Comparative summaries of 祛痰止咳平喘药
By Karina • Jun 2nd, 2008 • Category: CoughComparative Summaries:
- 桔梗, like 款冬花, is able to 祛痰, 止咳 and 平喘.
- For 祛痰: the mechanism is related to the presence of active ingredient 皂苷. In this aspect though, 桔梗 is much more powerful, holding full sway together with 前胡 (think 败毒散 and 杏苏散 where they are used together) and 皂荚.
- For 平喘: 桔梗’s 皂苷 is an antagonist - it inhibits histamine release that causes bronchial spasm; 款冬花 is an agonist - it does so by dilating the bronchial smooth muscles.
- Both 紫菀 and 款冬花 are both anti-tussive and expectorant. However, 款冬花 is slightly more talented (note it has three characters instead of two) and can also treat breathing difficulty via dilation of bronchial smooth muscle.
- 百部, the lead character in 止嗽散, works by affecting the cough center. That’s the similarity it shares with 苦杏仁 and 半夏.
- 贝母’s role: not that 川贝 is an expectorant, while 浙贝 is for 平喘.
苦杏仁 does not 祛痰. It however is able to 止咳 and 平喘.
How it can 止咳 and 平喘:
In the lower digestive tract, a portion of its metabolites are 氢氰酸（HCN aka hydrogen cyanide aka hydrocyanic acid）, which is what inhibits the cough center.
How it can also affect digestion:
Another metabolite is 苯甲醛（C7H6O aka benaldehyde aka denzoic aldehyde）DOES NOT AID DIGESTION. it inhibits the activity of 胃蛋白酶.
That said, the the seed oils help you shit well.