Exploration on medication patterns of “External Treatment” in the ancient Chinese medical book Liu Juanzi Guiyi Fang

Background:To obtain the medication patterns of“External Treatment”by analyzing the prescriptions for the“External Treatment”in a Chinese ancient book called Liu Juanzi Guiyi Fang(Liu Juanzi’Ghost-Bequeathed Prescriptions,written by Liu Juanzi in 499 C.E.).Methods:The prescriptions for“External Treatment”and primary traditional Chinese medicines in Liu Juanzi’Ghost-Bequeathed Prescriptions were analyzed using data mining methods,such as frequency analysis and cluster analysis,after screening for prescriptions related to“External Treatment”in Liu Juanzi’Ghost-Bequeathed Prescriptions.The Database of Prescriptions for External Treatment in Liu Juanzi Guiyi Fang was then established.Results:The earliest Chinese characters for“Yin”and“Yang”were found on“oracle bones”.These bones were the skeletal remains of different animals,and were used in ancient Chinese divination practices going all the way back to the 14th century B.C.Simply put,“Yin”is the cold and“Yang”is the warm.In traditional Chinese medicine,this concept of dualism and its fundamental principle underlie physiology,pathology,and the treatment of illnesses.The“External Treatment”discussed in Liu Juanzi’Ghost-Bequeathed Prescriptions primarily adopts the methods of“Warming Yang”,“Cooling Heat(Yang)”,and“Qu Xie(dispelling pathogenic factors of epidemic diseases)”,as well as“Huo Xue(promoting blood circulation)and promoting tissue regeneration.In Chinese medicine,“Si Qi(cold as winter,cool as autumn,warm as spring,hot as summer)”,“Wu Wei(five flavors:sweet,pungent,salty,sour,and bitter)”used to describe the properties of herbs.In Liu Juanzi’Ghost-Bequeathed Prescriptions,most of the medicines used were more“Sweet”,“Pungent”,“Warm”,and the“Channel Tropism”were primarily distribute to the“Liver”,“Heart”,“Stomach”,and“Large intestine meridian”.Conclusion:The data mining method systematically summarized the medication characteristics of the prescriptions for“External Treatment”in Liu Juanzi’Ghost-Bequeathed Prescriptions.The characteristics of the“External Treatment”in this book include“supporting healthy Qi”and“promoting Qi and Blood circulation”which as the top priority,applying both“Attacking and Supplementing methods”as the focus,and combining“Supplementing methods”with“Elimination methods”.It has provided theoretical guidance in“External Treatment”for surgery of traditional Chinese medicine.

Study on Yan-Xin Wang’s medication experience and regularity in treating Insomnia from the liver based on data mining

Background:Professor Yan-Xin Wang has been committed to the use of traditional Chinese medicine formulas to treat insomnia from the liver for many years,and has achieved excellent clinical results.In order to better inherit Yan-Xin Wang’s academic thoughts.The purpose of this study is to use clinical data to explore the clinical experience of Prof.Yan-Xin Wang in the application of Chinese medicine to treat insomnia patients from the liver,explore the compatibility and medication rules of traditional Chinese medicine,and give more clinical treatment ideas for insomnia.Methods:The general data and prescription information of insomnia patients treated with Chinese herbal medicine by Prof.Yan-Xin Wang from January 1,2021,to December 31,2021,were summarized according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria,and the data were subjected to frequency statistics and drug association rules,complex network diagram analysis and cluster analysis.Results:A total of 159 patients and prescriptions were included in the study,of which 81.1%were women and 18.9%were men,containing 128 herbs;the highest frequency of use was 91.8%for Bupleuri Radix.Six Chinese herbs were used more than 70%of the time,namely Bupleuri Radix,Scutellariae Radix,oyster shell,Glycyrrhizae Radix,Os Draconis,and Ziziphi Spinosae Semen.The top 20 herbs in terms of frequency of use were analyzed in terms of the four Qi,five flavours,and their attributions.The four Qi were mainly calm and warm,the five flavours were mainly bitter and acrid,followed by sweet,and the attributions were mainly to the liver,spleen,and heart meridians.The Chinese medicine association rules set the confidence level>80%and the support level>10%,resulting in 10 two-herb and three-herb associations with the highest confidence level,such as Os Draconis is associated with oyster shell,Platycodonis Radix is associated with Achyranthis Bidentatae Radix,Scutellariae Radix is associated with Bupleuri Radix,Os Draconis,Bupleuri Radix is associated with oyster shell,Os Draconis,Scutellariae Radix is associated with oyster shell,etc.Cluster analysis yielded 3 classes of drug formulas.The complex network diagram shows that the core prescription drugs are composed of Bupleuri Radix,Chuanxiong Rhizoma,Pseudostellariae Radix,Jujubae Fructus,Os Draconis,Coptidis Rhizoma,Scutellariae Radix,Ziziphi Spinosae Semen,Smilacis Glabrae Rhizoma,Cinnamomi Cortex,White Moutan Cortex,Atractylodis Rhizoma,Glycyrrhizae Radix,oyster shell,Rehmanniae Radix Praeparata,Tritici Levis Fructus,Pinelliae Rhizoma Praeparatum,and Cinnamomi Ramulus.Conclusion:Prof.Yan-Xin Wang believes that the main treatment for patients with insomnia is based on the liver,by tonifying the deficiency and supporting the righteousness,mutually regulating the liver and spleen,and calming the mind and nourishing the heart,while adding and subtracting appropriate herbs according to the patient’s co-morbidities,which can significantly improve the patient’s insomnia symptoms.

Analysis on the medication rule of traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment of COVID-19 patients

Objective: To describe patterns of utilization of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) in the treatment of patients with coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19).Methods: Adult patients with COVID-19 who received TCM treatment were divided into a non-serious group(mild and moderate types) and a serious group(severe and critical types) according to their admission conditions. The medical records and prescriptions of these patients were investigated to determine their TCM utilization patterns.Results: In all, 3,872 COVID-19 patients were included. Oral Chinese traditional patent medicine(CPM) was the most commonly used type of TCM(83.2%), fol owed by decoction(64.4%). As for medication pattern, the proportion of multi-drug combinations was higher than single drug use(55.0% vs. 45.0%). Decoction combined with oral CPM was the most common combination(39.1%,1,514/3,872). Oral y administered, injected, and external y applied CPM were significantly more common in the serious group than in the non-serious, while decoction and non-drug TCM treatments were more common in the non-serious than in the serious group.Multi-drug combinations were used for the majority of patients in both groups, mainly in the form of decoction combined with oral CPM.Serious patients were analysed by three groups of different prognoses and outcomes, including discharged after improvement,discharged after relapse and improvement, died final y. The two most common medication patterns were decoction combined with oral CPM and oral CPM alone in the two final y discharged groups. Oral CPM alone or used in combination with injected CPM were seen most commonly in the death group. Significant differences were established in medication patterns among patients in these three groups.Conclusions: Oral CPM was the mainly used TCM for COVID-19 patients, followed by decoction. More common medication pattern was multi-drug combination, especially decoction combined with oral CPM. The treatment measures and medication patterns of TCM commonly used in COVID-19 patients with the range of conditions found in this study should be further explored in the future to provide a more complete reference for COVID-19 treatment.