Danshen also known as Zidanshen is the root of the plant Salvia miltiorrhiza from the Lamiaceae family It is mainly produced in Hebei Anhui Sichuan and other areas It is often used raw or stir fried with wine
I. Efficacy and Application
Danshen tastes bitter and slightly cold. Its nature is calm and descending, and it is good at entering the blood aspect. It belongs to the Heart, Pericardium, and Liver meridians.
Efficacy It can activate blood circulation and remove blood stasis, cool blood and eliminate carbuncles, nourish blood and calm the mind. Its characteristic is that it can both nourish blood and excel at activating blood circulation and removing blood stasis. Chen Ziming of the Song Dynasty once said, "A single dose of Danshen powder has the same effect as the Siwu Decoction," and it is also praised by physicians as an essential medicine for regulating menstruation and postpartum care.
Commonly used for treating chest impediment and heart pain, epigastric and abdominal pain, rib-side pain, abdominal masses and accumulations, painful heat impediment, vexation and insomnia, menstrual irregularities, menstrual pain and amenorrhea, sores and ulcers with swelling and pain, and other patterns.
Summary of Famous Works by Renowned Authors:
Ben Jing: "It governs evil qi in the heart and abdomen, intestinal rumbling like flowing water, cold and heat accumulations, breaks concretions and eliminates accumulations, stops vexation and fullness, and boosts qi."
Bie Lu: "Nourishes the blood, removes chronic diseases and stagnant qi in the heart and abdomen, strengthens the waist and spine, relieves foot paralysis, and dispels wind pathogens and lingering heat."
Rihuazi Materia Medica: Nourishes the spirit and stabilizes the will, unblocks and benefits the joints and vessels. Treats cold and heat, fatigue, bone and joint pain, and paralysis of the limbs. Expels pus and relieves pain, promotes tissue regeneration and muscle growth.
"Compendium of Materia Medica of Southern Yunnan": "Tonifies the heart and stabilizes the mind, calms the spirit and soothes the heart. Treats forgetfulness, palpitations, fright-induced palpitations, and insomnia."
Compendium of Materia Medica: "Promotes blood circulation, unblocks the pericardium meridian. Treats hernia pain."
Jade Autumn Materia Medica Salvia miltiorrhiza regulates menstruation and stabilizes pregnancy, breaks up stagnation and dissolves hard accumulations. It is effective for all types of abscesses, scabs, scrofula, goiters, tumors, scabies, and ringworm, and also treats abdominal masses, uterine bleeding, and abnormal vaginal discharge.
"Compendium of Materia Medica": "It disperses stagnant blood, generates new blood, stabilizes the living fetus, and expels the dead fetus. It regulates the meridians and channels, and eliminates vexation and heat. Its efficacy encompasses that of the Four Substances Decoction, making it an essential herb for women's health. It treats cold and heat consumptive diseases, bone and joint pain, and wind impediment with immobility. It addresses intestinal rumbling and abdominal pain, uterine bleeding, vaginal discharge, abdominal masses, and accumulations. It is indicated for patterns of blood deficiency and blood stasis. Additionally, it treats red eyes, hernia pain, sores and scabies, swelling and toxins, and promotes pus drainage and tissue regeneration."
II. Compatibility and Application
1. Used for irregular menstruation, blood stagnation amenorrhea, postpartum stasis abdominal pain, abdominal masses accumulation, and limb pain and other syndromes. Salvia miltiorrhiza can promote blood circulation, excels at activating blood and removing stasis, and is good at regulating women's irregular menstruation. Because its nature is slightly cold and cool (Tao Hongjing said it is hot in nature), it is more suitable for those with blood heat and stasis. If treating stasis with cold symptoms, it can be combined with warming and cold-removing herbs.
For treating various blood stasis syndromes in gynecology, it is often combined with blood-activating and menstruation-regulating herbs such as safflower, peach kernel, and motherwort.
If treating heart and abdominal pain, stomach and epigastric pain caused by qi stagnation and blood stasis, it is often combined with sandalwood and amomum villosum, known as Danshen Decoction.
If treating abdominal mass and accumulation syndrome, it is often combined with Sanleng, Ezhu, Zelan, Biejia, and other blood-activating and breaking herbs.
If used for treating injuries from falls, fractures, contusions, and strains, as well as pain caused by blood stasis, it is often combined with blood-activating, stasis-removing, and pain-relieving herbs such as Chinese angelica root, Szechuan lovage rhizome, and safflower.
For treating heat impediment with red, swollen, and painful joints, it is often combined with heat-clearing, swelling-reducing, wind-dispelling, and collateral-dredging herbs such as Lonicerae Caulis, Paeoniae Radix Rubra, Gentianae Macrophyllae Radix, and Mori Ramulus.
Zhang Xichun often combines Angelica sinensis, Frankincense, and Myrrh to treat conditions such as qi and blood stagnation, abdominal masses, abdominal pain, leg pain, and arm pain, collectively achieving the effect of promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis, which is known as Huoluo Xiaoling Dan. This formula can be decocted for oral administration or taken as a powder with yellow wine, effectively relieving various types of blood stasis pain. However, excessive use may harm the spleen and stomach's vital qi, so it should be used with caution in individuals with weak constitutions.
Zhang Xichun said, "Huoluo Xiaoling Dan is effective in treating heart and abdominal pain, regardless of whether it is caused by cold, heat, qi stagnation, or blood stagnation."
2. For sores, abscesses, and swelling pain. Danshen can cool the blood and also disperse stasis. When combined with heat-clearing and detoxifying herbs, it enhances the ability to reduce abscesses and swelling. For treating breast abscesses and swelling pain, it is often combined with blood-activating and heat-clearing herbs such as frankincense, honeysuckle, and forsythia, as seen in the formula Xiao Ru Tang.
3. For warm-heat diseases with heat entering the nutrient-blood level, presenting symptoms such as high fever, occasional delirium, restlessness and insomnia, or faint rashes, red and crimson tongue, as well as palpitations, anxiety, insomnia, and other symptoms. Danshen (Salvia miltiorrhiza) not only activates blood and cools blood but also nourishes blood and calms the mind, making it an essential herb for cooling blood and activating blood circulation. For treating warm-heat diseases, it is often combined with Shengdi (Rehmannia root), Xuanshen (Scrophularia root), and Zhuye (Bamboo leaf), as seen in the Qingying Decoction.
If treating palpitations, restlessness, and insomnia, it is often combined with blood-nourishing and mind-calming herbs such as ginseng, polygala root, sour jujube seed, and schisandra, as in the Tianwang Buxin Dan.
4. Modern applications include various conditions of blood stasis or poor blood circulation, such as hepatosplenomegaly, coronary heart disease, angina pectoris, and other circulatory diseases.
If treating chest impediment and chest oppression due to qi stagnation and blood stasis, coronary heart disease, and angina pectoris, it is often combined with Panax notoginseng and borneol to collectively promote blood circulation, remove blood stasis, regulate qi, and relieve pain, forming the patent medicine Danshen Dripping Pills.
If combined with American ginseng, kudzu root, and Panax notoginseng, grind them into fine powder and take a small amount daily. This can significantly improve circulation and enhance physical function for individuals with "three highs" conditions such as arteriosclerosis, hypertension, and hyperglycemia.
If treating qi stagnation and blood stasis, with both qi and yin deficiency, presenting symptoms such as "three excesses" (polyphagia, polydipsia, polyuria), a dark purple tongue or with petechiae, or distended sublingual veins, or pain, it is often combined with Puerariae Lobatae Radix (Ge Gen), which can enhance the effects of promoting blood circulation, removing blood stasis, and generating new blood, and also has the effect of lowering blood sugar.
In the treatment of various blood-related syndromes, or yin deficiency with fever, persistent low-grade fever, or rheumatic heat arthralgia, it is often combined with Cortex Moutan to jointly achieve the effects of cooling blood, promoting blood circulation, removing stasis and generating new tissue, as well as clearing and dispersing pathogenic heat.
If treating blood stasis amenorrhea in women or conditions like benign prostatic hyperplasia in men, it is often combined with Angelica sinensis and Vaccaria segetalis. These three herbs together enter the liver meridian and blood aspect, enhancing the effects of resolving masses, dispersing accumulations, promoting blood circulation, and facilitating smooth flow.
For treating various coronary heart diseases and conditions of poor blood circulation, regardless of deficiency or excess, it can be combined with ginseng or Codonopsis pilosula to jointly achieve the effects of replenishing qi, nourishing blood, promoting blood circulation, and unblocking the vessels. As the saying goes, "Qi propels blood flow." When Salvia miltiorrhiza is assisted by ginseng, the power to unblock the vessels is greater; when ginseng is paired with Salvia miltiorrhiza, the tonifying effect is stronger. The combination of these two herbs enhances their efficacy. Contemporary masters of traditional Chinese medicine, Li Furen and Yan Dexin, both used the combination of ginseng and Salvia miltiorrhiza in their respective formulations of "Yixin Decoction," which can be described as a remarkable coincidence.
Zheng Dianyi said, "Danshen nourishes the spirit and stabilizes the mind, promotes the smooth flow of blood vessels, and indeed has miraculous effects."
III. Usage and Dosage
Danshen is often used in decoctions and can also be made into pills or powders. The usual dosage in decoctions ranges from a few grams to over ten grams. If it serves as the main ingredient in a formula, it can be used in amounts of several tens of grams or more to achieve a stronger effect in promoting blood circulation and unblocking meridians.
Although it is said that Salvia miltiorrhiza alone has the effects of the Four Substances Decoction, the primary effect of Salvia miltiorrhiza is to promote blood circulation, followed by nourishing blood. The primary effect of the Four Substances Decoction is to tonify blood, followed by promoting blood circulation. The characteristics of their effects differ and should not be generalized.
IV. Application Precautions
Danshen is cold in nature and promotes circulation, so it should be used with caution in individuals with weak constitution and cold deficiency, or it should be combined with other herbs for application.
Since ancient times, there has been the saying of "opposing Veratrum," which remains to be confirmed.
Practical Notes on Traditional Chinese Medicine: Modified at 1:22 AM on January 21#TCM Practical Notes#
