Research Of The Couple Of Drugs With Clearing-heat In Shanghanlun

Objective The application of "couple of drugs" is one of the main features of Zhongjin theory."A couple of drugs" is a compatibility of medicines which would be paired up relatively regularly and it is considered as the smallest unit of pair up in traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions. The two medicines assist each other in elaborating their strengths. This method of medicine pair up is widely employed clinically. The present study summarized the couplets of medicines with heat-clearing effect for healing heat-disease in Shanghanlun. Investigating the law of Zhongjin’s using medicine in heat-clearing by the view of "couple of drugs" not only can deepen our understanding of Zhongjin’s heat-clearing, but also can improve the accuracy and effectiveness of clinical use of medicines. Blindness would be reduced and the prescription would be more precise. The compatibility would be more accurate and the clinical adaptability would be enhanced. MethodLiterature review was employed in the study, including scrutinizing the original of Shanghanlun, analyzing its commentaries and remarks by famous scholars, investigating the research materials related to the law of Zhongjin’s using medicine, examining clinical reports of the followers as well as reviewing the case reports of experts. In the study, summarization of the "couple of drugs" with heat-clearing effect was conducted. The characteristic and functions of the pairs up were analyzed in order to investigate the feature of Zhongjin’s using medicine. The clinical application of Zhongjin and the followers were reviewed. ConclusionThere were two types of "couple of drugs". One is the couplet as a prescription, i.e., the prescription only contains one couplet of medicines. The other is the couplet within the prescription, i.e., the prescription contains one or more couplets. Zhongjin’s heat-clearing is a treatment of heat-disease by employing medicines with bitter-cold and pungent-cold properties and flavors. Using a pair of medicines with cold and cool properties as couplets of medicines can significantly enhance the heat-clearing effect, expand the treatment effect and even produce new effects. In addition, toxicity and side effects could be restricted (toxic reduce).