The Chinese medical treatment of psoriasis - Chinese Medicine Update

Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients, May, 2003 by Bob Flaws

Treatment method

The basic internally administered Chinese medicinal formula consisted of: Cornu Bubali (Shui Niu Jiao), 40g, uncooked Radix Rehmanniae (Sheng Di), Radix Salviae Miltiorrhizae (Dan Shen), Rhizoma Smilacis Glabrae (Tu Fu Ling), and Herba Oldenlandiae Diffusae Cum Radice (Bai Hua She She Cao), 30g each, Fructus Tribuli Terrestris (Bai Ji Li) and Rhizoma Polygoni Bistortae (Chong Lou), 20g each, Cortex Radicis Moutan (Dan Pi) and Radix Rubrus Paeoniae Lactiflorae (Chi Shao), 12g, Radix Angelicae Sinensis (Dang Gui), 10g, Rhizoma Curcumae Zedoariae (E Zhu) and Radix Glycyrrhizae (Gan Cao), 6g, and Pulvis Indigonis (Qing Dai), 3g. One ji of these medicinals was decocted in water and administered per day. If blood heat was exuberant, 15 grams of Os Antelopis Saiga-tatarici (Ling Yang Gu) were added and Dang Gui was removed. If, after administration, there was diarrhea, 15 grams of Rhizoma Atractylodis Macrocephalae (Bai Zhu) were added. Results were assessed after two months of administration.

Treatment outcomes

Cure was defined as complete disappearance of the lesions or their receding by 95% or more. Improvement meant the lesions receded 50% or more, and no cure meant that the lesions receded less than 50%. Based on these criteria, there were 53 cases which were judged cured, 28 cases which were judged improved, and five cases which were not cured. Thus the total amelioration rate was 94.2%. On follow-up after six months to one year, there were 38 cases of recurrence among the 53 cases initially cured. After a second course of treatment with this protocol, 34 of these were cured and four improved. In terms of side effects, 12 cases experienced diarrhea with bowel movements 2-3 times per day after taking these medicinals for 1-3 days. If diarrhea persisted after four days, which it did in four cases, Bai Hua She She Cao was reduced to 15 grams and 15 grams of Bai Zhu were added, at which point the stools returned to normal.

Discussion

According to Cao and Liao, this disease is mainly caused by blood aspect or division heat. This heat may be due to recurrent external contraction of the six environmental excess evil qi, unregulated eating and drinking, or internal damage by the seven affects, any of which may cause depression and stagnation of the qi mechanism with enduring depression transforming fire. Then fire, heat, toxins, and evils brew internally in the blood division. When this heat is effused or emitted to the skin, it results in this condition. In addition, heat toxins brewing in the blood division may consume and damage yin and blood, while deep-lying heat depressed and steaming in the blood and fluids may stew the juices and produce stasis. Hence the channels and vessels become obstructed and stagnant. For any and all these reasons, the skin may lose its nourishment. Thus dryness is transformed and wind is engendered locally resulting in dry, silvery scaling.

Within this formula, Shui Niu Jiao, sheng Di, Tu Fu Ling, Bai Hua She She Cao, Chong Lou, Dan Pi, and Qing Dai clear heat, cool the blood, and resolve toxins. Sheng Di also enriches yin and moistens dryness. Dan Shen, Chi Shao, Dang Gui, and E Zhu quicken the blood and transform stasis. Bai Ji Li dispels wind and stops itching, and Gan Cao regulates and harmonizes all the other medicinals in the formula.