Guest guest Posted September 2, 2003 Report Share Posted September 2, 2003 This is a very interesting discussion. I find myself considering many herbs and my own personality. I think I'll take huang qin, bitter, cooling, calming the fetus, relieving pain from heat, so many uses.............. There was a question about oat straw. Please find a monograph for oat seed, which is by far a more effective medicine than the straw and the part that is used primarily by practitioners, not the straw or stems. I don't have a monograph for celandine as I don't use it very much, however the words put forth by Jyosephepi are quite good as to how this medicinal compares to other herbs. I would love to hear any critical comments concerning this monograph. Please forgive any formatting issues as this is a simple cut and paste from a book nearly 10 years in process and coming close to being finished. I hope you find this helpful. thomas Oat Avena sativa, A. fatua Poaceae Part used: seed in milky stage Botanical description and harvesting: These two species are very similar in appearance. The main difference to the naked eye is that Wild Oat (A. fatua) may be either shorter or taller (3-12dm) than the Cultivated Oat (A. sativa), which ranges from 4-9dm in height. The opposite is true of the width of the blade with A. sativa having a greater range (3-16mm) and A. fatua ranges from 4-12mm. The spikelets are nearly identical with the only significant difference being that the lemma of A. fatua is always forked while it is only sometimes forked in A. sativa. Further, the lemma of A. fatua is always bent with a twist below the bend, while the lemma A. sativa is usually straight, although it is sometime twisted. Botanically these two species are very similar and in fact it is believed that A. sativa is originally derived from A. fatua. A. sativa is the cultivated oat that we eat at breakfast or in our breads. Oats were not cultivated until sometime soon after the beginning of the Christian era and probably originated in Europe but it is not known for sure. It was not until the 1600's that oat became an important crop in Northern Europe although some parts of Europe still had disdain for it. Although many people now eat oats it is still mainly an animal fodder crop with only about 5% of the world's crop going to human consumption. The spikelets (often called seeds or fruits) are harvested while they are in the milky stage, this seen when squeezing the spikelet and a white milky juice exudes. This stage is while they are still immature and only lasts from 5-8 days. Qi and Flavor: sweet, neutral Channels entered: heart, kidney Actions: qi and yin tonic, antidepressant, cardiac tonic Functions & Indications: Supplements the kidney for yin and qi vacuity with symptoms such as depression, poor sexual performance, lack of energy, and mental exhaustion. Nourishes the heart and calms the spirit for symptoms of anxiety, palpitations, forgetfulness, depression, listlessness, insomnia, and mental restlessness. Cautions: none noted Dosage and Preparation: 3-9g in decoction up to 25g, 2-4ml in tincture Major combinations: With Damiana and yin yang huo for male impotance and poor sexual performance. With Epipactis gigantica, He Huan Hua and California Poppy for liver qi depression with underlying vacuity with symptoms of insomnia and mental restlessness. Commentary: This is an herb that I have used quite extensively. I have rarely used it in a decoction, preferring the fresh plant tincture. Studies have shown that the fresh plant tincture is the best product and I have to agree based on my clinical experience. This herb is very effective for addiction treatment and has shown significant benefit for many addictions but most significant for tobacco addiction. In one study a placebo-controlled clinical study of 4 weeks duration resulted in a significant diminishment of the number of cigarettes used by habitual tobacco smokers using fresh Avena alcoholic extract of mature plants. Those taking the Avena went from 19.5 to 5.7 cigarettes per day compared with those in the placebo group who went from 16.5 to 16.7 cigarettes per day (Jack RA, British Medical Journal, 4:48, 1971). I have used it in a variety of cases in formulas and in combination with auricular acupuncture and have seen very positive results. Chinese Herbology and Acupuncture acupuncture and herbal information " Knowing nothing, you will be aware of everything. " Lao Tzu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 3, 2003 Report Share Posted September 3, 2003 > Oat > Avena sativa, A. fatua > Qi and Flavor: sweet, neutral that would seem to be right. though perhaps slightly cool, especially considering the symptomology it treats. > Channels entered: heart, kidney I attribute channels to substances in this way (how do others do it): 1. does the substance affect physiology controlled by said organ according to bonafide TCM theory (i.e. based upon a good understanding of chinese sources or rigorous translations) 2. does the substance affect physiology along the pathway of the channel channel is always speculative and controversial. while of great organizational and educational value, the clinical importance is of less day to day significance as long as one understands the functions (which precisely identify how the herbs affect channels and organs) that being all said, heart and kidney sounds about right. > Functions & Indications: Supplements the kidney for yin and qi vacuity with > symptoms such as depression, poor sexual performance, lack of energy, and > mental exhaustion. what is meant by poor sexual performance. Inability to get an erection or premature ejaculation or unfirm erection or shortlived erection. Marnae made a point at the CHA conference that these are all treated a bit differently. Premature ejaculation and easy arousal are more typically yin xu, while yang xu is more typically diagnosed for complete flaccidity and loss of desire, for example. does this herb treat wet dreams or any urinary or low back symptoms? > Nourishes the heart and calms the spirit for symptoms of anxiety, > palpitations, forgetfulness, depression, listlessness, insomnia, and mental > restlessness sounds like heart yin/blood and maybe qi xu, though I do not necessarily see any heat here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 3, 2003 Report Share Posted September 3, 2003 , " " wrote: > > I attribute channels to substances in this way (how do others do it): > > 1. does the substance affect physiology controlled by said organ according to > bonafide TCM theory (i.e. based upon a good understanding of chinese sources > or rigorous translations) > > 2. does the substance affect physiology along the pathway of the channel > > channel is always speculative and controversial. while of great organizational > and educational value, the clinical importance is of less day to day significance > as long as one understands the functions (which precisely identify how the > herbs affect channels and organs) > yes, i think this is sort of the crux of my guijing redux... are the Guijing/Qi-Wei more a sort of shorthand for the locus of action and the function of the herb, or do they have larger significance? Could one defend prescription of a medicinal or formula primarily on Guijing? If it is only shorthand for function, why has it survived as a didactic tool, why not just teach function and indication? rh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 3, 2003 Report Share Posted September 3, 2003 , " kampo36 " <kampo36> wrote: > > If it is only shorthand for function, why has it survived as a > didactic tool, why not just teach function and indication? > > rh because it is an excellent didactic tool and shorthand is always helpful. we have debated the possible larger significance before to no consensus. I personally do not think the five phases represent a natural law (sorry, Jim) and thus they are not a reliable predictor of herb action based on correlations between color and flavor. I think the chinese sought out sweet herbs for supplementation and ignored some others that were not sweet, plus labeled herbs with flavors to explain their properties even if they did not actually taste this way in one's mouth. this last point is most salient in my mind. It has well documented by Andy Ellis and others who access the chinese materia medica of various historical periods that many if not most of the more recent additions to the materia medica (perhaps most of the herbs after shen nong) were attributed flavors based upon observed actions rationalized after the fact (and even some shen nong herbs had new flavors added in later materia medicas as new properties were observed or new ideas about flavor arose). chai hu used to be only bitter back when bitter was the main dispersing flavor. After the consensus changed to attribute this action to spicy, chai hu was attributed this flavor (about 1000 years later). It is hard to argue the transcendant significance of such attributes when abundant textual evidence apparently contradicts this assumption. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 3, 2003 Report Share Posted September 3, 2003 , " " wrote: > It has well documented by Andy Ellis and others who access the chinese materia medica of various historical periods that many if not most of the more recent additions to the materia medica (perhaps most of the herbs after shen nong) were attributed flavors based upon observed actions rationalized after the fact (and even some shen nong herbs had new flavors added in later materia medicas as new properties were observed or new ideas about flavor arose). chai hu used to be only bitter back when bitter was the main dispersing flavor. : Do you still teach or recommend teaching flavors and colors? Jim Ramholz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.