Patient's question:
Main symptoms: Dry throat, preference for cold tea, frequent urinationOnset time: Test results:
Doctor's answer:
Diabetes is a disease name in traditional Chinese medicine, referring to a complex syndrome characterized by excessive thirst, frequent urination, increased appetite, weight loss, fatigue, and sweet urine. Laboratory tests typically show high blood sugar and sugar in the urine. The primary affected organs are the lungs, stomach, and kidneys, with the fundamental pathogenesis being the depletion of yin fluids and the dominance of dry-heat. If diabetes is left uncontrolled for a long time, the yin can damage the yang, leading to heat consuming fluids, blood stasis, and ultimately the injury of qi and yin, resulting in dual deficiency of yin and yang, obstruction of collaterals, malnourishment of meridians, chaotic qi and blood, and damage to zang-fu organs, manifesting as complications such as carbuncles, boils, dizziness, chest tightness, deafness, blindness, limb numbness and pain, gangrene of the lower limbs, kidney failure with edema, and stroke with coma.Medical Advice:
Diabetes, as described in traditional Chinese medicine, first appears in the Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon: Discussion of Rare Diseases and is called "diabetes." According to traditional Chinese medicine, diabetes is classified as:
- Upper-stage (lung heat injuring fluids): Symptoms include excessive thirst and drinking, dry mouth and tongue, frequent and large amounts of urination. The tongue is red with little moisture, the coating is thin and yellow, and the pulse is (thick and rapid).
- Treatment: Clear heat and moisten the lungs, generate fluids to quench thirst.
- Formulas:
1. Main formula: Yuquan Pills (Shen Jinalin, Sources of Diseases and Their Causes), modified prescription:
- Radix Trichosanthis (30g), Pueraria lobata (30g), Rehmannia glutinosa (15g), Ophiopogon japonicus (15g), Scutellaria baicalensis (10g), Schisandra chinensis (6g), Dioscorea opposita (20g), and Dendrobium candidum (20g). Decoction.
2. Over-the-counter medicine: Diabetes pills, 5–10 pills per time, 3 times daily.
3. Single formulas:
(1) Kangtong Decoction (Li Zhenqiong et al., Effective and Secretive Formulas):
- Astragalus (40g), Rehmannia glutinosa (30g), Dioscorea opposita (30g), Scrophularia ningpoensis (35g), Scutellaria baicalensis (15g), Coptis chinensis (15g), Ligusticum chuanxiong (15g), Phellodendron amurense (15g), Paeonia lactiflora (15g), Atractylodes macrocephala (15g), Gardenia jasminoides (20g), Poria cocos (20g), Angelica sinensis (20g), Ostrea gigas (50g). Decoction twice, divided into 2 doses, 1 dose daily.
(2) Ginseng and White Tiger Decoction (Qi Hao, Comprehensive Collection of Good Formulas):
- Gypsum (50g), Anemarrhena asphodeloides (15g), Panax ginseng (10g), Job’s tears (20g), Glycyrrhiza uralensis (15g). Decoction twice, divided into 2 doses, 1 dose daily.
- Middle-stage (stomach heat flaring): Symptoms include excessive hunger and eating, emaciation, and dry stools. The tongue coating is yellow and dry, and the pulse is slippery and rapid.
- Treatment: Clear stomach and expel fire, nourish yin and generate fluids.
- Formulas:
1. Main formula: Yuniu Decoction (Zhang Jiebing, Jingyue Complete Works), modified prescription:
- Ophiopogon japonicus (15g), Rehmannia glutinosa (15g), Scrophularia ningpoensis (15g), Gypsum (30g), Radix Trichosanthis (30g), Coptis chinensis (10g), Gardenia jasminoides (10g), Anemarrhena asphodeloides (10g), Achyranthes bidentata (12g). Decoction. If constipation is severe, add Tiaowei Chengqi Decoction.
2. Over-the-counter medicine: Diabetes pills, 5–10 pills per time, 3 times daily.
3. Single formulas:
(1) Ginseng and Huangliang Decoction (Hu Ximing et al., Comprehensive Collection of Chinese TCM Secrets):
- Rheum palmatum (6–12g), Cinnamomum cassia (6–12g), Persicae Semen (9–12g), Bupleurum chinense (3–6g), Glycyrrhiza uralensis (3g), Scrophularia ningpoensis (12–15g), Rehmannia glutinosa (12–15g), Ophiopogon japonicus (12g), Astragalus (30–45g). Decoction.
(2) Radish Juice (Lai Chunmao, New TCM, August 1987):
- Red-skinned, white-fleshed radish, crushed and juiced. 100–150 ml daily, 1 time in the morning and 1 time in the evening, 7 days as one course, repeat 3–4 courses.
(3) Xiao San Duo Decoction (Li Zhenqiong et al., Effective and Secretive Formulas):
- Panax ginseng (30g), Anemarrhena asphodeloides (10g), Gypsum (30g), Coptis chinensis (9g), Eelworm (9g, dissolved), Paeonia lactiflora (15g), Radix Trichosanthis (10g), Dioscorea opposita (15g), Polygonatum sibiricum (15g), Polygonum multiflorum (15g), Ophiopogon japonicus (9g), Phytolacca acinosa (9g), 2 duck eggs. Decoction twice, divided into 2 doses, 1 dose daily.
- Lower-stage (kidney deficiency with essence depletion): Symptoms include frequent and large amounts of urination, cloudy like grease, sweet urine, dry mouth, dizziness, and soreness in the waist and legs. The tongue is red with little moisture, and the pulse is thready and rapid.
- Treatment: Nourish yin and benefit the kidneys.
- Formulas:
1. Main formula: Six-ingredient Rehmannia Pills (Qian Yi, Direct Explanations of Children’s Diseases), modified prescription:
- Dioscorea opposita (20g), Cornus officinalis (15g), Rehmannia glutinosa (15g), Moutan (10g), Poria cocos (15g), Alisma orientale (9g), Ligustrum chinense (12g), Schisandra chinensis (6g), Radix Trichosanthis (30g). Decoction. If yin damages yang, add Eucommia ulmoides (10g), Cinnamon bark (5g), Tribulus terrestris (12g), and Euonymus alatus (12g). For qi deficiency, add Astragalus (20g) and Panax ginseng (20g).
2. Over-the-counter medicine: Diabetes pills, 5–10 pills per time, 3 times daily.
3. Single formulas:
(1) Kangtong Decoction (Li Zhenqiong et al., Effective and Secretive Formulas):
- The same as the upper-stage formula.
(2) Xiao San Duo Decoction (Li Zhenqiong et al., Effective and Secretive Formulas):
- The same as the middle-stage formula.
Lifestyle Care:
Diabetes is essentially the same as diabetes in Western medicine, but this is the term used in traditional Chinese medicine.