What are the main effects and actions of Songaria Cynomorium?
Songaria Cynomorium, also known as the herb of immortality, ground hairball, yellow bone wolf, etc., is the dried fleshy stem of the plant Cynomorium songaricum in the family Cynomoriaceae. As a medicinal herb, it has the effects of tonifying kidney yang, benefiting essence and blood, and moistening the intestines to relieve constipation. It has therapeutic effects on conditions such as kidney yang deficiency, essence and blood depletion, soreness and weakness of the waist and knees, impotence and spermatorrhea, and dry intestines with constipation. Let us now take a look at the effects and actions of Songaria Cynomorium!
Medicinal Effects of Songaria Cynomorium
[Nature and Flavor] Sweet in taste, warm in nature.
[Meridian Entry] Liver, kidney, and large intestine meridians.
[Effects] Tonifies kidney yang, benefits essence and blood, moistens the intestines to relieve constipation. Indicated for kidney yang deficiency, essence and blood depletion, soreness and weakness of the waist and knees, impotence and spermatorrhea, and dry intestines with constipation.
Medicinal Discussions of Songaria Cynomorium
1. "Bencao Yanyi Buyi": Tonifies yin qi. Used to treat deficiency with dry and knotted stools.
2. "Gangmu": Moistens dryness and nourishes the sinews. Treats flaccidity and weakness.
3. "Bencao Yuanshi": Tonifies yin blood and deficiency fire, invigorates yang and secures essence, strengthens yin and benefits marrow.
4. "Inner Mongolia Chinese Herbal Medicine": Treats impotence and spermatorrhea, soreness and weakness of the waist and legs, neurasthenia, and constipation in the elderly.
Medicinal Prescriptions of Songaria Cynomorium
1. To treat flaccidity: Phellodendron bark half a jin (stir-fried with wine), tortoise plastron four liang (roasted with wine), Anemarrhena rhizome two liang (stir-fried with wine), prepared rehmannia, tangerine peel, and white peony root two liang each, Cynomorium one and a half liang, tiger bone one liang (roasted), dried ginger half a liang. Grind the above into powder, form pills with wine paste or congee paste.
2. To treat weak yang and deficient essence, declining yin and exhausted blood, dry and parched large intestine, and constipation with no bowel movement: Cynomorium three jin. With clear water five dou, decoct twice to a thick juice, combine the two decoctions, simmer in a sand pot to a paste, refine with eight liang of honey to set, store in a porcelain bottle. Take more than ten teaspoons each time before meals in the morning, noon, and evening, dissolved in warm wine.
3. To treat kidney deficiency with spermatorrhea and impotence: Cynomorium, fossilized bone, Cistanche, mantis egg-case, and poria each in equal portions. Grind together into powder, refine with honey into pills, take three qian each time, once in the morning and once in the evening.
4. To treat impotence and premature ejaculation: Cynomorium five qian, codonopsis and Chinese yam four qian each, raspberry three qian. Decoct in water and take.
5. To treat weakness of qi and yin deficiency in the elderly with dry and knotted stools: Cynomorium and mulberry fruit five qian each. Decoct in water to obtain a thick juice, add one liang of white honey, take in two divided doses.
6. To treat urinary tract infection with blood in urine: Cynomorium and Japanese honeysuckle stem five qian each, cogongrass rhizome one liang. Decoct in water and take.
7. To treat gastric ulcer: Cynomorium and viviparous bistort three qian each. Decoct in water and take.
8. To treat indigestion: Cynomorium five qian. Decoct in water and take.
9. To treat leukorrhea: Cynomorium five qian, Russian olive bark three qian. Decoct in water and take.
10. To treat second-degree uterine prolapse: Cynomorium five qian, Akebia stem three qian, plantain seed three qian, licorice three qian, schisandra fruit three qian, jujube three pieces. Decoct in water and take.
11. To treat stomach pain and hyperacidity: Cynomorium four liang, calcined gypsum five liang, red salt one qian, gentian one liang, rock sugar ten liang. Grind together into fine powder, take three qian each time.
12. To treat heart disease: Cynomorium collected in winter, fried in lard (or butter), then regularly infused as tea, with twenty days as one course of treatment.
Medicinal Contraindications of Songaria Cynomorium
1. "Bencao Congxin": Contraindicated for diarrhea and for those who easily have erections but unstable essence.
2. "Depei Bencao": For loose stools, unstable essence, constipation due to excess fire, easy erection of the penis, and heart deficiency with qi distention, all are prohibited.
Pharmacological Actions of Songaria Cynomorium
1. Free radical scavenging effect: Cynomorium can enhance superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in mouse serum and mitochondria, and can effectively scavenge free radicals in mice. In addition, Cynomorium can also increase lipid peroxidase activity, thereby having an anti-aging effect. Furthermore, it also has a preventive effect on arteriosclerosis.
2. Effect on immune function: Cynomorium has the effect of enhancing animal immune function. Experiments have shown that it significantly promotes humoral immunity in yang-deficient and normal mice, and its mechanism may be related to increasing spleen lymph nodes, etc. Cynomorium can increase the reduced neutrophils in yang-deficient mice, thereby enhancing the body's defense function.
3. Hypoxia tolerance and anti-stress effects: The total sugars, total glycosides, and total steroids of Cynomorium can prolong the survival time of mice under normobaric hypoxia and hypoxia induced by isoproterenol sulfate, prolong the survival time of mice injected intravenously with air, and can increase the mouth-opening duration and number of mouth openings in decapitated mice.
4. Effect on glucocorticoids: Experiments show that Cynomorium extract can significantly elevate serum cortisol in the model medication group of mice and restore it to normal levels, while having no effect on serum cortisol concentration in normal mice, indicating that Cynomorium has a bidirectional regulatory effect on glucocorticoids.
5. Laxative effect: The inorganic ions contained in Cynomorium can significantly enhance intestinal peristalsis and shorten the defecation time in mice. The soluble inorganic salt content is about 7%, and the large amount of inorganic ions contained can form saline laxatives such as magnesium sulfate, sodium sulfate, and sodium phosphate in aqueous solution, thereby producing a bowel-moistening and laxative effect.
6. Effect on the reproductive system: It is generally believed that Cynomorium can strengthen yang, but unprocessed Cynomorium can significantly reduce testicular function. However, after processing with salt, it significantly promotes the function of the testes, epididymis, and preputial glands in normal and yang-deficient mice. In the aqueous extract of Cynomorium, the sperm count and survival rate in the epididymis of mature rats significantly increase, and sperm motility is enhanced, making it a commonly used drug for treating male infertility.