Anemia, painful menstruation treated with TCM Chinese angelica root

What is Chinese angelica root(dong quai)?
It has a few different common names, such as Radix Angelicae Sinensis, Chinese angelica root, dongquai, don quai, angelica herb, tong-kui, tang kuei, and so on. Actually medicinally it refers to dry root of Angelica sinensis (Oliv.) Diels, an herb in the family Apiaceae. The medicinal roots are dug at the end of autumn. Next remove the fibrous roots and dirt, tie them into small bundles after the moisture slightly evaporates, put them on the shelf, and then slowly smoke dry them.

The plant is a perennial herb. Stems are with purple. Basal leaves and leaves on lower stem are ovate, biternate to triternate or pinnatisect, with ovate or ovate-lanceolate lobes, 3 shallowly lobed, and with veins and edges covered with white hairs. Petiole comes with large sheath. Leaves on upper stem are pinnately divided. The inflorescence is compound umbel, with 9 to 13 parachute panel, 2 to 4 small bracts, 12 to 36 pedicels covered with dense pubescence, and white flowers. Cremocarp is oval and with winged lateral ridges. It blooms and fruits from July to September. It grows mainly in cold and rainy mountains. In China, the main cultivation areas are Gansu, Yunnan, and Sichuan provinces.

Main chemical constituents of dong quai root are essential oil and non-volatile components. Neutral oil ingredients in essential oil include Butylidene phthalide, β-Pinene, α-pinene, Camphene, p-Cymene, β-Phellandrene, Myrcene, Allo-ocimene, 6-n-butyl-cycloheptadiene-1,4, 2-Methyl-dodecane-5-one, Acetophenone, β-Bisabolene, Isoacroraene, Acoradiene, Chamigrene, α-Cedrene, Ligustilide, n-Butyl-tetrahydrophthalide, n-Butyl-phthalide, n-Buty- lidene phthalide, Dodecanol, Bergapten, and more. And it still contains other ingredients, such as Stigmasterol, Sitosterol, Stigma- sterol-D-glucoside, Tetradecanol-1, Scopletin, and so on. In addition, it also contains Sucrose, Fructose, Glucose, vitamin A, vitamin B12, vitamin E, 17 kinds of amino acids, and other 20 kinds of inorganic elements like sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, etc.

Dong quai benefits
As mentioned previously, dong quai herb is one of the most well-known Chinese herbs. It is so popular that there is an old saying that goes "nine out of ten herbal formulas contain dong quai." As a matter of fact, there are tons of related herbal cuisine recipes and effective remedies in folk. So what is the reason why this herb becomes one of the super stars in the large family of Chinese medicine? Actually the answer is so obvious – its high medicinal value is the main contributor. So, what is dong quai good for and what exact health benefits it can bring with? Here are the details.

Modern pharmacological actions
1. Its volatile oil can fight against the excitatory effects on the uterus by adrenaline – pituitrin or histamine;
2. Its water or alcohol soluble non-volatile substances have excitatory function on isolated uterus. They can strengthen the uterine contractions. When given a large or multiple doses, they can even lead to tonic contraction. Besides, the role of alcohol-soluble substances is stronger than that of the water-soluble substances;
3. The perfusion experiment, in which isolated toad hearts were infused with its decoction, showed that the volatile oil contained can inhibit significantly the contraction amplitude and frequency;
4. Angelica extract has a significant role on expanding the coronary artery of guinea pig and thus increase the coronary blood flow;
5. Intravenous injection to anesthetized dogs showed no significant change in heart rate. But it results in the decline of coronary resistance and total peripheral resistance, the significant increase of coronary blood flow, the significantly decreased myocardial oxygen consumption, and increasing trend of cardiac output and cardiac index;
6. Angelica neutral oil has an apparent protective effect on experimental myocardial ischemia;