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Smilax, Diabetes & Urinary Tract Infections abstracted & translated by Keywords: Chinese medicine, Chinese herbal medicine, diabetes, urinary tract infections, Smilax, Tu Fu Ling Drs. Zhang, Liu & Li published an article titled, “Smilax & the Treatment of Diabetes and Urinary Tract Infections,” in issue #12, 2001 of the Zhong Yi Za Zhi (Journal of Chinese Medicine) on page 713. The authors begin this article by saying that Rhizoma Smilacis Glabrae (Tu Fu Ling) is sweet and bland in flavor and level or neutral in nature. It gathers in the liver, kidney, spleen, and stomach channels. Its functions are that it eliminates dampness, clears heat, resolves toxins, and frees the flow of and disinhibits the joints. It mainly treats syphilitic strangury and turbidity, diarrhea, foot qi, welling abscesses, and swollen sores. However, its clinical uses are not just limited to dermatological diseases since it is also effective for viscera and bowel damp heat. Clinically, it is combined with Cortex Phellodendri (Huang Bai) to clear heat, resolve toxins, and eliminate dampness in the treatment of damp heat bacterial dysentery. It is combined with Semen Pruni Armeniacae (Xing Ren) to clear heat, eliminate dampness, and transform phlegm in the treatment of damp heat cough and panting. It is combined with Concha Ostreae (Mu Li) to supplement the kidneys and disinhibit water, resolve toxins and discharge turbidity in the treatment of chronic nephritis, and it is combined with Radix Ligustici Wallichii (Chuan Xiong) to quicken the blood and move the qi, clear and eliminate dampness and heat in the treatment of liver depression-damp heat headache. In addition, the above-named doctors have used Tu Fu Ling to treat urinary tract infections in patients with diabetes as the following case history exemplifies. Case history: The patient was a 57 year old female who entered the hospital on Apr. 15, 1999 due to low back pain, frequent urination, and urinary urgency which had been going on for three days. There was no obvious other cause of this woman’s low back pain and soreness and her lower abdominal cramping and pain. These symptoms were accompanied by a dry mouth with a bitter taste and aversion to cold. The patient had had a history of diabetes for six years. Her affect was devitalized, her facial complexion was dark red, her tongue was red with white, slimy fur, and her pulse was deep and rapid. Her temperature was 36EC, her blood pressure was 19/13kPa, and there was no edema in either of her two lower extremities. Urine analysis showed RBCs (+), WBCs (+), glycosuria (±), albuminuria (±), and blood glucose 8.10mmol/L. Electrocardiogram, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), and x-ray of the chest were all normal. Ultrasonography of both kidneys and bladder showed no abnormalities. Based on the above, this woman’s Chinese medical diagnosis was strangury condition and her pattern was categorized as urinary bladder damp heat. Therefore, she was prescribed Ba Zheng San Jia Jian (Eight [Ingredients] Correcting Powder with Additions & Subtractions): Rhizoma Smilacis Glabrae (Tu Fu Ling), 20g, Semen Plantaginis (Che Qian Zi), 15g, Rhizoma Imperatae Cylindricae (Bai Mao Gen), 20g, Herba Dianthi (Qu Mai), Herba Polygoni Avicularis (Bian Xu), 15g, Radix Scrophulariae Ningpoensis (Xuan Shen), 15g, uncooked Radix Rehmanniae (Sheng Di), 15g, Sclerotium Poriae Cocos (Fu Ling), 15g, Rhizoma Alismatis (Ze Xie), 12g, and Radix Glycyrrhizae (Gan Cao), 6g. These medicinals were decocted in water and 10 ji administered until no more bacteria were seen growing in her urine. During this time, the woman stopped taking any antibiotics. When she had taken 10 ji of this formula, all her symptoms had abated, her urine analysis was normal, and her blood sugar had returned to normal. Therefore, she was judged cured and discharged from the hospital. On follow-up after half a year, there had been no recurrence. Chinese authors’ discussion: Tu Fu Ling is a single medicinal which is able to eliminate damp toxins, fortify the spleen and stomach, strengthen the sinews and bones, and disinhibit urination. Thus it is able to supplement and harmonize as well as resolve toxins and disinhibit dampness from the whole body. Further, in terms of insulin resistance, it has an ameliorating effect. Because it is seeping and disinhibiting, it should be used cautiously in liver-kidney yin vacuity patients. However, it can be combined with qi-boosting, yin-enriching ingredients. In terms of prohibitions, it should not be boiled too long, and tea (i.e., tea made out of Folium Camelliae Theae) should not be drunk during its administration. Copyright © Blue Poppy Press, 2002. All rights reserved. For more information on the Chinese medical treatment of diabetes and its many complications, see Bob Flaws, Lynn Kuchinski & Robert Casañas’s The Treatment of Diabetes Mellitus with Chinese Medicine available from Blue Poppy Press in late Spring 2002. |
