Bai Tou Weng Radix Pulsatillae chinensis 9 g
Qin Pi Cortex Fraxini 6 g
Zhi Ke Fructus Citri aurantii 4 gExplanation The first four herbs form Ge Gen Qin Lian Tang which resolves
Damp-Heat from the Intestines and stops diarrhoea.
Huang Bo, Qin Pi and Bai Tou Weng clear Heat and stop diarrhoea.Zhi Ke was added to move Qi to help to resolve Dampness.This patient started improving after three courses of five decoctions
when his stools became normal at least some of the time. It took another
6 months to clear the condition completely.Case History 18.2
Diarrhoea: Damp-Heat in the Intestines-Male, Age 55
A 55-year-old man had been suffering from diarrhoea for 3 years. His stools were always loose,
often like water, and were mixed with mucus and blood. He had several movements a day,
mostly in the morning, and these were also quite urgent. On interrogation, it transpired that he
had actually had the very first symptoms at least 8 years before, when his bowel movements
became more frequent, albeit without mucus or blood. In fact, his symptoms had started soon
after a haemorrhoids operation when he started to suffer from frequency of bowel movements
with bitty stools, flatulence and distension. I have in fact observed this connection between a
haemorrhoids operation and bowel diseases in other cases.
His tongue was slightly Red, with a thin yellow coating and his pulse was slightly Slippery. He
was a strongly-built man and he did not suffer from any other problem, neither had he had other
problems in the past.
Diagnosis As his tongue did not have a thick-sticky coating and his pulse was
only very slightly Slippery, I diagnosed that his diarrhoea was due
mostly to Spleen deficiency and that the bleeding was due to deficient
Spleen-Qi not holding Blood. I therefore treated him with prescriptions
aimed at tonifying Spleen-Qi, first with Liu Jun Zi Tang Six Gentlemen
Decoction, then with Bu Zhong Yi Qi Tang Tonifying the Centre and
Benefiting Qi Decoction. After three months of treatment there was no
improvement. It was at this time that I asked Prof. Shan Dao Wei, a
teacher from Nanjing, to give his opinion. His diagnosis was different:
he said that the main problem was Damp-Heat in the Intestines and that
the bleeding was due to Heat, not Qi deficiency. He pointed out that the
presence of mucus in the stools indicates Dampness and also that the
patient is a strong man with no previous history of any problem and his
pulse is not Weak. He therefore concluded that the condition was purely