Diabetic patients suffer from thirst, red tongue, constipation, insomnia...How does traditional Chinese medicine treat it?

Author: Gao Sihua, National Famous TCM Doctor, Capital Famous TCM Doctor, Chief Expert, Chief Physician, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine

Reviewer: Li Fangjie, Chief Physician, Wangjing Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences

As we all know, Western medicine treatment for diabetes basically involves oral hypoglycemic drugs and insulin injections, but many people don’t know much about traditional Chinese medicine treatment for diabetes.

Traditional Chinese medicine emphasizes "differentiation and treatment". Different syndromes and different degrees have different treatment plans. Today, we will give examples from an angle that everyone can understand to explain how traditional Chinese medicine treats diabetes.

1. Diabetic patients: thirsty, drinking a lot of water, with red tongue, how does traditional Chinese medicine treat it?

Many diabetic patients will have this condition, that is, thirst, red tongue, and eat a lot. Generally, Chinese medicine believes that this is mainly due to excessive stomach fire. However, since diabetes is caused by dysfunction of the liver, spleen, and kidney, the liver, spleen, and kidney must be coordinated while clearing the stomach fire.

In clinical practice, Huanglian Dihuang Decoction is usually used for this situation. Huanglian Dihuang Decoction is Liuwei Dihuang Decoction plus Huanglian. Liuwei Dihuang Decoction is a very good prescription for nourishing the liver, spleen and kidney.

Figure 1 Original copyright image, no permission to reprint

Coptis chinensis can clear away stomach fire and heart fire, which can solve the problem of excessive stomach fire.

Of course, sometimes adding only Coptis chinensis is not enough, and you can also add gypsum, pollen, and gardenia to enhance the effect of clearing stomach fire.

In addition, salvia miltiorrhiza and peony root must be added to this prescription, and generally red peony root is used. These blood-activating drugs are added to improve the blood coagulation state.

In this way, there are medicines that clear away heat, promote blood circulation, and nourish the liver, spleen, and kidneys, and the effect will be very good.

2. Diabetic patients: weakness in limbs, weight loss, and red tongue, how does traditional Chinese medicine treat them?

This situation is most likely caused by deficiency of both Qi and Yin. Diabetic patients with deficiency of both Qi and Yin, in addition to fatigue, weakness in the waist and knees, thirst, and weight loss, often have a red tongue with teeth marks.

The presence of tooth marks indicates qi deficiency, a red tongue indicates yin deficiency and internal heat, and dry mouth and thirst indicate both qi and yin deficiency.

For this type of diabetic patients whose main symptoms are deficiency of both Qi and Yin, Shenqi Dihuang Decoction is generally used.

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On the basis of Liuwei Dihuang Decoction, add Codonopsis pilosula and Astragalus membranaceus to strengthen the spleen and replenish Qi, then add Coptis chinensis to clear away heat, Salvia miltiorrhiza to promote blood circulation, and even Curcuma aromatica to soothe the liver. In this way, a comprehensive treatment plan is used to form a prescription, and diabetic patients with both Qi and Yin deficiency can receive good therapeutic effects.

3. Diabetic patients: dizziness, tinnitus, insomnia and nightmares, how should Chinese medicine treat them?

Dizziness, tinnitus, and insomnia are often caused by liver and kidney yin deficiency. Chinese medicine calls this condition "water does not contain wood, liver yang is too high". Most of the time, on the basis of nourishing the kidney, some prescriptions for nourishing and calming the liver are added to nourish the liver and calm the liver, nourish water and contain wood. A frequently used prescription is Qiju Dihuang Decoction.

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Qiju Dihuang Decoction is based on Liuwei Dihuang Decoction, with wolfberry and chrysanthemum added. Chrysanthemum has the effect of nourishing the liver and calming the liver, clearing away liver fire; wolfberry has the effect of nourishing the liver and replenishing blood, as well as nourishing yin and tonifying the kidney. Therefore, the effect of Qiju Dihuang Decoction in nourishing the liver and kidney is stronger than that of Liuwei Dihuang Decoction.

On this basis, if the patient suffers from insomnia, tinnitus, and dizziness, it means that the liver yang is more serious. Generally, some drugs that calm the liver and suppress yang should be added, such as cassia seed, raw dragon bone, and raw oyster. Coptis chinensis and Scutellaria baicalensis should also be added to help clear the fire in the heart and liver. Salvia miltiorrhiza should also be added to promote blood circulation.

In this way, the liver and kidney are nourished and calmed, aiming at the main contradiction of hyperactivity of liver yang, grasping the root of liver and kidney deficiency, and at the same time harmonizing the spleen and stomach qi, so as to achieve the harmony of liver, spleen and kidney. In this way, the patient's symptoms of dizziness, tinnitus, and even irritability, insomnia and dreaminess can be greatly improved.

4. Diabetic patients: afraid of cold, cold limbs, how should Chinese medicine treat it?

Many diabetic patients are afraid of cold, especially the elderly. In addition to being afraid of cold, they may also feel cold calves over time, which is often caused by kidney yang deficiency.

For these diabetic patients whose main symptoms are insufficient kidney yang and insufficient kidney qi, the main treatment method should be to warm and tonify the kidney's yang qi.

The most commonly used one is Jinkui Shenqi Pills, on which some blood-activating drugs and some qi-tonifying drugs are added, such as Chuanxiong, ginseng, Xianlingpi, etc. Modern pharmacological research has found that they all have a certain hypoglycemic effect.

In this way, it can nourish the kidneys, dispel cold and lower blood sugar at the same time. It is a very effective and commonly used prescription.