Chinese Medicine: Starting with Daily Intelligence

Chapter 612: Chapter 612: Too Expensive

The child’s mother asked, a little confused, "Isn’t that something people used to say back when they were poor? What era are we in now? Do we still need to worry about that? Isn’t that all just superstitious thinking from the old days?"

Li Xu shook his head and said seriously, "How could the experience accumulated over so many generations, by so many famous doctors, be nothing but superstitious thinking? People nowadays are always quick to use the phrase ’times have changed’ to dismiss many of the old ways. In reality, this is a kind of blind confidence and rebelliousness."

"People often make up excuses and find reasons just to make themselves feel comfortable and to convince themselves. They call ancient wisdom superstition and good habits ignorance. And the result? Children today eat better, but their constitutions are getting worse and worse. We’re seeing more and more chubby kids and children with allergies. Isn’t that something worth reflecting on?"

As he spoke, Li Xu couldn’t help but sigh internally.

The more he studied Traditional Chinese Medicine, the deeper he delved into its theoretical system, the more Li Xu could feel the vastness and profundity of Chinese culture and the great wisdom of the ancients.

The saying "The more you know, the more you realize how little you know" was truly a pearl of wisdom.

"I’ll remember that. Thank you, Dr. Li."

The child’s mother nodded thoughtfully. She took the packet of herbs from Song Sisi, thanked Li Xu again, and left with her child.

After seeing the mother and child off, the consultation room fell silent.

"Xiao Li, your skills are very impressive."

Professor Zhang Liang, who had been sitting quietly to the side, couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration, "I think your skill in diagnosis by observation, and your approach to prescribing medicine, are already on par with us old-timers."

The little boy’s case just now wasn’t especially complex, but for Li Xu to have accurately determined the boy’s pathogenesis and prescribed medication so precisely based solely on observation and inquiry—without even taking his pulse—demonstrated a truly high level of skill.

In particular, his use of Jade Screen Powder with ginger juice, which both consolidated the exterior and dispelled cold, was a masterstroke.

"Elder Zhang, you praise me too much."

Li Xu waved his hand humbly. "I’m just an amateur showing off in front of masters. There is still much I need to learn from you two."

Then, he seized the opportunity to suggest, "Elder Zhang, you’re a leading expert in pediatrics and a master of gynecology. It’s rare to have you here. Could we trouble you to see some patients, so that we juniors can observe and learn from you?"

Gao Guanghui chimed in with a smile from the side, "That’s right, Old Liang. Don’t hold back. Show us a thing or two and teach this student of mine. Let him see the bearing of a true master."

Zhang Liang’s interest was piqued. He stroked his beard and readily agreed, "Alright! I’ll pull rank with my age this once and oversee things for you all."

「And so, they switched places.」

Zhang Liang sat down in the primary consultation seat, while Li Xu pulled up a chair to the side, observing intently like an intern.

Before long, the door to the consultation room was pushed open.

A couple in their thirties entered.

The woman appeared to be around thirty-five. Her face was somewhat wan, and she walked while clutching her stomach, clearly in discomfort.

After a round of questioning, they learned that the woman had already given birth to two children.

After her second child, she had an accidental pregnancy and underwent two consecutive abortions.

Ever since then, her menstrual cycle had become irregular.

Her menstrual flow gradually increased, sometimes becoming like a hemorrhage, and was accompanied by large blood clots and severe abdominal pain.

She had previously seen a Western medicine doctor, had an ultrasound, and was diagnosed with "endometrial hyperplasia."

She had taken Western medications like progesterone, which would stop the bleeding while she was on them, but it would recur as soon as she stopped. Her period would often drag on for ten to fifteen days without fully stopping. Sometimes, it would only be clear for two days before the spotting started all over again.

Today was the second day of her period. Not only was the flow torrential, but she also had significant tenderness in her lower abdomen upon palpation, and the pain was so severe she couldn’t stand up straight.

Zhang Liang carefully examined the patient’s tongue. The body of the tongue was dark red, its edges were purplish-dark with stasis spots, and her pulse was string-like, choppy, and forceful.

"This is blood stasis and obstruction, preventing new blood from being generated and causing blood to move outside the vessels."

Zhang Liang quickly made his diagnosis. "This falls under the category of ’beng-lou’ (uterine bleeding). The pattern is excess heat stagnating in the lower jiao, with blood stasis obstructing the uterus. The treatment principle should be to invigorate blood, transform stasis, purge the uterine collaterals, and expel the old to bring forth the new."

With that, he picked up a pen and wrote out a prescription.

Li Xu, watching from the side, softly read the formula’s name aloud: "Is this... Elder He’s ’Blood Exhaustion and Lumps Dissolving Soup’?"

"You know Elder He’s Blood Exhaustion and Lumps Dissolving Soup too?"

Zhang Liang glanced at Li Xu in surprise and asked with a smile.

"I’ve read Elder He’s case studies before. It left a deep impression on me," Li Xu replied.

The Elder He whom Li Xu mentioned was a late National Medical Master and a renowned sage of gynecology.

And the formula Zhang Liang had prescribed was precisely Elder He’s empirical formula for treating severe cases of gynecological blood stasis. One could even call it a potent medicine.

"Is there a problem with this formula?"

Zhang Liang asked with a smile, assuming Li Xu had simply recognized the formula.

Li Xu paused in thought before speaking slowly, "The patient has had two previous abortions, her physiological functions are disordered, her uterine collaterals are damaged, and there is definitely internal blood stasis. Judging from her pulse and symptoms, Elder He’s Blood Exhaustion and Lumps Dissolving Soup is indeed the correct formula for the pattern and a strategy to treat the root cause."

"However..."

Li Xu changed his tone. "The patient has given birth twice and had two abortions. Her uterine bleeding has persisted for a long time, leaving her deficient in both qi and blood. Although she’s currently presenting with an excess pattern of blood stasis, her underlying constitution is already very weak."

"Using Peach Kernel and prepared Da Huang together in the formula creates a very strong effect of breaking up blood and expelling stasis. It will inevitably worsen diarrhea and damage her stomach qi. The patient is already deficient; I’m afraid she won’t be able to withstand such a harsh attack."

Zhang Liang was taken aback.

When he had asked Li Xu if there was a problem, it was really just an offhand question, with a hint of testing him.

He hadn’t expected Li Xu to actually point out a problem, and one that hit the nail on the head.

He re-examined his prescription, then looked at the pale-faced patient, his brow gradually furrowing.

’It’s true. I was so focused on treating the ’disease’ that I neglected the ’person’.’

"Also," Li Xu continued, "the dried lacquer in the formula is toxic. Although it can break up blood stasis, it has significant side effects. Myrrh is bitter and acrid, which can easily upset the stomach and affect her appetite."

Zhang Liang looked at his prescription again: powdered dragon’s blood, dried lacquer, prepared myrrh, pangolin scales, Peach Kernel, prepared Da Huang...

Now, after hearing Li Xu’s analysis, it seemed all the potent herbs in the formula had become problematic.

The dried lacquer and myrrh couldn’t be used, and the Peach Kernel and Da Huang had to be used with caution.

The formula was practically torn to shreds.

Then, Li Xu leaned in closer and added in a low voice, "And... Professor Zhang, pangolins are now a Class I nationally protected animal. The scales are extremely expensive and it’s hard to find a legitimate source. Even substitutes aren’t cheap."

"Look at the patient’s clothes—they’re quite plain. Her family’s financial situation is clearly average. A single dose of this medicine would cost several hundred yuan. Is prescribing something like this placing too great a financial burden on the patient?"

Zhang Liang: "..."

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