Difficult urination treated with TCM cnidium monnieri

What is cnidium monnieri(She Chuang Zi)?
Medicinally it mainly refers to the ripe fruits of Cnidium monnieri (L.) Cuss., which is a member of the family Umbelliferae. And its other common names include Cnidii Monnieri Fructus, Cnidium Seed, Cnidium Fruit, Fructus Cnidii, She Chuang Dze (Literally meaning "snakes bed seeds"), She Chuang, Monnier’s snowparsley, Cnidium Monnier, Cnidium Monnieri Fructus, Selinum monnieri, and the like. In China it is primarily produced in provinces of Hebei, Shandong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, and Sichuan. All of them are uncultivated and usually harvested in summer and autumn harvest when the fruit is ripe. Next the impurities need to be removed and the fruits should be dried in the sun and used raw clinically.

This is an annual herb, 30 to 80cm in height. Stems are erect, cylindrical, and with longitudinal edges and sparsely fine pubescence. Radical leaf is with a handle and a base that looks like a short and wide sheath; blade is ovate, 2-3 pinnatifid, and with linear-lanceolate lobes and acute apex; leaves on upper part of a stem resemble radical leaves but have shorter petioles. Compound umbel is acrogenous or lateral, with 10 to 25 inflorescence stems and 8 to 10 basal involucral bracts; small linear bracts are 8 to 10 in number; calyx teeth are obsolete; petals are white, obovate, and with concave apex and a narrow fold uvula; stamens are 5 and alternate with petals; filaments are slender; anthers are oval; ovary is inferior, and with 2 styles that have conical base. Cremocarp is oval, glabrous, and with winged edges. Bloom time is from April to July and the fruiting time is from June to August. Habitats include low hills, fields, roadsides, ditches, river wetlands, etc.

Cnidium monnieri benefits
So, how does this herb work? To better illustrate its health benefits, comparing it with Di Fu Zi (Kochia Scoparia) is a good idea since these two Chinese herbs are known for their ability of relieving itching and medicinal uses of curing Eczema, pruritus vulvae, and abnormal vaginal discharge. Actually cnidium fruit is good at dispelling cold, removing dampness, and killing parasites to relieve itching, which is ideal for itch and scabies caused by cold-dampness or deficiency-cold; kochia scoparia fruit is specialized at clearing heat and promoting diuresis to relieve itching that is due to damp-heat. Besides, the former one can still warm kidney and tonify Yang in order to treat Impotence, uterus-cold induced infertility, and lumbago caused by dampness; the latter one also cures difficult urination and difficulty and pain in micturition due to heat stranguria.

Modern pharmacological actions of cnidium monnier
1) It can extend mating period and increase the weight of the uterus and ovaries in mouse;
2) Cnidium extract also has androgenic effect, which can increase the weight of mouse’s prostate, seminal vesicles, and levator ani muscle; 3) It inhibits resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and dermatophytes;
4) It can extend the lifespan of chicken embryo infected with Newcastle disease virus (NDV);
5) Xanthotoxol contained has strong anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects;
6) In addition, it treats an abnormal heart rhythm, lowers blood pressure, promotes expectoration, relieves asthma, delays aging, enhances memory, produces local anesthesia, enhances memory, prevents mutation, resists Osteoporosis, kills sperm, and so on.