bubble_chart Efficacy

Descending qi, resolving phlegm, relieving distension, and calming panting.

bubble_chart Indications

Used for cough with dyspnea, excessive phlegm, chest stuffiness, anorexia, abdominal distension and fullness, white greasy tongue coating, and slippery pulse.

bubble_chart Formula Principles

This formula is a commonly used remedy for relieving asthma and resolving phlegm. It is clinically applied to treat elderly patients with excessive phlegm due to strong qi, cough, wheezing, abdominal distension and fullness, and loss of appetite. The spleen and stomach are the foundation of postnatal life and the source of qi and blood generation and transformation. They govern the ascending and descending functions and are responsible for transportation and transformation. Therefore, the five zang-organs all depend on the spleen and stomach. If there is spleen-stomach weakness, the functions of transportation and transformation are impaired, and the ascending and descending mechanisms are disrupted, then food and water cannot be transformed into essential substances but instead coagulate into phlegm. When phlegm accumulates, it leads to qi stagnation, resulting in chest stuffiness and excessive phlegm. As phlegm rises with qi, lung qi becomes obstructed and fails to descend, causing cough and wheezing. Spleen-stomach weakness also prevents the proper digestion of food, leading to gastric stagnation and abdominal distension. The formula uses cultivated purple perilla fruit to lower qi and eliminate phlegm, relieving cough and asthma; white mustard seed to expel phlegm and regulate qi. It has been said by predecessors: "Phlegm located under the ribs, between the skin and membranes, cannot be removed without this." radish seed is used to descend qi and resolve phlegm, promoting digestion and removing food stagnation. These three ingredients are all effective in treating phlegm. In the combination of medicinals, each exerts its strengths, and when used together, they enhance the effects of descending qi, resolving phlegm, relieving stuffiness, and calming asthma.