Yin deficiency syndrome treated with Reeves turtle shell

What is Reeves' turtle shell(Gui Ban)? It refers to the plastron and carapace of Chinemys reevesii (Gray), a species in the family testudinidae. Other common names of this herb include Gui Jia, carapax plastrum testudinis, tortoise shell, testudinis plastrum, carapax et plastrum testudinis, cracked turtle shell, and shell of Chinese coin turtle, Chinese pond turtle, Chinese three-keeled pond turtle, Mauremys reevesii, golden turtle, Chinemys reevesii, and Japanese coin turtle. Its main natural habitats include rivers, lakes, and ponds. Due to the wild resource is decreasing, some other turtles in the same family are also used medicinally, such as Clemmys bealei (Gray), C. mutica (Cantor), Testudo elongata Blyth, T. horsfieldi (Gray), T. impressa (Guenther), Cuora flavomarginata (Gray), C. trifasciata (Bell), Ocadia sinensis (Gray), and so on.

It is basically produced in Zhejiang, Hubei, Hunan and other provinces. Medicinally it can be captured all year round. After the capture, kill it or scald dead by boiling water, peel the shells, remove residual meat, dry in the sun, fry with sands, and quench with vinegar.

ts carapace and plastron are connected by a bridge. Carapace is slightly longer than plastron. Carapace is oblong or arciform, 7.5 to 22cm long, 6 to 18cm wide, and with brown or dark brown surface and 3 ridges. Plastron is plate-like, nearly rectangular oval, 6.4 to 21cm long, 5.5 to 17cm wide, and with yellowish brown to dark brown surface and 12 scutums. It is hard and with slightly fishy odor and salty taste.

Reeves' turtle shell health benefits
It contains gelatin, keratin, fat, collagen, 18 kinds of amino acids, a major and trace elements, such as calcium, phosphorus, strontium, zinc, and copper. And the upper shell and the lower shell have the similar ingredients. As you can see, reeves turtle is more than just a pet and it can even save lives. More information please refers to its pharmacological actions.

Modern pharmacology of Reeves turtles
1. It can improve animals’ pathological state due to yin deficiency syndrome and return to normal;
2. It can enhance immune function;
3. It has two-way regulation on DNA synthetic ratio;
4. It can excite the uterus both in vitro and in vivo;
5. It has antipyretic, tonic, and sedative effect;
6. It also retards coagulation of the blood, increase coronary blood flow and improve hypoxia tolerance and so on;
7. Turtle shell gelatin, or Gui Ban Jiao, has a certain effect on enhancing the number of leukocytes.