How to prevent aconite poisoning

Although aconite can be used as a medicine, if you do not pay attention to the correct method and some taboos, poisoning will occur and the harm caused will be relatively large. Therefore, in order to prevent aconite poisoning, it must be used in limited amounts and not blindly according to the situation.

1. Is the diagnosis accurate?

The medicine will only be effective if it corresponds to the symptoms. If the medicine is not suitable for the condition, it can only have adverse effects on the body and even cause side effects. There is no point in talking about medicine without the patient. Aconite is a very hot product and can only be used for internal cold syndrome or yang deficiency syndrome. If the syndrome differentiation is unclear and the medicine is used for heat syndrome or deficiency-heat syndrome, it will produce hidden side effects to the body even if there is no poisoning. The ancients clearly stated: "If you are sick, you should treat the disease; if you are healthy, you should treat the disease." Compared with Western medicine, the side effects of Chinese medicine are more terrible. Many of them are hidden rather than obvious, which can easily lead to misunderstanding. This may be a misunderstanding among the general public that "Chinese medicine has no side effects." ?

2. Limited application?

The dosage should be as consistent as possible with the provisions of the pharmacopoeia to avoid unnecessary medical disputes. If you want to use a large dose, you should start with a small dose. Based on the accumulation of certain experience, gradually increase the dosage. If you do not have rich clinical experience, whether in terms of medical disputes or in terms of responsibility to patients, you should still follow the principle of "not seeking to be successful, but seeking to avoid mistakes." It sounds selfish. But what if you get poisoned? Besides, an old Chinese doctor once told me: It doesn’t matter if you can’t cure the disease, but you must not make the patient worse. - That is, do not cause drug-induced diseases. It sounds quite reasonable. ?

3. Detoxification?

The textbooks clearly point out that reasonable drug combinations can reduce the toxicity or side effects of drugs. I believe that the toxicity of aconite will be greatly reduced if it is combined with ginger, dried ginger, licorice, etc. There are several references:

Licorice and ginger are often used in the processing of aconite, which is discussed in detail in the Chinese medicine processing theory. ?

Looking through the works of Zhang Zhongjing, we see the following medicines used in the Si Ni recipe: Si Ni Tang (2 liang of roasted licorice, 1.5 liang of dried ginger, and one raw aconite). This recipe contains both licorice and dried ginger. Analyzing the dosage (1 liang = 15g, one aconite = 15g), it is not difficult to see that the amounts of licorice and dried ginger are not less than that of aconite. Moreover, aconite is mostly used raw in the Si Ni recipe. Zhenwu Decoction uses one roasted aconite and three liang of fresh ginger, which far exceeds the amount of aconite used. When Zhongjing used Daqinglong Decoction, he was afraid of excessive sweating, so he made clear instructions after the prescription. However, the prescription containing aconite does not clearly point out the remedy for aconite poisoning. This is not difficult to understand. There has never been any poisoning caused by Zhongjing using aconite, and he has not seen any case of poisoning because the combination was well made.

4. Long-term frying to reduce poison?

According to the textbook requirements, it should be fried for 30-60 minutes until it no longer tastes spicy. But not all amounts need to be fry first. If it is less than 15g, I think it does not need to be fry first. According to the relevant requirements of Chinese medicine prescriptions, when prescribing "Aconite", the pharmacy must provide "Processed Aconite" and must never give "Raw Aconite". Moreover, according to my understanding, most pharmacies do not have raw products, only processed ones. ?

Pharmacological studies have found that decocting aconite first can significantly reduce its toxicity, while its cardiotonic and analgesic effects are not affected by the length of decocting time. ?