Lungs
Treating Asthma with Chinese Medicine
Apart from what can be done via acupuncture and massage (for another article), what is there in Traditional Chinese Medicine to help a person suffering from asthma?
What is Asthma (哮病)?
For a person suffering from Asthma, the breathing passages of his lungs (bronchioles) are chronically inflammed. Because it is chronically inflamed, the breathing passages (airways) of the person with asthma are highly sensitive to “triggers.” When triggered, the passages swell and fill with phlegm. This phelgm is also what Chinese Medicine uses to characterize the disease: 哮喘专主于痰. At the same time, bronchospasm (constriction of bronchial smooth muscles) occurs, narrowing the airways, hence hindering the process of exhalation and causing the wheezing sound and the fight for air. Apart from wheezing, the milder symptoms include a tightness in the chest, plus a need to cough out the phlegm. When it gets worse, we’ll see a breathless guy who’s tight even around the neck as he struggles to breathe. Dysfunctional respiratory exchange will cause him to turn blue around the lips and fingernail beds. His chest is not just feeling tight, you will see the skin sucked in around the rib cage. And when it gets really bad, there’ll be no wheezing on inhalation or exhalation – what we call “the silent chest.”
My present take on the situation is that beta-agonists are the best solution for any acute attack, this despite the fact that Chinese Medicine textbooks today still have formulas for treating different type of asthma attacks. Of course, many of the formulas contain ephedra (麻黄) as the core herb, which in turn contains ephedrine as the core ingredient. We know that ephedrine is a beta-2 agonist which increases cAMP levels in the smooth muscle cells of the bronchioles, causing calcium levels to fall, and hence taking away the food it needs to further contraction. Ephedrine also act along other pathways , but more on this in another article. The point it: why not just use a pure beta-agonist instead?
However, when it comes of maintenance of your lung function (read: peak flow), perhaps chinese herbs are superior?
Chinese Herbs for Asthma:
Students of Chinese Medicine understand that the spleen is the source of phelgm. What is meant here is that a weak spleen is why people have asthma. In that case, the solution is to build your spleen to keep your lungs working well – the chinese version of this would be to build the Earth to generate Metal (培土生金).
Six Nobles Decoction (六君子汤) would be a basic formula to work around. Onto this herb base we could always add or substitute herbs like Shanyao (山药), Yiyiren (薏苡仁) and even Wuweizi (五味子).
Note that Six Nobles (六君子) is actually a combination of Four Nobles (四君子) - to build spleen qi – and Erchen Decoction (二陈汤) – to clear phlegm. Constitution is of important consideration here, and many people with Asthma also possess a weak exterior. If this weak exterior is characterized by ease of sweating, Prepared Astragalus (炙黄芪) and Wheat Chaff (浮小麦) can be added; for those who are catch colds easily, we can lay on the idea of Cinnamon Twig Decoction (桂枝汤), with a special emphasis on CInnamon Twig (桂枝) and Peony (芍药). Anti-phlegm herbs can be added to - two common ones are Qianhu (前胡) and Xingren (杏仁).
If we also observe kidney qi weakness and breathlessness as part of the package, then adding stuff for the kidney to the above selection is crucial.
Start by adding 生脉饮. In TCM-speak, this gives power to both your qi and your yin.
Next, add the Kidney qi suckers, stuff that will help the kidneys bring down the air from the Lungs – please just treat this as an image. Kidney yin ‘qi suckers’ include Rehmannia Root (生地黄), Cordyceps (虫草) and Placenta (紫河车); yang ‘qi suckers’ include walnut (胡桃肉), Buguzhi (补骨脂), Xianlingpi (仙灵脾)，Lujiaopian (鹿角片) and Cinnamon (肉桂).
And of course, any sign of dryness attributed to a dearth of yin in the lungs will require herbs like Shashen (沙参) and Lily Bulb (百合).
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Hi Joshua,
I read with interest your article about the possible ways that TCM could help with asthma patients. My wife and I are concerned as we have a son who had asthma since when he was 1 year old (he’s now 14). He’s currently in Secondary school, which means that he has to eat out usually while having only one home-cooked meal each day. For nutritional supplement, he is taking spirulina, Colostrum and vitamin C tablets every other day.
The degree of the attacks (when it comes) has not been as severe as when he was much younger. Whenever he catches a cold, the build-up of phlegm is always accompanied. His breathing is then laboured and he would have to take medications to clear it.
Would appreciate if you could suggest a herbal concoction that would help to reduce the build-up of phlegm for my son. The preparation process would be most helpful too.
Best Regards.