Ma Huang (麻黃 Ephedrae herba)

Ma Huang (麻黃 Ephedrae herba)

PROPERTIES acrid, slightly bitter, warm

CHANNELS ENTERED Lung, Bladder

Actions & Indications

1.      indudes sweating and dissipates cold : Wind-cold exterior excess pattern (greater yang cold damage) with aversion to cold, heat effusion, headache, absence of sweating, and a tight and floating pulse. (with gui zhi in ma huang tang)

2.      diffuses the Lung and calms wheezing : Cough and wheezing due to wind-cold obstructing the Lungs (xing ren or shi gao in ma huang tang or ma xing shi gan tang)

3.      promotes urination to reduce edema (with bai zhu or shi gao?)

4.      Bi syndrome due to wind-damp (with bai zhu)

Commentary

Ma Huang is very light in weight so it acts on the exterior part as skin. The lung controls skin and greater yang also does. The exterior phathogen factors usually invade skin first. If cold-wind evils contract those person who has strong resistence with strong constitution, the pores get closed, the [defense] qi gets accumulated beneath skin causing heat, at this stage when evil [heat] has not yet passed to yang brightness, maybe there is absence of sweating, aversion to cold, heat effusion, etc, and ma huang with gui zhi can be used to open the pores leading to induce sweating and resolve heat. Ma huang looks like thin straw, those action can be compared that straws stick in the skin. If the restrained qi beneath skin for long time causes heat and sometimes passes heat to yang brightness. Shi gao acts on yang brightness, and is acrid, sweet, and cold. The sign of sweating with panting in the ma xing shi gan tang line, is due to yang brightness heat not to the exterior yang vacuous as in gui zhi tang. Gui zhi supports the action of mahuang of inducing sweat and dissipating exterior evil, both of them are acrid and warm so they moves qi outward and expels evil through inducing sweating. But shi gao is cold and acrid, cold tends to descend and acrid ascend, thus it disperses evil and clears heat. When ma huang meets with shi gao, this action can be compared to the straw directed inward in the skin, and this combination increase urination. I recommend to try to drink ma huang shi gan tang. Once you drink one or two times, then you can get realized how ma huang and shi gao acts in one hour(?) at least. If you are with rhinitis, the nose will be unblocked, some patient says that as soon as dringking it the nose get unblocked. Of course heat effusion or heat sensation dissapers gradually and feels get light. Why not so? Ma huang vents qi and shi gao clears heat. In this formula ma huang does not induce sweating but vent qi. Ma huang gan shi tang belong to the formula for warm disease, as you know, whem ever warm disease is mentioned, the phrase, ‘if essence is not strored in winter, warm disese will occur in spring’ is up, winter indicates the kidney, therefore it means that if essence is not stored enoughly in the kidney, warm disease often occurs. SARS, acute hepatitis, herpes, etc, these can be categorized to warm disease. Nowadays many people work hard, sleep late and shot time, often eat instant foods, those action depletes the essence of the kidney and liver.

In my clinic, this formula is always prepared. Shi gao 24g, ma huang 12g, xing ren 6g, gan cao 6g, this dosage is for 360cc decoction (120cc per one time), even though the patient is very strong, three times per one day, in my opinion, is too strong. If you drink one time, you can controle the dosage. Ma huang shi gan tang is the formula of warm disease in which kidney essence vacuity patten is, so this formula is not as strong as ma huang tang, for all that, ma huang is strong, if people with blood or yin vacuity drinks, she/he will experience palpitation and inability to sleep. Be cautious. Just you eat it first and then decide. Anyway this formula is very good. This is also good at toothache unrelieved after dental treat. Ma huang and shi gao treat skin water(皮水), sometimes it is more effective than weatern medicine. If someone usually feels palpitation or feels it after drinking caffeine, then it is hard to apply it. May the amount of dosage is down or out. This formula also has a effect to someone with damp-heat in flesh and stomach causing indigestion. Ma huang without nursing yin or blood cannot be used long time, this causes kidney vacuity, you can catch out that in the lines of contradictions of da qing long tang. The qi of greater yang is originated from kidney water. The long time using can cause low back pain. Ma huang is often used to obesity, in my little opinion, it must be realy carefuly used to middle age people.  

 

Before describing of combinations part, I want explain the six channel advance. Knowing well six channel pattern helps to grasp where the disese is located.

 

The Six Channels (Three Yin and Three Yang)

In six channels, there is greater yang, yang brightness, lesser yang, greater yin, lesser yin, and reverting yin. And this is also called three yin three yang. The origine of this theory goes back to he tu and luo shu. Anway, to keep physiology well, qi passes from reverting yin to greater yang in order and then qi in greater yang feeds back to revering yin again. Briefly explained, the foot revering yin liver correspons to Lei gua (☳ thunder) in the eight trigrams, the first broken line is yang gua (陽卦) and the second and third unbroken lines are yin gua, this trigram manifests that one yang comes up from the bottom as sprout is up above the ground. Reverting yin should have stored blood(compared to two yin in the Lei gua) and have one yang.  In the opening, closing, and pivot poin of view, revering yin is associated with closing because it strores blood, and there should be generating of one yang in reverting yin, thus it is said that reverting yin conforms to neither the tip nor the root but conforms to the center. The center of revering yin is lesser yang, so liver yang or fire often manifest on the channel of foot lesser yang gall bladder channel. So when patient suffers from migrane practitioner also checks both the liver and gall bladder. It is said that the liver controls dispersing (肝主疏泄), which also corresponds to the action of one yang in the Lei gua. Revering yin stores blood and one yang properly, and then this transports them to lesser yin, which is to yin pivot, and then again transport them to greater yin, which is opening, greater yin, the lung and spleen, they transport qi and food qi (flavor) to the whole body, greater yin sends the fluids and humors out, then lesser yang, yang pivot, transports them to yang brightness which governs flesh and muscles, it is said that yang brightness governs the fluids and humors, yang brightness stores them and then transports them to greater yang which govern the skin and fur and is opening. In greater yang, the qi (depense qi) warms the flesh and interstices and makes the skin and fresh strong and then the lefted qi following used is sended to revering yin. Physiologically qi and fluids flow beginning from reverting yin in order. It they begin to flow from greater yang, this is conterflow and causes disorders. As you know, the table of contens of shang han lun begins from greater yang in order.

 

Opening	Greater Yang	Skin Exterior Bladder
Closing	Yang Brightness	Flesh Muscles Stomach
Pivot	Lesser Yang	Half interior half exterior
Opening	Greater Yin	Greater abdomen Below the heart
Closing	Lesser Yin	Umbilicus abdomen
Pivot	Reverting Yin	Lesser abdomen

 

Combinations

With Gui Zhi

Both of then acrid and warm, act on greater yang. The tendency of action of these two herbs is upward and outward.

With Shi Gao

Ma huang acts on greater yang, shi gao acts on yang brightness underneath greater yang as muscle layer.

With Bai Zhu

Bai Zhu enters Spleen, acts on greater yin, and dries dampness and tonifies the spleen. In Bi syndrome, this combination treats water-damp, ma huang acts on exterior (tip treatment) and bai zhu on interior (root treatment) to treat water-damp and prevent producing of dampness.

With Shu Di Huang

This combination enriches the kidney and calms wheezing. Shu Di Guang acts on lesser yin and ma huang greater yang.

With Xing Ren

Both herbs enter the lung and alleviate cough and calming wheezing. Ma huang disperses the lung qi and xing ren directs the lung qi downward.

 

Contraindications.

This herb has a rather strong effect of inducing sweating and opening up the lungs, the dosage should not be too large. Using it for a long period time or too large may disperses the qi too much and consumes the yin of the body.