Practical Home Remedies

Author: Zhang Yongmei, Tan Tonglai / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-01
Features:
1. High fever refers to an acute illness characterized primarily by an elevated body temperature (above 39°C). Its clinical manifestations include chills, shivering, pale or dry skin without sweating during the rise in temperature. The body temperature can reach its peak within minutes, hours, or days. Subsequently, the skin may become flushed, hot, sweaty, with accelerated breathing and heart rate, often accompanied by headache, altered consciousness, etc. In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), it is called "body heat," "intense heat," or "great heat." It is often caused by sudden exposure to external pathogens or internal organ deficiency. When the onset is abrupt, the course is short, and there is initial chills or aversion to wind, accompanied by other external syndrome symptoms, it is called "external high fever." When the onset is slower, the course is longer, without chills, and it must be accompanied by other internal injury syndrome symptoms, it is called "internal high fever." Modern medicine generally classifies high fever into infectious and non-infectious types. Infectious high fever is caused by various pathogens, while non-infectious high fever is often due to primary diseases or secondary to dysfunction of the body's thermoregulatory center caused by physical, chemical, or mechanical factors. High fever is common in TCM conditions such as warm disease, cold damage, internal organ, as well as various acute infectious diseases in modern medicine, certain rheumatic diseases, collagen diseases, and some acute hematological and oncological diseases.
Formula 1: Detoxifying and Expelling Pathogens Decoction [Herb Composition]
Isatis root 30g, honeysuckle 21g, Forsythia 18g, gypsum 30g, bupleurum 15g, scutellaria 10g, pinellia 10g, cicada slough 6g, mint 6g, licorice 6g. [Function and Indication] Clear heat, detoxify, and expel pathogens. Suitable for infectious high fever. [Usage] Decoction. Add chrysanthemum 12g for headache; add scutellaria 21g and pterostylis 12g for sore throat; add gentiana 10g and Isatis leaf 10g for swollen parotid glands; add apricot kernel 10g and mulberry bark 10g for cough; add ginseng 15g for sweating and thirst. [Source] Fu Yunjiang, Linfen Regional Hospital, Shanxi Province.
Formula 2: Heat-Reducing and Cooling Summer Drink [Herb Composition]
Perilla 10g, orris root 10g, gypsum 25g, honeysuckle 15g, Forsythia 12g, isatis root 12g, mint 6g, licorice 3g. [Function and Indication] Clear heat, resolve dampness, and detoxify. Suitable for high fever caused by viral upper respiratory tract infection. [Usage] Grind into coarse powder and pack into dialysis bags, 8g per bag. Soak the bag in boiling water for 15–20 minutes, stirring 2–3 times. For children under 3 years old, take 1 bag; 4–7 years old, 2 bags; 8–13 years old, 3 bags; over 14 years old, 4 bags. Take 1 bag every 2–3 hours, averaging 6–8 times daily. Before taking the medicine, consume a small amount of warm porridge. The medicine should not be decocted. After the fever subsides, continue taking 3–5 doses to consolidate the effect. After sweating, drink a small amount of sugar and salt water to prevent yin deficiency. [Source] Journal of Integrated Traditional and Western Medicine, 1988, 8(12): 738. P2-3