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A Handful of Forsythia: Treating Seven Conditions Including Acute Nephritis, Purpura, and Retinal Hemorrhage
Forsythia, which some of us may have seen, has many medicinal values. Below, we will introduce it, especially suitable for those who live far from hospitals and pharmacies, as it may be inconvenient to buy medicine. For those who can easily buy medicine, it is better to do so.
Forsythia is the dried fruit of the plant Forsythia suspensa. The fruit is harvested in autumn when it is initially ripe and still green, cleaned of impurities, steamed, and dried, commonly referred to as “qingqiao”; when the fruit is fully ripe, it is harvested, dried, and cleaned of impurities, commonly referred to as “laoqiao”. It grows abundantly in wild hills and slopes, and is cultivated in various regions. It is distributed in Liaoning, Hebei, Henan, Shandong, Jiangsu, Hubei, Jiangxi, Yunnan, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, and other areas, with the main production in Shanxi, Henan, Shaanxi, and Shandong. Additionally, it is also produced in Hubei, Hebei, Sichuan, and Gansu.
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) believes that Forsythia is bitter and slightly cold. It belongs to the Lung (Fei), Heart (Xin), and Small Intestine (Xiao Chang) meridians. It can clear heat and detoxify, reduce swelling and disperse nodules. It is used for abscesses, scrofula, mastitis, erysipelas, wind-heat colds, initial stages of warm diseases, heat entering the nutritive level, high fever with thirst, delirium with rashes, and heat stranguria with urinary retention.
Modern research shows that Forsythia has antibacterial properties, which can inhibit typhoid bacillus, paratyphoid bacillus, Escherichia coli, dysentery bacillus, diphtheria bacillus, cholera vibrio, staphylococcus, and streptococcus.
The specific therapeutic effects of Forsythia are as follows:
1. Treatment of Acute Nephritis
Take Forsythia 18 grams, add water and simmer over low heat until 150 milliliters, divide into 3 doses before meals, reduce for children. Depending on the condition, take continuously for 5 to 10 days, avoiding spicy foods and salt. In 8 cases, all patients had edema, blood pressure ranged from 140 to 200/96 to 110 mmHg, and urine tests showed protein, granular casts, and red and white blood cells. After treatment, 6 cases had complete resolution of edema, 2 cases showed significant improvement; blood pressure decreased significantly; urine tests showed 6 cases turned negative, 2 cases improved.
2. Treatment of Purpura
Take Forsythia 18 grams, add water and simmer to 150 milliliters, divide into 3 doses before meals, avoiding spicy foods. Treating 1 case of thrombocytopenic purpura and 2 cases of allergic purpura. After 2 to 7 days of treatment, all skin purpura disappeared. The effect of Forsythia on this disease may be related to its high content of rutin, which helps maintain normal capillary resistance, reducing capillary fragility and permeability; additionally, Forsythia seems to have a desensitizing effect.
3. Treatment of Retinal Hemorrhage
Take Forsythia 18 to 21 grams, simmer in water, divide into 3 doses before meals. In 2 cases of retinal hemorrhage in the macular area, after taking the medicine for 20 to 27 days, both showed significant absorption and improvement in vision.
4. Forsythia and Yuzhu Tea
Ingredients: Forsythia 10g, Yuzhu 3g, Green Tea 5g.
Method: Brew with 200ml of boiling water for 10 minutes, drink until the flavor is mild.
Function: Clears heat and detoxifies, reduces swelling and disperses nodules; antibacterial.
Indications: Externally contracted febrile diseases; rashes; sores; inflammation.
5. Forsythia Tea
Ingredients: Forsythia 20g, Green Tea 3g.
Method: Boil with 250ml of water for 5 minutes to make tea, drink frequently until the flavor is mild. Alternatively, it can be directly brewed with 200ml of boiling water.
Function: Detoxifies and disperses nodules.
Indications: Erythema toxin; acute nephritis; purpura.
6. Mint and Forsythia Soup
[Prescription] Honeysuckle 30 grams, Forsythia 15 grams, Rehmannia 15 grams, Burdock Seed 9 grams, Anemarrhena 9 grams, Fresh Bamboo Leaves 6 grams, Mint 3 grams, Mung Bean Husk 3 grams.
[Function and Indications] Disperses wind and removes pathogens, clears heat and detoxifies. Indicated for gum swelling and pain, parotid swelling with heat, thirst with red tongue, and floating rapid pulse.
[Dosage] Decoction for oral administration.