Gentian root, or Long Dan Cao in Chinese name, is an herb traditionally used in herbal remedies for a wide variety of liver-associated diseases. In The Divine Farmer’s Materia Medica Classic it was viewed as one of the medium-grade drugs. Gentiana is a valuable plant. Even judged by its outside appearance alone, this purple blue gentian flowers, a type of alpine flower, are appealing enough to the eyes. That is also the reason why it is called as one of the China’s three major natural flowers. You know, the other two are well-known azaleas and primula. In clinic, this herb is commonly used for the treatment of refractory Migraine, scalp eczema, high blood pressure, Orchitis, Psoriasis, Prostatitis, hair loss, acute jaundice hepatitis, acute cholecystitis, etc. Of course, the premise and foundation of the above-mentioned treatments are that they should be fallen into the scope of excess fire or damp-heat syndrome in the liver meridian. 

Gentian root health benefits
As for illustrating how this herb works, using gentiana for treating hair loss is a good example. In modern society, accelerated pace of life and increased work stress can lead to mental burdens and then baldness. It is a challenging task to cure general hair loss, let alone the alopecia universalis, which can causes the falling out of all body hair, such as the eyebrows, beard, eyelashes, pubic hair, and armpit hair. And worse than that, the gradually rising mental stress would in turn aggravate this condition and thus hair loss sufferers end up finding themselves in a vicious circle.

Zhang Yuping, a researcher in Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese, found that the clinically alopecia patients share a distinct characteristic – the hyperactivity of liver-fire. From 2000 to 2003, she used dried gentian root to treat 6 cases of alopecia universalis. All of them have ever received Western medicine treatment but shown no improvement. After 2 courses of treatment (30 days each), combining with external lotion, all body hair began to grow; after 6 courses of treatment, sparse hair occurred; after 12 courses of treatment, the hair became thicker and alopecia universalis was cured. And she summarizes that the treatment of hair loss should follow the rules of deficiency syndromes mixed with excess ones, eliminating pathogen, and strengthening vital qi.