Licorice

　　Licorice is the root and rhizome of the leguminous plant Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch., G. inflata Bat., or G. glabra L. Mainly produced in Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Gansu and other places. Excavate in spring and autumn, with autumn harvesting the best. Remove the fibrous roots, dry in the sun, take thick slices, use raw or roasted with honey.

　　[Medical properties] Sweet, flat. Guixin, lung, spleen, stomach meridians.

　　[Efficacy] Tonify the spleen and replenish qi, eliminate phlegm and relieve cough, relieve pain and relieve pain, clear away heat and detoxify, and reconcile various medicines.

　　【application】

　　1. Insufficient heart energy, knotted pulse, and palpitations. This product can replenish heart qi, replenish qi and restore pulse. It is mainly used for people with heart palpitations and palpitations caused by insufficient heart qi. For example, "Shanghan Lei Yao" uses this product alone to treat palpitations and pulse knots caused by typhoid fever and depleted heart qi. If it is a deficiency of both qi and blood, it should be combined with products that nourish qi and nourish blood, such as Zhigancao Decoction ("Treatise on Febrile Diseases"), which can be used together with ginseng, donkey-hide gelatin, raw rehmannia root and other products.

　　2. Spleen deficiency syndrome. It has a sweet taste, is good at entering the middle Jiao, and has the power to replenish the spleen. Because of its mild effect, it should be used as an auxiliary medicine. It can "help ginseng and qi cure qi deficiency" ("Ben Cao Zheng"). Therefore, it is often used in combination with ginseng, atractylodes, astragalus and other spleen-tonifying and qi-tonifying drugs for patients with spleen deficiency.

　　3. Cough and wheezing. This product can relieve cough, expel phlegm, and has a slight antiasthmatic effect. Valid for single use. It can be used according to the compatibility of the syndrome for various types of cough and asthma with cold, heat, deficiency and excess, whether there is phlegm or not.

　　4. Acute pain in the epigastrium and limbs. Its sweet taste can relieve anxiety and is good at relieving anxiety and relieving pain. It is often used together with white peony root, i.e. Shaoyao Gancao Decoction ("Treatise on Febrile Diseases"). Clinically, Shaoyao Licorice Decoction is often used as the basis, and is used in conjunction with the syndrome to treat acute pain in the epigastrium and limbs caused by blood deficiency, blood stasis, cold coagulation and other reasons.

　　5. Heat poisonous sores, sore throat and drug and food poisoning. This product is also good at detoxifying and is widely used. The raw product has slightly cold properties and can clear away heat and toxins. To treat heat-induced sores, it can be soaked in decoction alone or taken orally as a paste. It is more often combined with products that clear away heat, detoxify, reduce swelling and dissipate stagnation, such as Dibu and Forsythia. It is used to treat swelling and pain in the throat caused by heat. It should be combined with isatis root, platycodon, burdock and other products that clear away heat, detoxify and soothe the throat. This product has a certain detoxifying effect on poisoning caused by aconite and other drugs, or poisoning caused by a variety of foods. For patients with drug or food poisoning, while actively sending them to the hospital for rescue, this product can be used to assist in detoxification and emergency treatment.

　　6. Harmonize medicinal properties. This product can play a role in reconciling medicinal properties in many prescriptions: through detoxification, it can reduce the toxicity of certain drugs in the prescription (such as aconite, rhubarb); by relieving pain and relieving pain, it can relieve abdominal pain caused by certain drugs in the prescription (such as rhubarb) irritating the gastrointestinal tract; its rich sweetness can correct the taste of the drugs in the prescription.

　　[Usage and Dosage] Decoction and take, 1.5~9g. It is slightly cold in nature and can clear away heat and detoxify; it is slightly warm in medicinal properties when roasted with honey, and it can enhance the effects of replenishing the heart and spleen, moistening the lungs and relieving cough.

　　[Usage Note] It should not be used together with Euphorbia euphorbia, Daphne genkwa, and Kansui. This product helps with the disadvantages of dampness and qi obstruction. It should not be used by those with excessive dampness, fullness and edema. Taking large doses for a long time can lead to water and sodium retention and cause edema.

　　[Abstract from ancient books]

　　1. "Famous Doctors": "Warm and lower Qi, irritability, fullness and shortness of breath, and cough due to injury to the organs."

　　2. "Compendium of Materia Medica": "It is a medicine that harmonizes and replenishes qi, tonifying deficiency and detoxifying."

　　3. "Compendium of Materia Medica": "It has a very sweet taste, has neutralizing properties, and has the function of regulating and tonic, so it can detoxify it, and it can be used as a strong medicine to harmonize its properties... It can help Shenqi to treat Qi deficiency."

　　【Modern Research】

　　1. Chemical composition: This product contains triterpenes (the potassium and calcium salts of the triterpene saponin glycyrrhizic acid are glycyrrhizin, which is the sweet component of licorice), flavonoids, alkaloids, polysaccharides and other ingredients.

　　2. Pharmacological effects: Licorice has anti-arrhythmic effects; has anti-ulcer effects, inhibits gastric acid secretion, relieves gastrointestinal smooth muscle spasm and analgesic effects, and has a synergistic effect with paeoniflorin, the active ingredient of peony; can promote pancreatic juice secretion; has obvious antitussive effects, and has a significant expectorant effect , it also has a certain anti-asthmatic effect; it has antibacterial, antiviral, anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic effects; it can protect the inflamed throat and tracheal mucosa; it has a detoxifying effect similar to glucuronic acid on certain poisons; it has an adrenocortical hormone-like effect; it also has anti-diuretic, lipid-lowering, hepatoprotective and other effects.

　　3. Clinical research: It is reported that taking 2 to 3 g of raw licorice mixed with 10 to 15 ml of boiling water and taking it once a day is effective in treating diarrhea in infants and young children (Hubei Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 1984, 6:11); raw licorice 1 0g, boiled in water and drank as tea, 1 to 2 months for mild cases and 3 to 5 months for severe cases. 38 cases of chronic pharyngitis were treated, 34 cases were cured and 4 cases improved (Journal of Yunnan College of Traditional Chinese Medicine 1983, 1:20). This product has also been reported to be used to treat digestive tract ulcers, depression, food poisoning, acute mastitis, diabetes insipidus, psoriasis, acne and external treatment of frostbite, skin breakdown, tinea pedis and other diseases.

　　4. Adverse reactions: After taking this product in large doses or in small amounts for a long time, about 20% of people may experience adverse reactions such as edema, limb weakness, numbness, dizziness, headache, elevated blood pressure, hypokalemia, etc.; the elderly and those with cardiovascular and kidney diseases are prone to high blood pressure and congestive heart disease. Long-term use of glycyrrhizin may cause lactation in non-lactating women.