-term diarrhea, bloody stool and metrorrhagia, spontaneous sweating due to superficial deficiency, edema due to qi deficiency, internal heat and thirst, sallow complexion due to blood deficiency, hemiplegia, pain and numbness, carbuncles that are difficult to heal and carbuncles that do not heal for a long time.
Medicinal properties analysis/prescription explanation
It tastes sweet and is slightly warm in nature. It enters the spleen and lung meridians. This product is sweet and warm. It is good at replenishing the middle and replenishing qi, raising yang and lifting the sunken. It is the only medicine that replenishes qi and raises yang. It is used to treat various symptoms of spleen and lung qi deficiency, and is particularly suitable for those with spleen yang failure to rise, middle qi sinking, chronic diarrhea, rectal prolapse, and visceral ptosis. It can also replenish lung qi, replenish defensive qi, consolidate the surface and stop sweating, and is also an important medicine for treating superficial deficiency and excessive sweating. This medicine is sweet, warm and can replenish qi and promote blood, absorb blood, produce body fluid, and relieve stagnation. It can treat blood deficiency and sallow complexion, metrorrhagia and bloody stool due to qi failure to absorb blood, thirst due to qi and body fluid damage, pain, numbness, and hemiplegia due to qi deficiency and blood stagnation. In addition, it can remove toxins and regenerate muscles, and is a “holy medicine for sores”; it can also replenish qi and promote water to reduce swelling, and is an important medicine for treating qi deficiency edema and oliguria.
Specification
Home-grown unified tablets, unified tablets, large oblique tablets of Mianqi, and small oblique tablets of Mianqi.
Dosage
1. Decoction, 10-30g, large dose can be up to 30-60g. Or into pills, powder, ointment.
2. For those that replenish qi and raise yang, it is better to roast them with honey; others should be used raw.
Adverse Reactions
There have been reports of Astragalus injection causing skin rash and anaphylactic shock.
Taboo
1. Astragalus enters the spleen and lung meridians, and can nourish the spleen and benefit the lung qi. It is suitable for patients with spleen and lung qi deficiency, cough, shortness of breath, thin white sputum, pale face, fatigue, laziness, poor appetite and loose stools. It is not suitable for patients with lung and stomach phlegm heat congestion, such as those with clinical manifestations of cough, shortness of breath, yellow and thick sputum, chest fullness or stomach bloating, belching and loss of appetite, constipation, and flatulence.
2. Astragalus is sweet and warm, and is a “holy medicine for sores and carbuncles”. It is good at treating sores and carbuncles that have not ulcerated for a long time, or that have not healed for a long time after ulceration. However, it is not suitable for those who have just started the sores and carbuncles, whose vital energy is not deficient, and whose blood and qi are hyperactive. If the clinical manifestations are local redness, swelling, heat and pain in the sores, or fever, the heat and toxicity are still strong after ulceration, and the pulse is stringy and strong, it should be avoided to avoid replenishing qi too early and helping yang to change.
3. Astragalus is a product that replenishes qi and raises yang, and is especially good at raising it. It is warm in nature and can easily help fire, so it is not suitable for people with yang excess and yin deficiency, and people with rising fire. If the clinical manifestations are headache, red eyes, tinnitus, bitter mouth, dizziness, dry throat, irritability, vomiting blood, nosebleed, red tongue edges and tips, yellow tongue coating, and rapid pulse, it should not be used.
4. Astragalus can help Qi, and honey-roasted Astragalus has a stronger effect in replenishing Qi and tonifying the middle, so it is not suitable for people with Qi stagnation and dampness blocking the middle. For example, people with spleen deficiency and poor transport and transformation, and irregular diet, which leads to food accumulation, Qi stagnation, abdominal distension, uncomfortable bowel movements, and exogenous dampness, nausea and vomiting, not eating without hunger, and thick and greasy tongue coating are all contraindicated.
5. Huangqigong is good at strengthening the exterior and stopping sweating, so it is not suitable for people who have just started to contract an exogenous disease and have strong exterior evil qi. For example, people with wind-cold exterior syndrome, clinical manifestations of aversion to cold without sweating, headache and body pain, nasal congestion and clear nasal discharge, floating and tight pulse, or people with wind-heat, fever, slight aversion to cold, sore throat, redness and swelling, slight thirst in the mouth, floating and rapid pulse, etc. should avoid using it to prevent the risk of “keeping the enemy at home”.
6. Astragalus has the power of ascending, nourishing the liver and raising yang. If the liver qi is strong, the liver yin is deficient and the liver fire is hyperactive, then using Astragalus will definitely cause serious harm. Therefore, patients with clinical manifestations of long and strong pulse, or stringy and tight pulse, vibrating pulse, dizziness, numbness of limbs, high blood pressure and other symptoms of stroke should not use large doses of Astragalus, so as to avoid warming up and helping blood to rise, leading to critical stroke.
7. Patients with exogenous wind-heat or warm-heat, internal heat, yin deficiency and hyperactivity of fire should not take a single herb in large quantities. Patients with yin deficiency and yin deficiency and yang hyperactivity should not use it; patients with heat toxicity and sores should not use it; patients with hyperthyroidism should not use it.
8. Taking large amounts of Astragalus for a long time can cause stagnation of Qi, so it should not be used by those with strong external evil, internal stagnation, Yin deficiency and Yang hyperactivity, and Yang syndrome of sores and ulcers. It should not be used by those with excessive liver and anger.
Precautions
1. Astragalus has the effect of lowering blood sugar, so patients with hypoglycemia should not take it in large quantities for a long time.
2. Astragalus has the effect of reducing blood viscosity and resisting platelet aggregation, so patients with bleeding diseases should not take it in large quantities for a long time.
3. Pregnant women should not take large amounts of single medicine for a long time.
4. Astragalus is incompatible with tortoise shell and Dictamni bark.
5. Astragalus should not be used together with antihypertensive drugs to prevent orthostatic hypotension, etc. Astragalus should not be used together with cardiac glycosides because it can cause cumulative drug effects and increase toxic reactions; Astragalus should not be used together with heparin, warfarin, aspirin and other drugs because it can increase bleeding tendency; Astragalus can reduce the blood pressure-raising effect of adrenaline, so it should not be used together.
6. When taking Astragalus and its preparations, avoid eating radish, mung bean and strong alkaline foods such as grapes, tea, wine, kelp sprouts, kelp, etc.
7. To invigorate Qi and raise Yang, it is advisable to roast it with honey. Raw Astragalus is mostly used to consolidate the exterior, stop sweating, and expel toxins and pus. Roasted Astragalus is mostly used to invigorate the spleen and replenish Qi.
Drug interactions
Astragalus and Saposhnikovia: replenishing qi and strengthening the exterior, dispelling wind and dispersing pathogenic factors. Astragalus is sweet and warm, and can replenish qi, strengthen the exterior, and is the key to the Yuanfu’s resistance to wind; Saposhnikovia is pungent, sweet, and slightly warm, and is pungent and warm, dispersing wind and relieving the exterior. The two herbs have the same nature and flavor, and both belong to the spleen meridian. They are used together. When Astragalus is combined with Saposhnikovia, it can strengthen the exterior without retaining pathogenic factors, and when Saposhnikovia is combined with Astragalus, it can dispel pathogenic factors without hurting the body. The powder contains tonic, and the tonic contains dispersant. They complement and restrain each other, replenishing qi and relieving the exterior, strengthening the exterior and stopping sweating, and doubling the effectiveness.
Pharmacological Action
This product has the effects of enhancing and regulating immunity; it can delay aging and resist oxidation; it has a promoting effect on nucleic acid metabolism and can promote the renewal of serum and liver proteins; it has a bidirectional regulating effect on blood sugar; it can increase peripheral blood red blood cells and hemoglobin, promote the recovery of leukocytes and thrombocytopenia caused by cyclophosphamide, and can increase the number of reticulocytes and bone marrow nucleated cells; it has anti-viral, anti-cancer and anti-myocardial ischemia effects; it can enhance learning and memory functions, and has a protective effect on nephrotic syndrome, acute ischemia-reperfusion renal injury, and diabetic nephropathy; it can improve myocardial contraction and relaxation functions, and enhance the ability to tolerate hypoxia.
Storage method
Place in a ventilated and dry place to prevent moisture and moth.
Validity
none
Implementation Standards
One volume of the Chinese Pharmacopoeia 2020 edition.
Notes
Identification of medication: Ginseng and Astragalus. Both are sweet, slightly warm, and belong to the spleen and lung meridians. They can replenish the qi of the spleen and lungs, promote the production of body fluids and nourish blood, and are suitable for spleen and lung qi deficiency, as well as various symptoms of body fluid deficiency and blood deficiency. However, it has a strong qi-replenishing effect, can greatly replenish the vital energy, restore the pulse and consolidate the body, and is an essential medicine for treating vital energy collapse; it can also calm the mind and increase intelligence, and is used for insufficient qi and blood, or restlessness caused by yin deficiency and blood deficiency. Astragalus can also raise yang, and can be used for various diseases and symptoms of spleen deficiency and qi sinking; it can also consolidate the surface and stop sweating, promote diuresis and reduce swelling, relieve stagnation and relieve numbness, support toxins and discharge pus, and heal sores and promote muscle growth. It is suitable for spontaneous sweating due to deficiency of the surface, edema due to deficiency of qi, thirst due to insufficient qi and body fluids, hemiplegia, pain and numbness due to stagnation of qi and blood, and those with deficiency of qi and blood, sores that are difficult to heal or heal for a long time.