關於 麥門冬湯小青龍湯 ，我們在網路上蒐集到這些相關的討論、資訊與評價

一家四口都感染新冠病毒

美國新冠肺炎疫情隨著天氣轉冷而再度飆升，加州大多數的郡都已轉列爲最嚴重的紫色區域。理髮店、健身房等强制關閉，餐廳只能外帶，連室外用餐也禁止了。同時，晚間十點後宵禁，非政府定義的「必要人員（essential workers）」不准在外走動。許多醫院的加護病房（ICU）已接近飽和，不但幾乎無法再接收新冠肺炎危急病人，連車禍及其他嚴重疾病的病人也無法接收。

不到兩周前，一位舊病人和診所咨詢，年幼的老大有發燒和感冒症狀，我聽了一下，認爲不嚴重，讓她給小孩子服用葛根湯科學中藥粉劑。幾天後，這位病人又和診所咨詢，說老大好了，變成更年幼的老二出現類似症狀，我聽了一下，要她還是使用葛根湯。

一周前，這位舊病人又和診所咨詢，兩個小孩子都好了，變成她自己生病了，比小孩子之前的情況嚴重，因而診所安排遠距看診。我仔細問診後，認爲和一般感冒及季節性流感不一樣，有可能是新冠肺炎。這位舊病人幾個月之前就已經買了診所的新冠基本治療通方（列在文章後段），雖然我覺得可以開一個更針對病人特定情況的藥方，既然手邊已經有治療通方，也還挺對症的，那就不要耽誤時間，先直接趕緊服用半碗治療通方，如果沒有不適，加量到正常的一次一碗。

過幾天後，病人和診所回報。她服用治療通方半碗兩次後，改服用四分之三碗，病情改善許多，自己決定降回一次半碗，結果病情又開始反復。而上次遠距離看診後，當天先生也出現了相同的症狀，卻比她更嚴重。先生認真服用一次一碗的治療通方，三天不到，已經好了，還急著出門買咖啡喝。另外，上次遠程看診後，病人全家立即去做檢測，證實全家四口都感染新冠病毒。根據病人推敲，小孩子上的育幼園兩周前有小朋友確診，應該是小孩子先被傳染，再傳染給全家的。

這個時候，病人手上已經沒有診所的治療通方，遠程看診後，我針對病人現在情況開了一個藥方，請病人找人到診所來取。藥方的大方向和治療通方一樣，以射干麻黃湯加石膏為主，不過，把石膏的劑量加大許多，改葶藶子為大戟。另外，既然是針對病人開的藥方，不需要像治療通方加那些未雨綢繆的藥材，整個藥方也就精簡許多。

這幾天診所一直追蹤病人情況。病人回報，先生和兩位小朋友好了，自己情況大幅改善，已經沒什麽症狀，體力還差一些，期待再休息個兩天就能恢復正常。

診所準備的「基本治療通方」，是我二月根據治療中國大陸及其它地區新冠肺炎病患經驗來設計了。這大半年來，已經有很多病人因爲來不及看診或寄藥而服用過治療通方，效果挺不錯的，不失為醫療資源不足下的一個變通辦法：

射干9克 麻黃9克 紫菀9克 款冬花 9克 細辛9克

生半夏9克 生薑4片 紅棗15克 五味子12克 葶藶子6克

石膏18克 麥門冬18克 杏仁15克 白朮12克 茯苓12克

炙甘草9克 炙黃耆18克 黨參9克 柴胡12克 黃芩9克

9碗水煮成3碗，調整火力約一小時煮好

斟酌病情嚴重情況，一次1/2～1碗，一天服用2～3次

服用後儘快連絡診所，安排正式遠程看診

診所的「基本治療通方」和中國中醫藥管理局推薦的「清肺排毒湯」很像，藥性稍微加重了一些。之前提過，我們早在武漢封城前就已經提出以射干麻黃湯、大青龍湯、葶藶大棗瀉肺湯等加減來治療新冠肺炎。我們在通許縣人民醫院的病例及治療方法，從一開始就受到中國中醫藥管理局的大幅關注。我們的病人病毒核酸檢測轉陰後，中醫藥管理局推出「清肺排毒湯」專案試點，進而大力推動「清肺排毒湯」。因此，診所的通方和「清肺排毒湯」很像，也就沒什麼奇怪了。

（http://andylee.pro/wp/?p=9287）
#當張仲景遇上史丹佛
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疫情下的三個小故事

美國疫情大爆發後，每天看到的網路媒體和報章雜誌都是關於疫情多麼慘重、美國多缺醫療物資的新聞。許多病人都告訴我，他們非常憂鬱擔心，雖然他們躲在家裡，覺得自己被感染的機會很小，也明瞭中醫可以治療新冠肺炎，他們還是擔心社會動亂、經濟蕭條等等。所以，今天我們不做嚴肅的討論，改說三個和疫情有關的小故事，讓大家了解到，在嚴重疫情大爆發下，還是有些輕鬆的看診病例。

故事一：

芝加哥一位病人在週末緊急連絡診所，他說他一位白人女性朋友開始出現發燒、咳嗽、呼吸困難等症狀，很可能是感染了新冠肺炎。這樣突發的狀況，即使立即安排遠程看診，也來不及馬上把中藥從加州寄達到芝加哥，而好幾味中藥材本來就不能隨意買到，現在中藥材更是缺貨嚴重，要他們自己在芝加哥購買，也是不實際的。那怎麼辦？還好，這位芝加哥病人未雨綢繆，早在幾週前就已經請診所寄基本治療通方給他，在我了解他白人女性朋友的症狀後，要他先把手上的中藥給朋友，讓朋友先服用，安排週一立即插入看診，再針對病人的詳細病情來調整藥方，快遞到芝加哥。

週一到了，這位白人病人臨時取消遠程看診，她說服用中藥後有進步，不過，打算還是到西醫院檢測，再看看怎麼治療。本來以為又是一位不相信中醫的人被診所舊病人硬拉來看診，後來，芝加哥那位舊病人告訴我們，他這位白人朋友只是想省錢，既然手上的中藥包有效，那何必遠距看診呢？他這位白人朋友沒有把剩下的中藥包還給他，打算留著繼續服用，害他趕緊要診所再寄基本治療通方給他，以免他自己感染後，沒有中藥在手上，還來不及收到中藥，病情就已經惡化了。

故事二：

一位華人女生，40多歲，有感冒症狀一陣子了，看診及服用中藥後，感冒症狀都只剩下一點點，應該已經康復了。但是，病人還是三不五時覺得胸口緊悶，雖然沒有說出口，看得出來她很擔心自己是不是得了新冠肺炎，雖然自己不嚴重，她不想傳染給其他人。

我告訴她，她的胸口緊悶不是肺家的問題，而是肝膽剋到脾胃的問題，要她不要緊張，她越緊張，胸口反而會越加緊悶。然而，因為目前新冠肺炎疫情嚴重，病人還是很擔心是不是新冠肺炎，和病人討論之下，讓她多服用了一週和她之前感冒症狀比較有關聯的藥方，只是藥開得輕很多。

一週過去了，病人感冒症狀都好了，就剩下胸口還是偶而緊悶。這次我花了不少時間跟她解釋，她的問題在於肝膽。病人平時肝血比較虛，疫情嚴重後，除了擔心及壓力外，生活及上班的作息改變很多，肝臟更受到影響，膽汁分泌有問題，而導致她打嗝、胃漲，這種情況下的胃酸反逆，不一定有反酸的感覺，平時心臟比較弱的人，反而會感覺到胸口緊悶。病人聽了半信半疑，覺得現在停止服用和感冒或肺家有關的中藥，去服用清肝膽中藥，那不是更有可能得到新冠肺炎？

怎麼讓病人相信是肝膽的問題？我直接按壓病人的「膽石點」穴位，病人酸痛得大叫。可是這麼一按，病人一大叫，病人說她胸口緊悶立即消失了！不過，我還是按照一般處理膽結石的方式，為病人下了針。自從那次針灸以後，病人不再抱怨胸口緊悶了。一方面，針灸確實減緩了病人的症狀，另一方面，病人不再擔心胸口緊悶是來自新冠肺炎，心情放鬆很多，肝鬱減少了，膽汁分泌比較正常了，肝膽剋到脾胃的問題也就大幅減緩了。

故事三：

華裔年輕人，二十多歲，就住在舊金山灣區，父母知道他感冒發燒好幾天，很緊張，希望診所能幫忙他。遠程看診時，病人自述，一週多前開始不對勁，咽喉痛兩天後，開始出現感冒症狀，頭痛、咳嗽、流鼻水、鼻塞、脖子及腳酸痛。連續八天發燒起起伏伏，半夜燥熱，半躺下時咳嗽加重，白痰多，呼吸胸口緊。

根據我的經驗，再比對舊金山灣區目前的感冒及流感病人，我覺得這位病人八九不離十是得了新冠肺炎。不過，我比較不擔心病人本身，因為已經發病一週多，還維持在輕中型症狀，代表病人原來身體還不錯，我反而比較擔心他傳染給父母。還好病人沒有和父母住在一起，我要病人在痊癒前，不要出門，也不要讓父母到他家來看他。

我幫這位病人開的藥方，由葛根湯、射干麻黃湯、石膏等加減而成。病人服用中藥一週，剛剛視頻複診，病人說好了。我問他細節，他表示服用中藥三天不到，全部症狀就已經消失了，不再發燒、頭痛、咳嗽、燥熱、流鼻水、鼻塞等等。不過，這位年輕病人很聽話，即使症狀沒了，他還是把一週的中藥全部服用完。

雖然這位病人沒有症狀了，不一定代表體內沒有病毒了，還是有可能傳染給其他人。因此，我告訴他不需要繼續服用中藥，不過得再自我隔離一兩週，避免傳染給其他人，特別不要傳染給他的父母！

另外，許多病人及讀者詢問診所使用的「基本治療通方」。中藥講求辨證論治，每一位病人都有不同的情況，不是「看起來差不多」的病症，就服用一樣的中藥方。然而，在疫情大爆發時，很多人沒有時間找中醫師看診，臨時也買不到中藥材。在不得已的情況下，歷代瘟疫，都會準備「基本治療通方」，在沒有足夠醫療資源及時間下，讓病人先行服用，試圖減緩病情惡化。診所準備的「基本治療通方」為：

射干9克 麻黃9克 紫菀9克 款冬花 9克 細辛9克

生半夏9克 生薑4片 紅棗15克 五味子12克 葶藶子6克

石膏18克 麥門冬18克 杏仁15克 白朮12克 茯苓12克

炙甘草9克 炙黃耆18克 黨參9克 柴胡12克 黃芩9克

9碗水煮成3碗，調整火力約一小時煮好

斟酌病情嚴重情況，一次1/2～1碗，一天服用2～3次

服用後儘快連絡診所，安排正式遠程看診

許多人大概看得出來，診所的「基本治療通方」和中國中醫藥管理局推薦的「清肺排毒湯」很像，藥性稍微加重了一些。其實，我們早在武漢封城前就已經提出以射干麻黃湯、大青龍湯、葶藶大棗瀉肺湯等加減來治療新冠肺炎。據內部知情人士轉述，中國中醫藥管理局一直關注我們在通許縣人民醫院的病例，確定我們的病人康復後，才推出「清肺排毒湯」專案試點。因此，我們的通方和「清肺排毒湯」很像，也就沒什麼奇怪了。

(http://andylee.pro/wp/?p=7904)
#當張仲景遇上史丹佛

TCM Treatments of COVID-19

Written in Chinese by Dr. Andy Lee, March 7, 2020 (http://andylee.pro/wp/?p=7660)

Translated to English by Dr. James Yeh, March 13, 2020

I published an essay “From SARS to Novel Coronavirus” in Chinese on January 21, 2020 (http://andylee.pro/wp/?p=7169). At that time, I tried to discuss possible Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) treatments of Novel Coronavirus based on my clinical experience of treating many severe cases of pneumonia caused by various influenza and other diseases. Since then, I have directly and indirectly participated in treating patients of Novel Coronavirus successfully, had discussions with many doctors fighting the epidemic at the front line and many researchers conducting related researches, and read many reports on this subject. Although the “Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia” has been renamed to “COVID-19” (coronavirus disease 2019) and the name of the virus has officially named from “2019-nCoV” to “SARS-CoV-2”, I now firmly believe that my original judgment, views, and interpretations are correct. For the sake of easiness for people to read and share, in this essay, I am reorganizing my previous discussions and including some explanations on certain confusions as well.

First, there are numerous provinces and cities in China using TCM to fight the “COVID-19” (I will use the term “Coronavirus” from now on.) No matter whether the treatments were primarily using TCM or the combination of TCM and the methods of Western medicine, there have been a significant amount of positive outcomes. On the other hand, the views of how to use TCM to treat and the use of corresponding herbal formulas vary quite a bit. Even when TCM remedies were effective, why did some patients fully recover and were discharged from the hospitals but other patients still could not get the virus-free “negative confirmation” from virus DNA tests?

Many TCM doctors participating in the treatments and discussions often look at the Coronavirus issue from a single “Point” or the condition of the patient at that specific moment. Some interpreted the disease as “Dampness” (濕), “Dryness” (燥), “Cold” (寒), or “Heat” (熱). (Translator’s note: These interpretations are often the opposite ends of the spectra, like Dampness is opposite to Dryness; and Cold is opposite to Heat.) From the clinical practice point of view, those treatments based on such conflicting interpretations all had positive effects to some degrees. Then, which interpretation is the “correct one”? In fact, those simple interpretations all have some merits but don’t fully cover the subject in hand. Although TCM is based on “Dialectical Treatment” (辯證論治), i.e. treatment is derived from “observation and diagnosis” of patients’ complex symptoms, the most important thing is that disease shouldn’t be viewed as an isolated problem at a specific time, but the whole development of symptoms along a timeline. Not only we need to observe and diagnose the current ailment but also we have to understand the development history of the disease and to project how the disease will develop in the future. For a single patient, we might be able to focus on the clinical results of this patient. But for epidemics, we have to look at a bigger picture and take into account how this Coronavirus develops health issues inside the human body from TCM’s perspective. And, in clinical treatments, we also need to consider many variants caused by each patient’s preconditions and one’s strength to fight off the disease.

From my experience of curing many patients who were inflicted with flu-induced pneumonia and complications, and the recent participation in treating and curing Coronavirus patients, it is proper to summarize that no matter whether the virus is Coronavirus, bird flu, swine flu, or the “common” flu, we found that the bodily deterioration caused by the virus, in general, follows the description from the TCM theory first covered in the ancient literature “Treatise on Cold Damage on Miscellaneous Disease ” (傷寒雜病論). However, the progressions of the disease from such special viruses are much faster, more severe, and/or more persistent than that of the common flu. Patients’ own original “health” condition also complicates the progression. (Translator’s note: For example, the infliction rate of young children is much smaller than that of adults for Coronavirus.)

As I explained before, the TCM theory discussed that for the common flu or “catching a cold”, the disease starts with “Exterior Deficiency or Weakness” (表虛). That is, the “exterior” of the body is invaded by the “External Pathogen” (外邪), like virus, and has adverse reactions. (Translator’s note: Here the exterior doesn’t mean just the outside surface of the body like the skin, but all the surfaces topologically exposed to the outside like lining of throat, nose, and bronchus of the body.) This is the first stage of the whole episode and often can be effectively treated with the herbal prescriptions such as “Gui Zhi Tang” (桂枝湯). If the patient is not properly treated, the body fluids within the surface and muscles could not function properly. It will cause the transition to the next stage “Exterior Excess” (表實). (Translator’s note: The word Excess has various meanings: excessive reactions all the way to neoplasm, excessive wasteful things, etc.) Viral infection at this stage is matched to one of the several syndromes named with the corresponding herbal remedies such as “Ge Geng Tang” (葛根湯), “Ma Huang Tang” (麻黃湯證), and others. The TCM theory calls this stage “Exterior Coldness” (表寒). In history, many TCM doctors considered this stage as the body being hurt by outside coldness (傷於寒) or in plain words “Catching Cold”. However, that is a misunderstanding. While outside coldness is one of the causes leading to the stage “Exterior Coldness”, it is not the only cause. When the body fluids could not function properly, the normal body fluids which had proper fluidity to circulate and to fulfill vital functions (活水) became a pot of “Dead Water” (死水), i.e. wasteful water which can’t fulfill vital functions. In other words, the ancient literature “Treatise on Cold Damage on Miscellaneous Disease” (傷寒雜病論) is much beyond the simple interpretation of how to treat the ailment caused by “cold damage”, but a classical literature of explaining both the physiology and pathology of human body functions.

Normally, the ailment or symptoms of the common flu would be limited at this stage of “Exterior Coldness”. Even without any treatment, the human body often could fight off the virus with an immune response and fully recover. But when the effects of Exterior Coldness started to penetrate into the interior of the body, the first common organs to be affected will be the organs that have a short path to the outside. (Translator’s note: Topologically, trachea and lung are only a membrane distance away from the outside air.) Then the Exterior Coldness gets transformed into the next stages such as “Interior Coldness” (裡寒) and “Lung Coldness” (肺寒). (Translator’s note: Here “Lung” means the whole respiratory system, not only the lung organ.) Clinically, the patients start to show symptoms of the syndrome named after its herbal remedy “Xiao Qing Long Tang” (小青龍湯). At this stage, the patients have serious coughing and running nose. When the respiratory system is “affected by the coldness”, the body fluid function of the respiratory system gets affected. Just like when the cooling system of a car malfunctions, the engine would overheat. The circulation function of the lung becomes “Dry and Overheated” (燥热). This would lead to the next stage of “Heated Interior” (入裡化熱) and often be matched to its herbal remedy “Da Qing Long Tang” (大青龍湯). At this stage, it does not mean that the whole lung is “dry and heated”. In fact, many pneumonia patients exhibit “mixed coldness and heat” (寒熱夾雜) in the lung. For example, while the upper part of the lung is “dry and heated”, the lower part of the lung might suffer excessive mucus of a high density. Pleural effusion and hydronephrosis might start to develop quickly.

Such a complex situation was extensively discussed in Chapter 7 of the ancient literature “Synopsis of Prescriptions of the Golden Chamber” (金匱要略肺痿肺癰咳嗽上氣病脈證治第七篇). At this complex stage, the illness development varies significantly among patients of different preconditions and other variants. It is no longer the situation that a simple herbal remedy can be applied to all the situations. The TCM theory illustrates various treatments by those herbal remedies such as “She Gan Ma Hung Tang” (射干麻黃湯), “Ting Li Da Zao Xie Fei Tang” (葶藶大棗瀉肺湯), ”Ze Qi Tang” (澤漆湯), “Xiao Qing Long Jia Shi Gao Tang” (小青龍加石膏湯), and others. It doesn’t mean that one of the herbal remedies should be selected to treat a patient directly. Instead, the TCM Theory used these herbal remedies to teach its practitioners how to “think” and create a proper herbal remedy based on the conditions of a specific patient.

For example, the Coronavirus has quite a puzzling situation that many Western medicine doctors haven’t yet fully understood. Some severely affected patients exhibited fibrosis of the lung like the SARS phenomenon. Other severely affected patients did not have SARS-like lung fibrosis but had massive liquid cumulated in the lung, which even “drown” some patients to death. From the TCM point of view, it is not strange at all. Fibrosis of the lung is the typical following stage of Heated Interior matching to “Da Qing Long Tang” (大青龍湯). It was named as “Lung Atrophy” (肺痿) in the TCM theory. And the situation that one suffers from massive dense liquid accumulation is matched to symptoms of severe development after the stages matched to “She Gan Ma Hung Tang”( 射干麻黃湯) , “Ting Li Da Zao Xie Fei Tang” (葶藶大棗瀉肺湯), and others as discussed earlier. The TCM theory called it “Lung Abscess” (肺癰). In the TCM theory, Lung Atrophy and Lung Abscess are two progression paths of this virus depending on which path develops faster or even simultaneously. From the past and current reports, SARS virus tilts toward the path of Lung Atrophy, while the Coronavirus tilts a little more toward Lung Abscess.

The above explained the progression of flu and other epidemic virus infections. Now you might understand how different TCM doctors had different views or treatment methods, but all of the treatments had some partially positive effects. If a TCM doctor’s diagnosis at one particular moment was slight hotness of the lung, some mild herbs to “clean up the heat” (清熱解毒輕劑), often used by the “Southern School” doctrine (溫病派), might relieve the patient’s symptoms. But if a TCM doctor’s diagnosis at a different point of the progression was massive mucus accumulation, heavy dosage of strong herbs, often used by the “Northern or Classic School” doctrine (經方派) might be needed to treat Lung Abscess (肺癰). That is why we saw some reports that the “Pneumonia Formula One” (肺炎一號) used in Guangzhou city, which was based on mild herbs to reducing the “heat”, had some positive effects in Guangzhou but not so effective in Shanghai. In Shanghai, many TCM doctors had to switch to stronger herbal ingredient often found in “Da Qing Long Tang” (大青龍湯) and “She Gan Ma Hung Tang”( 射干麻黃湯) as discussed earlier. This was due to different weather patterns and different patients, i.e. different progression paths described in the previous paragraphs. In other words, from the specific moment of the doctor’s diagnosis, both views were correct. But neither of them grasped the progression timeline of this severe illness.

Another point raised earlier was why did some patients fully recover while others did not? According to the information given by the doctors on the front line, there were so-called “Western medicine and TCM combined treatments” in which Western medicine drugs were continuously given to the patients and TCM herbs were used as supplements. When adding TCM herbs had a positive effect and made a speedier recovery, it was all goodness. But when adding TCM herbs did not have positive results, then what? According to the doctors on the front line, the medical team did not really think through the stages of disease progression as discussed earlier and switch to different TCM remedies, but only increased the dosage of Western medicine drugs such as Interferon (干擾素), Chloroquine phosphate (磷酸氯喹) used to treat malaria (抗瘧疾藥物), Arbidol (阿比多爾) used to treat influenza (抗流感藥物), and others. Heavy dosages of such drugs had severe side effects and sequelae. In those “combined” treatments, the medical teams didn’t have enough TCM expertise to make sound decisions on herbal remedies. Instead, they simply used TCM herbs as “extra help”.

How about treatments primarily with TCM remedies? The chief Western medicine expert who leads the fight against the Coronavirus, Dr. Nanshan Zhong, admitted under political pressure that TCM was useful against light or even medium threat situations of Coronavirus but insisted that TCM could not cure severe cases. His statement was based on his belief that there is no ingredient in TCM herbs that could kill Coronavirus. I am sorry to say that Dr. Zhong is incorrect in this aspect. With solid patient cases as proof, TCM can actually cure severe cases of Coronavirus infection and other flu-related infections. When it did not, it is the particular TCM doctors who had not mastered the whole theory and methodology of TCM. But one thing that Dr. Zhong said correctly was that no ingredient in TCM herbs can “kill” the virus. However, the TCM treatment isn’t based on the ability to kill the virus. (Translator’s note: Western medicine drugs could not kill the virus either.) Many people still have the level of limited understanding that TCM can only improve the immunization ability or some herbs such as the root of Isatis tinctoria (板藍根) has some natural antibiotic chemicals. Such understanding is unfortunately poor and very limited. Although modern medical science still could not fully comprehend TCM theory and its clinical outcome, against Coronavirus, the better explanation is that TCM remedies can “improve the internal environment of the human body”. (Translator’s note: So that the patient would not fall into the adverse conditions that the organs fail to function.) In plain words, when the virus causes more mucus, TCM remedies reduce the mucus. When the virus causes fibrosis, TCM remedies reduce the “heat level” of the lung. TCM remedies tend to push the body and organs back to the original healthy states. Once the environment is unfriendly for the virus to keep replicating, the patients will have higher chances to eradicate the virus by themselves and recover. One can probably say that this explanation and method is similar to the idea of using Western medicine Interferon but without severe side effects. That is, TCM can cure not because it has the ability to “kill” virus by some ingredients but to help to restore patients’ “internal environment” to healthier conditions that prevent the virus from replicating quickly. (Translator’s note: If one buys the same argument made by Dr. Zhong that a medication needs to have ingredients to kill the Coronavirus, then all the medications used today would not qualify. Then do we give up? In fact, why TCM was not selected to treat severe cases was because those stronger and less commonly used herbs were not applied properly or the TCM doctors at hand had less confidence for doing so. )

Now, we can go back to discuss how clinically TCM can treat and cure Coronavirus patients. For light to mild cases, most of the different TCM treatment methodologies could help. For medium to severe cases, as I discussed in my previous essay, we need to utilize the strength of certain herbs:

- Sheng Shi Gao (Gypsum, 生石膏): To reduce heat inside the lung (清肺熱) and enhance the liquid circulation in the respiratory system (加強肺津液運作)

- She Gan (Belamcanda chinensis, 射干)、Zi Wan (Aster tataricus, 紫菀) 、Kuan Dong Hua (Tussilago farfara flower, 款冬花)、Sheng Ban Xia (Pinellia ternate, 生半夏)、Ting Li (Sisymbrium indicum, 葶藶)、Da Ji (Euphorbia pekinensis Rupr., 大戟), etc.: To reduce accumulation of excessive mucus and wasteful fluids inside the respiratory system (去肺下方濃稠痰飲、肺積水、胸腔積液等)

- Ma Huang (Ephedra sinica Stapf., 麻黃), etc.: To enhance the lung function (宣肺、發陽)

- Mai Men Dong (Ophiopogon japonicas, 麥門冬)、Xing Ren (Prunus armeniaca, 杏仁): To moisturize the lung (潤肺)

That is, we need to combine the theory and targeted responses of the various herbal remedies such as “Da Qing Long Tang” (大青龍湯), “She Gan Ma Hung Tang” (射干麻黃湯) , “Ting Li Da Zao Xie Fei Tang” (葶藶大棗瀉肺湯), ”Ze Qi Tang” (澤漆湯)“, etc. as discussed earlier, and properly adjust the dosages and ratios of ingredients to fit the requirements of individual patients based on their conditions. In addition, if the patients have other ailments, those conditions need to be taken into account also, such as:

- For “Coldness and Wetness of the Middle and Lower Abdomen“ (中下焦寒濕) or “Deficient Kidney Function” (腎陽不足): Add Bao Fu Zi (processed Aconitum carmichaelii Debx root, 炮附子)、Xi Xin (Asarum sieboldii, 細辛), etc.

- When the liver function is weak or damaged by heavy dosages of Western medicine drugs such as interferon: Add Chai Hu (Bupleuri Radix, 柴胡)、Huang Qin (Scutellaria baicalnsis Geprgi root, 黃芩), etc.

There is no question that it is very challenging to fight off the Coronavirus. The clinical treatments will seriously test TCM doctors’ thorough understanding of TCM and their ability and courage to call the right shots under a great amount of pressure. On the other hand, it is also a good time to prove that TCM can be effectively used to fight various viruses in a superb and speedy fashion with little sequelae and at a much lower cost.

For fighting such a new and aggressive virus epidemic, there is no single TCM herbal formula that can treat all situations. One must have deep knowledge of the stages of the disease, along with close examinations on patients’ preconditions, so one can use the most effective prescription to intercept and turn the symptoms around. On the other hand, many provinces and cities in China provided TCM guidelines on Coronavirus treatments and pre-fixed herbal formulas to address people’s demands on a herbal remedy for “common usage”. Among them, I found the current recommendation from the Chinese National TCM Administration the most appropriate for a good percentage of Coronavirus patients. The herbal remedy was recently named as “Qing Fei Pai Du Tang” (清肺排毒湯), which could probably be translated to “clean up the lung and get rid of the toxic”. In line with the discussion above, this specific herbal formula includes Ma Huang (Ephedra sinica Stapf., 麻黃), Zhi Gan Cao (processed Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch., 炙甘草)、Xing Ren (Prunus armeniaca, 杏仁)、Sheng Shi Gao (Gypsum, 生石膏)、Gui Zhi (Ramulus Cinnamom, 桂枝)、Ze Xie (Alisma orientalis, 澤瀉)、Zhu Ling (Polyporus umbellatus, 豬苓)、Bai Zhu (Atractylodes macrocephala Koidz., 白朮)、Fu Ling (Poria, 茯苓)、Chai Hu (Bupleuri Radix, 柴胡)、Huang Qin (Scutellaria baicalnsis Geprgi root, 黃芩)、Jiang Ban Xia (Pinellia ternate, 薑半夏)、Sheng Jiang (Ginger, 生薑)、Zi Wan (Aster tataricus, 紫菀)、Kuan Dong Hua (Tussilago farfara flower, 款冬花)、She Gan (Belamcanda chinensis, 射干)、Xi Xin (Asarum sieboldii, 細辛)、Shan Yao (Dioscorea oppositifolia, 山药)、Zhi Shi (Citrus aurantium, 枳實)、Chen Pi (Citrus reticulata Blanco, 陳皮)、and Huo Xiang (Pogostemon cabin, 藿香). Since such an herbal remedy was designed for “common usage”, it has to consider all degrees of disease severity. Therefore, the dosages can’t be too heavy, as the majority of the patient cases are light to mild. As the result, “Da Qing Long Tang” (大青龍湯) discussed earlier became a lighter herbal formula named as “Ma Xing Gan Shi Tang” (麻杏甘石湯). The stronger herbal ingredients such as Ting Li (Sisymbrium indicum, 葶藶) and Da Ji (Euphorbia pekinensis Rupr., 大戟) to treat pleural effusion and hydronephrosis are not included. Hence, for severe cases, the herbal remedy from the Chinese National TCM Administration needs to be enhanced with additional ingredients and larger dosages.

In summary, as long as the TCM doctors have sufficient knowledge and clinical experience, by applying the proper methodology, TCM alone is capable of dealing with severe Coronavirus infections. (Translator’s note: There is much to do to develop a comprehensive diagnostic and treatment methodology which can help many TCM doctors to pinpoint the patient’s condition and stages of the infection to make the proper decision, especially when fully qualified TCM doctors are of short supply.) At this moment, there is no “special drug” in Western medicine to cure Coronavirus, but to resort to cortisone, antibiotics, interferon, anti-malaria, anti-flu drugs to maintain the lives of patients and passively wait and hope that the patients’ bodies can find their own way to turn the situation around. Even then, the Western medicine drugs mentioned above all potentially have significant side effects and sequelae. Patients with severe cases might be able to get out of the deathbed but most likely live with some permanent damages to the body. Dr. Zhong, China’s chief Western medicine expert on the Coronavirus epidemic, also warned that the current path of developing the “special drug” would most likely lead to severe sequelae to the patients. Given that is the case, why don’t we put much more effort to fully develop the TCM treatment of viral infection, not just for Coronavirus but also for future viruses which will bound to happen in the future?

(Translator’s note: As China is getting good control of the virus spread and gradually recovers from this epidemic, the knowledge learned will be invaluable to the rest of the world. Europe and the United States are on the exponential rise of new cases as of the writing on 3/14/2020. Various models predict that in the US alone Coronavirus infections can reach millions, as discussed in the Opinion Column of New York Times, “How Much Worse the Coronavirus Could Get, in Charts” by Nicholas Kristof and Stuart A. Thompson, March 13, 2020. China should continue to put efforts to develop TCM diagnostic and treatment methodology so that millions of people in the rest of the world can be helped and saved. TCM is not just for science, it is for humanity.)

（http://andylee.pro/wp/?p=7729）
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