I Can Hear the Heart's Voice of Traditional Chinese Medicine-Chapter 356 - 153: Plotting Against Dean Zhang (Part 3)

Traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine can be said to be cars running on completely different roads. The biggest difference between them lies in the fact that in Western medicine, medical practice and medication can be separated. Researchers specialize in pharmaceuticals, manufacturers focus on production, and clinical doctors are only concerned with the application. Both production and application follow their respective technical standard systems.

In contrast, Chinese medicine integrates medical practice and medication. Its drug effects can be applied by doctors, who can also discover them, and the application of medicine is individualized. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

I find this statement very reasonable. In the past, Chinese medicine and herbal practice were indeed inseparable. The processing of the herbs was done personally by the practitioners. Even when busy, students and disciples would inspect the processing, and the practitioners would ensure the final quality.

However, speaking of the present, the integration of Chinese medical practice and medication is very difficult to maintain unless one opens a private clinic. In public hospitals or medical institutions, medicinal materials are generally procured through tenders, making it hard to ensure the quality of drugs.

For people like us, who have been consulting for decades, we have probably seldom visited the pharmacy or seen the medicines, making it impossible to speak about their quality.

At this point, Huang Beishan couldn’t help but sigh.

"It’s probably also very difficult to guarantee quality even if you open a private clinic."

Zhang Jingcai, who had not spoken until this moment, opened his mouth, unusually: "As I always say, good herbs are exported, and what remains are secondary-grade materials. Even if you choose those of higher quality among them, the cost of treatment naturally increases. Even if you offer it to patients at wholesale price, it will not be cheap. This way, the clinic doesn’t make money; instead, it constantly loses money. Short-term loss might be manageable, but in the long term, who can afford it?

Even then, some patients might criticize that your medicine is expensive, much more than the hospital’s. After all, patients won’t care whether the medicine you procured is of higher quality; they only know that your price is higher for the same herbs.

Given this, dare you still purchase high-quality medicinal materials?

Unless you own a gold mine, running a clinic is unrealistic."

The words might be crude, but the reasoning is sound; it is somewhat brutal but factual.

Ultimately, the current societal circumstances are completely different from the ancient times.

"Enough. Let’s not discuss this further. Let’s instead hear from Lu about the detoxification processing of Aconite." Huang Beishan interrupted everyone’s thoughts with a hand gesture.

"Conversations like these won’t be of any use unless we address the fundamental issues. The efficacy of Chinese medicine won’t improve anytime soon unless we focus on getting the desired results from the worst herbs."

Zhang Jingcai nodded, refraining from saying more.

Lu Xuan followed up on the topic of processing Aconite: "Detoxification of Aconite isn’t solely dependent on processing. Aconite’s toxicity can be reduced, and efficacy increased when it is used in combination with other herbs. A reasonable pairing not only lowers Aconite’s toxicity but also enhances the therapeutic effect or broadens its treatment spectrum, making it better suited to complex conditions.

Concerning reducing Aconite toxicity through pairing, ’Shennong’s Materia Medica with Annotations’ mentions: ’Common prescriptions using Aconite must be paired with licorice, ginseng, and fresh ginger for the sole purpose of counteracting its toxicity.’

In ’Treatise on Cold Pathogenic and Miscellaneous Diseases’, Aconite is often paired with fresh ginger, licorice, ginseng, or dry ginger and rhubarb. For example, Zhang Zhongjing’s Four Reversals Soup or Dry Ginger and Aconite Soup uses combinations of dry ginger and Aconite, enhancing ’Returning Yang and Reversing the Pathology’ and ’Warming and Dispelling Cold’, while lowering Aconite’s toxicity.

Take Old Mr. Li, for instance, who always adds twice the amount of baked licorice whenever he uses Aconite.

What does this mean?

It means whenever a prescription includes more than 30g of Aconite, regardless of the original recipe, he adds 60g of baked licorice, achieving twice the quantity. Doing so effectively counters the toxicity without diminishing Aconite’s medicinal properties, yielding optimal therapeutic effects."

"Besides processing and pairing with other herbs, are there other methods to remove Aconite’s toxicity?" Zhang Jiwei asked curiously.

Primarily because he just noticed that Lu Xuan hadn’t processed the Aconite, and was unsure whether the Aconite Lu used was pre-processed. For the patient’s safety, he had to ask a bit more.

Otherwise, what if Lu gets caught up in the conversation and forgets about the toxic Aconite?

Furthermore, Zhang Jiwei himself is somewhat curious about Aconite’s detoxification.

Even though he knows Aconite is toxic, he lacks a deep understanding of Chinese medicine.

"Certainly."

Lu Xuan glanced at Zhang Jiwei and said, "Even if you detoxify through prolonged boiling, the toxicity of Aconite is closely related to the length of boiling time. Insufficient time or improper boiling methods are recognized as causes of Aconite poisoning. Prolonged boiling is now a primary method to reduce its toxicity in clinical Chinese medicine applications.

For instance, in Zhang Zhongjing’s Four Reversals Soup or Thoroughfare Four Reversals Soup recipe, it is noted: ’Boil three liters of water until reduced to one liter and two tenths.’

Like prominent doctors from the Fire God School, whenever Aconite usage exceeds the prescribed amount, the boiling time typically extends over two hours, often used with dry ginger and licorice to reduce toxicity."

"Does that mean the medicine needs to be boiled for at least two hours?" Zhang Jiwei raised his hand, pointing to the decoction pot in front of Lu Xuan.

"The Aconite is used nearly ten times the prescribed limit; two hours is the minimum. If time permits, boiling for three hours is safest. Generally, two hours after the water boils can almost eliminate Aconite’s toxicity, and poisoning is unlikely to occur." Lu Xuan explained.

"Two hours... I hope the patient can endure until the medicine is ready." Zhang Jiwei showed some concern on his face.

"Dean Zhang needn’t worry. Not just two hours; even three or four hours shouldn’t be a problem." Lu Xuan reassured.

Ji Huan is being treated by him personally, so he has some idea of how long she can hold out. Never mind three or four hours, if nothing unexpected happens, five or six hours would suffice. But it’s not something he can directly share with Zhang Jiwei.

Nonetheless, Zhang Jiwei felt slightly relieved hearing this. He then took out his phone and sent a message to Zheng Xianjue: "Keep a close watch on the patient’s condition. Also, it’s getting late now; arrange meals for everyone here for consultation today and send four portions over to the pharmacy. Urgency is urgent, but we can’t save lives on an empty stomach."

"Alright, I’ll arrange it immediately."

Zheng Xianjue replied with a message and then said, "Dean, this patient’s condition seems pretty good. Shouldn’t we send them to the province hospitals?"

"You go and say?" Zhang Jiwei retorted swiftly, silencing Zheng Xianjue.

Would anyone know him if he approached them?

If they hit him with a "Who are you?", it’d be awkward.