BLACK PEARL BP063 WU LING SAN HOELEN FIVE

WU LING SAN
五苓散
Hoelen Five Formula
Product Code: BP063

TCM Actions
Strengthens the Spleen and drains Damp, promotes Qi transformation and diuresis.

Indications
Acute gastroenteritis, acute or chronic nephritis, Meniere’s disease, ascites, congestive heart failure.

Dosage & Course Of Treatment
8 pills, 3 times daily, half to one hour away from food.

Course of treatment: 1 to 3 months.

Signs and Syndromes
Retained Fluid or retained Water (due to Spleen deficiency)

Oedema or fluid retention

Oliguria

Sensation of bodily heaviness

Poor appetite

Fatigue

Pallor

Loose stools or diarrhoea

Tongue has a white and slippery coat

Pulse is slippery and floating or weak and floating or weak, slow and deep and may also be rapid

Cautions & Contraindications
Caution with patients on: diuretics, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), cardiotonic glycosides, antiarrhythmic drugs, laxatives.

Comments
This formula was originally recorded in the ‘Treatise on Cold-induced Diseases’ (shang han lun), by Zhang Zhong-jing (circa 150 – 219 C.E.). It was originally used for invasion of the Bladder (the Greater Yang Fu organ) by exogenous Cold. The pathogen impairs the Bladder’s Qi transformation function, giving rise to urinary retention, distension with a sense of fullness of the lower abdomen, thirst, irritability etc. Like so many of the formulas that Zhang recorded, this one is so brilliantly composed that, while effectively addressing the underlying pathodynamic, its clinical applications extend well beyond the original indications. The formula is composed of three groups of herbs: a) diuretics that expel Damp; b) Spleen tonics that promote the Spleen’s transformation and transportation functions to promote the Fluid metabolism pathways and dispel Damp c) Cinnamon twig. The latter ingredient epitomises Zhang’s genius. On one level, it demonstrates a pretty ‘standard’ sort of approach: release Exterior Wind-Cold. The condition to be treated is due to invasion by exogenous Wind-Cold, which calls for herbs that release the Exterior and expel the pathogens. But Cinnamon twig does much more than that: it also activates the Yang and warms the Channels, promoting the Kidney Yang and the Spleen Yang, which activate the Triple Jiao and the Fluid transformation pathways. The clinical uses of this formula can be divided into four main groups: 1. Retained Fluid in the lower Jiao due to dysfunction of the Bladder 2. Diarrhoea due to retained Damp from Spleen Qi deficiency 3. Oedema due to retained Water 4. Oliguria in a Greater Yang Fu organ syndrome (tai yang fu zheng), due to invasion by exogenous Wind-Cold (original application).

Ingredients
WOLFIPORIA COCOS, FRUIT. BODY (fu ling) – 茯苓 – 85.2 mg
POLYPORUS UMBELLATUS, FRUIT. BODY (zhu ling) – 豬苓 – 85.2 mg
ATRACTYLODES MACROCEPHALA, RHIZ. (bai zhu) – 白朮 – 85.2 mg
ALISMA ORIENTALE, RHIZ. (ze xie) – 澤瀉 – 68.2 mg
CINNAMOMUM CASSIA, TWIG (gui zhi) – 桂枝 – 51.2 mg