The Method of Combining Internal and External Treatment of Ulcerative Colitis in Chinese Medicine

Abstract

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) believes that the main pathogenesis of ulcerative colitis is spleen deficiency; damp heat in the large intestine as the symptom, the treatment must be warming, clearing, eliminating, tonifying, astringing concurrently. From the concept of combining holism and the local treatment in TCM, idea of combining internal and external treatment is adopted. That is, the external treatment follows the therapeutic principle of using herbs with a bitter and cold nature to eliminate stagnation, and the seven carbon decoction, which can clear heat and dampness, cool the blood, and stop dysentery, is used as a rectal drip to retain the enema. Internal treatment follows the therapeutic principle of warmly tonifying and cultivating vital qi, with oral Chinese herbal medicine named Maodie Tang to strengthen the spleen and tonify the kidney, clearing heat and inducing dampness.

Keywords

• ulcerative colitis
• combining internal and external treatment
• Chinese herbal medicine
• seven carbon decoction
• Maodie tang
• oral administration of Chinese herbal medicine