yunnan bai yao pre surgery

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I have used it postsurgery to help in the recovery but have never heard of using it before surgery...

Eti < wrote:

In the Pulse of Oriental Medicine, Brian Carter writes (in a question and answer format):Question: A friend recommended something... There is a tiny pill that she said folks can take two days before any surgery. It helps prevent blood clots and potential strokes that may result from the surgery. I believe the name is Yunan Bai Yawl (there are variations thereof. You buy a little $2 bottle of the powder (which is used on cuts, external problems) and the little red pill is in the bottle. I think I may have butchered the phonetic spelling. She says her acupuncturist/ doctor swears it would do away with 60% of complications from surgery.[ANSWER]: WHOA! If I had your phone number I'd call you right now (note: I did get an email to this woman in time). This makes me very nervous. Why? Because Yunnan Baiyao is an herbal formula that stops bleeding. That means it is a coagulant. The herbs in Yunnan Baiyao do slightly move blood (similar to a 'blood-thinning' action) according to Jake Fratkin's "Chinese Herbal Patent Formulas." But the main indication is bleeding, and overall it stops bleeding. It actually would make you more likely to have clots and a stroke than to prevent it. In all my training, I have never heard any Traditional (TCM) doctor recommend this formula pre surgery.entire text at: http://pulsemed.org/yunnan-baiyao-chinese-patent-medicine.htmTodd replies: I personally do not recommend this medicine pre-surgically.However I believe I have heard this recommendation made by others. But I cannot recall if I ever actually heard a chinese doctor advise this or actually read it in a reputable source. Others?research suggests the results of using san qi - the main ingredient in YPY- are mixed (see first abstract below). While san qi lowers blood pressure and is vasodilatory, it does also stop bleeding, which suggests vasocontriction. However it appears that it coagulant effect is not due to vasoconstriction (see second abstract below). Chen advises san qi in angina, but cautions in hypertension due to possible mixed effects. But based on his abstract, this actually seems to be more of a concern for dan shen than san qi, which is not vasoconstrictive at any dose and is antihypertensive. san qi is said to stop bleeding without causing stasis and it is also used for moving stasis when one wants to insure that bleeding does not occur. I don't think it is fair to say that YPY overall stops bleeding as the package insert indicates it equally for conditions of pain and stasis without bleeding. San qi is a very important pain herb and its ability to move blood is given equal footing with its hemostatic effects by all texts and teachers of mine. As an example, it is highly regarded for angina pectoris by jiao shu de.While I would not advise this herb (and thus YPY) presurgery without more evidence to support this contention, I believe it may be excessive to suggest this YPY would be more likely to cause a stroke than prevent it. In fact, san qi is widely used as a longevity herb in some parts of china,as a treatment for heart attack and to increase oxygenation of the blood.My hunch would be that its balanced effects on the blood and its antihypertensive nature would actually make it a good stroke-preventive by itself. How this translates to the patent as a whole is unclear however. So I also urge erring on the side of caution until more evidence and anecdote is reported visa ve surgery.1. Am J Chin Med 1986;14(3-4):145-52 Related Articles, LinksCardiovascular pharmacology of Panax notoginseng (Burk) F.H. Chen and Salvia miltiorrhiza.Lei XL, Chiou GC.The cardiovascular pharmacology of two Chinese herbs, Salvia miltiorrhiza (SM) and Panax notoginseng (Burk) F. H. Chen (PNG) were studied both in vivo and in vitro. Extracts of both herbs suppressed systemic blood pressure in albino rats and rabbits, an effect which was blocked or reversed by atropine, propranolol, and chlorpheniramine plus cimetidine. This reversed hypertension was blocked by phenoxybenzamine. These results indicate that these herbs have multiple effector sites in the cardiovascular system. This could be due to an increased utilization of extracellular calcium ions since the activity of SM on isolated blood vessels of rabbits was enhanced by 2 mM Ca++. The effects of aqueous extract of SM and purified active principles of SM (tanshinones) on rat and rabbit blood vessels in vitro were very similar both qualitatively and quantitatively. Both caused vasodilation of coronary arteries at all concentrations tested but induced vasodilation of renal, mesenteric and femoral arteries only at low concentrations. At higher concentrations, vasoconstriction was induced in these vessels. These results indicate that an economical decoction of SM is as efficacious as the more expensive isolated tanshinones. Both SM and PNG would be useful as antianginal agents since they dilate coronary vessels. Their use in hypertension is questionable since they induce both vasodilation and vasoconstriction depending on dose and target vessel.2. Am J Chin Med 1976 Summer;4(2):147-52 Related Articles, LinksThe haemostatic effects of the Chinese herbal drug Yunnan Bai Yao: a pilot study.Ogle CW, Dai S, Ma JC.The effects of Yunnan Bai Yao on the bleeding time in rats and the blood clotting time in rabbits and man were studied. The medicinal preparation markedly shortened both the bleeding and clotting times; the decreases were significantly more intense than those inconsistently produced by starch or by starch with calcium. These preliminary findings suggest that the action of Yunnan Bai Yao appears not to be due to its pH (5.2) or to vasoconstriction, but other factors such as its calcium content or the physical effect of its particle size cannot yet be excluded.Chinese Herbshttp://www..orgvoice: fax: "Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocre minds" -- Albert EinsteinAcuClinic: Acupuncture and HerbsEti Domb, L.Ac.1281 University Ave, Suite ESan Diego, CA 92103619.543.9280