Ephedra sinica (Shanmahuang)

Distribution:
It is mainly produced in Jilin, Liaoning,  Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang, Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Xinjiang, Henan provinces of China.

Properties (characteristics):
Acrid, slightly bitter and warm.

Channels (meridians) entered:
Lung and bladder

Medical functions:
L-ephedrine can increase the contraction of heart muscle thus increases the cardiac output. L-ephedrine causes less arrhythmia than epinephrine but if there is physical diseases of the hearts or if the patients are using digitalis it can cause arrhythmia. L-ephedrine can cause systolic and diastolic pressure to go up.

L-ephedrine can cause the smooth muscle to relax.

Ma huang water extract (boiled in water) has antibiotic property.

Actions & Indications:
(1) For promoting sweating, and rid of cold due  to excessive exposure to chill and wind where pores become tight and unable to sweat and pulse shows floating and large. Take when the herbal tea is warm.

(2) For soothing of wheezing asthma.

(3) For promoting urination if taken when the liquid of the herb tea is cool.

(4) For treating cough and asthma of small children, external use.

(5) For controlling bed wetting

(6) For stopping nose bleeding

(7) For controlling diarrhea of small children

Normal Dosage:
2.5 g to 6 g. Large amount up to 15 g.

Cautions:
Undesirable side effects:

Ma huang can excite the CNS. If the dosage is too large, toxic reactions include headache, restless, insomnia, palpitation, tightness in chest area, tears and nose dripping, uncomfortable, fever, sweating nonstop, upper belly discomfort, dry mouth, nausea, vomiting, ringing in the ears, body temperature and blood pressure rising, it can cause heart rate to go up or heart attack or stroke. Large dosage can suppress the heart and causes the heart to slow down.

Not to use in patients who are deficient, with instant sweating, cough with asthma due to qixu (qi deficient), pixu (spleen deficient) with edema, or patients  with heart problems, or hypertension or prostatitis,  and patients with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency should not use ma huang.