Deficiency of qi and blood treated with TCM Codonopsis

What is Codonopsis (Dang Shen)? Codonopsis is a genus in the family Campanulaceae. There are about 40 Codonopsis species worldwide, among which 39 species can be found in China. In addition, 21 of them and 4 varieties can be used medicinally. In TCM it mainly refers to the dry root of Codonopsis pilosula (Franch.) Nannf., Codonopsis pilosula Nannf. var. modesta (Nannf.) L. T. Shen, or Codonopsis tangshen Oliv. And because this plant is native to Shangdang in Shanxi, it is named after "Dang Shen". Though this herb and ginseng are frequently mentioned together, they are not from the same family actually. As you can see, the former is from Campanulaceae and the latter from Araliaceae.

This is a perennial herb. The slightly curved cylindrical root is 1 to 1.7cm in diameter, with a swollen top on the root head, tumor-like stem scars in the majority, cream to grayish brown skin, and vertical and horizontal wrinkles. Stems are twining, long, and branched. Leaves are opposite, alternative or false verticillate, with 0.5 to 2.5cm petiole and ovate or widely ovate leaf blade. Flowers are solitary, and with slender pedicels, green calyx, and bell-shaped corolla. Capsule is conical, and with persistent calyx and small, oval, brown and shiny seeds. It blooms from August to September and fruits from September to October.

Main chemical constituents of Codonopsis include sterols, Codonopsine, codonopsis pilosula polysaccharides, Codonolactone, alkaloids, inorganic elements, amino acids, trace elements, and so on.

Codonopsis benefits
As mentioned above, Codonopsis is commonly used in TCM thanks to its tonic nature. As a matter of fact, nowadays more and more codonopsis health benefits are being discovered along with the scientific progress. And Modern research found that it contains a variety of sugars, phenols, volatile oil, baicalein glucosinolates, saponins and trace alkaloids, which can enhance immunity, dilate blood vessels, lower blood pressure, improve microcirculation, enhance hematopoietic function, and so on. In addition, it also improves the leukopenia induced by chemotherapy and radiotherapy.