"Eat soil every day, grow meat but not bones, real people don't show their faces, help you plant rice", "slender and long dragon, hide in the soil every day, no hands and feet will work, drill around to loosen the soil" These classic folk proverbs describe earthworms. In addition to being used as fishing bait, earthworms are best known for their ability to loosen soil and increase fertility. In fact, earthworms are not only a good helper for planting crops, but also a very important Chinese medicinal material - Dilong, which has a significant effect on some diseases of the human body, and is often used as a medicine primer even in ancient times. What are the effects of the little earthworm, let An An take you to understand it today.
The story of earthworms in medicine
According to legend, soon after Zhao Kuangyin, Taizu of the Song Dynasty, ascended the throne, he suffered from a disease called "waist snake" (known as "shingles" in modern medicine), and at the same time, asthma also followed. Later, someone recommended a pharmacy shopkeeper nicknamed "Huodongbin" in Luoyang City to treat him, and the pharmacy shopkeeper came to the palace to carefully check Song Taizu's condition, then opened the medicine jar he carried with him and took out a few earthworms, put them in two plates, sprinkled with honey, dissolved them into water, and applied the water in one of the plates to Song Taizu's blisters, Song Taizu immediately felt cool and comfortable, and the pain was reduced. Immediately afterwards, he took another plate of earthworm juice and asked Taizu to take it, and Taizu asked in surprise: "What kind of medicine is this?"It can be used externally and internally!The "Living Dongbin" was afraid of telling the truth, but Song Taizu was suspicious and unwilling to take it, so he said improvisedly: "The emperor is a divine dragon descending to earth, how can folk medicine work?"The name of this medicine is Dilong, and the dragon is used to supplement the dragon, and it can be effective. Song Taizu happily took the medicine, and sure enough, the disease was cured within a few days, and Long Yan Dayue rewarded the "Living Cave Guest", and the reputation and function of the Earth Dragon also spread widely.
Seated statue of Song Taizu. It is now in the National Palace Museum in Taipei. National Humanities History.
Medicinal efficacy and clinical application of Dilong
The earth dragon was first contained in the "Shennong Materia Medica", which is listed as the next product, and is the dried body of the giant worm family Cyclohairworm and the popular ringworm, William ringworm, ctenopus blind ringworm, etc., the former is Xi called "Guangdi Dragon", the main production areas are Guangdong, Hainan and Guangxi, etc., the latter three are Xi called "Shanghai Dilong", the main production areas are Shanghai, Zhejiang and Jiangsu. According to the description of the Materia Medica, the main characteristics of the medicinal earth dragon are "white-necked earthworm", "body purple" and "large strip", which are similar to the morphology of the modern Guangdi dragon.
Dilong taste salty, cold, return to the liver, spleen, bladder meridian, with the effect of clearing heat and shock, channeling, asthma, diuretic, used for high fever and dizziness, epilepsy convulsions, joint pain, limb numbness, hemiplegia, pulmonary heat, wheezing cough, edema and less urine and other symptoms, external use can also be coated erysipelas and paint sores.
As one of the traditional animal medicines, Dilong has remarkable clinical efficacy, and is an important raw material for Chinese patent medicines such as Naoxintong Capsule, Shuxuetong Injection, Cough and Asthma Pills and Compound Dilong Capsule, and has been widely used in stroke, diabetes, asthma and other diseases, and can improve hypertension, hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia and other diseases.
Modern research applications of earth dragons
Dilong contains a variety of active ingredients such as proteins, amino acids, lipids, nucleotides, enzymes and trace elements, which have the functions of anti-platelet aggregation, improving cerebral circulation, protecting neurons, anti-apoptosis, inhibiting oxygen free radical activity, anti-infection, etc., and plays an important role in brain damage caused by cerebral thrombosis.
In recent years, researchers have extracted small molecule peptides of Dilong protein and active Dilong powder from earthworms for the prevention of cerebral infarction and other diseases. At present, vermikinase has been developed into a drug, which is convenient and safe to take compared with drugs such as streptokinase and urakinase. In addition, vermikinase can also activate fibrinolytic enzyme to dissolve blood clots, reduce blood viscosity, inhibit platelet aggregation, anticoagulation, promote smooth blood flow, and have the best effect on stroke sequelae, arteriosclerosis, hypertension and hyperviscosity.
In 2009, the former Ministry of Health listed earthworm extract - Dilong protein as a new food raw material (new resource food), and there are some health foods on the market with Dilong protein as raw material, which may be mistaken by some people for the blood-invigorating function similar to that of medicinal Dilong. But in fact, the Dilong protein in the new food raw materials can only be from a special variety of earthworms - Chizi Aisheng earthworm, which is completely different from the earthworm varieties of medicinal Dilong, and its quality requirements also stipulate that vermikinase shall not be detected, so it does not have the function of preventing or improving diseases.
Conclusion
Although Dilong can be used both internally and externally in clinical practice, there are still some aspects worth noting. In general, the dose should not be too much, and some people may even have allergic reactions, in addition, yang qi deficiency, spleen and stomach weakness, kidney deficiency and shortness of breath, blood deficiency can not nourish the muscles and veins should not be used.
References:
1.Shang Ye, Qi Lina, Jin Hua, et al. Research progress on chemical composition and pharmacological activity of Dilong[J].Drug Evaluation Research, 2022, 45(5): 989-996
2.Yuan Qing, Yin Menglan, Zhang Tong, et al. Advances in pharmacological research on ischemic brain injury in traditional Chinese medicine Dilong**[J].Journal of Integrative Medicine Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Diseases, 2022, 20(19): 3574-3577