What are the effects and uses of coltsfoot flower?
Coltsfoot flower, also known as kanddenghua, aidonghua, jiujiuhua and so on, is the dried flower bud of coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara), a perennial herb of the genus Tussilago in the Asteraceae family. It often grows in valley wetlands or under forests. As a medicine it has the effects of moistening the lungs and directing qi downward, stopping cough and transforming phlegm, and it has a therapeutic effect on recent and chronic cough, asthmatic cough with copious phlegm, and consumptive cough with blood-streaked sputum. Let us take a look at the effects and uses of coltsfoot flower below!
The medicinal effects of coltsfoot flower
[Nature and flavor] Pungent, slightly bitter in flavor, warm in nature.
[Meridian tropism] Lung meridian.
[Effects] Moistens the lungs and directs qi downward, stops cough and transforms phlegm; mainly treats recent and chronic cough, asthmatic cough with copious phlegm, and consumptive cough with blood-streaked sputum.
Medicinal suitability and contraindications of coltsfoot flower
1. "Commentary on the Classic of Materia Medica": Apricot kernel serves as its guide. It is enhanced by Aster (Aster tataricus). It is antagonistic to honeylocust pod, and to xiaowa xuanshen. It is incompatible with Fritillaria, biond magnolia flower bud, ephedra, Scutellaria baicalensis, Coptis chinensis, Astragalus membranaceus, and Celosia argentea.
2. "Veneration of the Original in Materia Medica": It must not be used in cases where lung fire blazes and scorches, and lung qi is scorched and full.
3. "Encountering the Original in Materia Medica": It is prohibited in yin-deficiency consumptive cough.
Clinical applications of coltsfoot flower
1. Treating asthma: Coltsfoot flower is made into an alcoholic extract, 5 milliliters each time (equivalent to 2 qian of crude drug), taken 3 times a day. Thirty-six cases were observed, of which 21 were bronchial asthma and 15 were asthmatic bronchitis complicated by emphysema. The results: markedly effective (after taking the medicine, wheezing subsided and cough lessened within 1 to 2 days, with obvious improvement in maximal mid-expiratory flow rate) in 8 cases, improved (cough and wheezing reduced after taking the medicine for more than 3 days, or reduced but not lasting and not fully resolved) in 19 cases, and ineffective in 9 cases. According to observation, the alcoholic extract of coltsfoot flower has a relieving effect on asthma, but the action is relatively weak, and the long-term effect is also not ideal. During the course of treatment, the more common reaction was nausea, and a few had such phenomena as restlessness and insomnia.
2. Treating chronic bronchitis: Coltsfoot flower and earthworm are processed into a compound coltsfoot flower injection, 2 milliliters each time by intramuscular injection, used continuously for 10 days. Sixty-eight cases were treated: clinically cured 8 cases, markedly effective 32 cases, improved 24 cases, ineffective 4 cases. Preliminary observation showed that after 3 to 4 injections, cough, expectoration and wheezing were obviously reduced, appetite and sleep also improved, and there was also a certain blood-pressure-lowering effect.
Medicinal selected prescriptions of coltsfoot flower
1. Treating sudden onset cough: Coltsfoot flower 2 liang, white mulberry root bark (chopped) and Fritillaria (core removed) and Schisandra chinensis and licorice (roasted, chopped) 0.5 liang each, Anemarrhena rhizome 1 fen, apricot kernel (skin and tip removed, stir-fried, ground) 3 fen. The above seven ingredients are coarsely pounded and sieved; take 3 qian-bi each time, with 1 cup of water, decoct until reduced to 7 parts, remove the dregs and take warm.
2. Treating chronic cough that does not stop: Aster 3 liang, coltsfoot flower 3 liang. The above drugs are coarsely pounded and sieved into a powder; take 3 qian each time, with 1 medium cup of water, add half a fen of fresh ginger, decoct until reduced to 6 parts, remove the dregs and take warm, 3 to 4 times a day.
3. Treating lung abscess with cough and chest fullness, shivering with cold, rapid pulse, dry throat, great thirst, and occasional foul-smelling turbid saliva, with the foul odor long-lasting and vomited pus like rice gruel: Coltsfoot flower 1 liang 5 qian (stems removed), licorice 1 liang (roasted), Platycodon grandiflorus 2 liang, Coix seed 1 liang. The above is made into 10 doses, decocted in water and taken.
4. Treating unremitting asthmatic cough, or blood in the phlegm: Coltsfoot flower and lily (steamed, roasted). The above in equal parts are made into a fine powder, refined with honey into pills the size of a longan. Take 1 pill each time, chew finely after meals and before lying down, swallow with ginger decoction; holding it in the mouth to dissolve is even better.
5. Treating chronic cough: Every morning take coltsfoot flower about the size of an egg, mix with a little honey to moisten the flower, put it into a 1 sheng iron pan, then use a tile bowl with a hole drilled in it, place a small bamboo tube in the hole, a writing brush shaft will also do, the tube should be slightly long; where the bowl and pan meet and where the tube is inserted, seal all with dough so that no air leaks. Place charcoal under the pan; after a short while, coltsfoot smoke will come out from the tube by itself, then hold the tube to the mouth and inhale the smoke and swallow it. If there is slight oppression in the chest, one must raise the head, then pinch the end of the tube with the fingers, do not let the smoke leak out, and continue inhaling the smoke until it is finished. Do this once every five days; when the sixth day arrives, eat a full meal of mutton botuo.
6. Chronic cough that does not heal. In the morning take a small clump of coltsfoot flower, mix with a little honey, put it in a clay pot and burn it to make smoke; leave an opening in the pot to let the smoke out, inhale the smoke through the mouth and swallow it. Do this for five days; on the sixth day, eat a meal of mutton buns, and from then on the illness is cured.
7. Mouth sores. Take coltsfoot flower and Coptis chinensis, equal parts ground into powder, mix with saliva into cakes, rinse the mouth with a decoction of qiangshe Chuandongzi, and apply the cakes to the affected area.