Chapter 710: Brewing Medicine on Another’s Behalf

Chapter 710: Chapter 710: Brewing Medicine on Another’s Behalf

As the old saying goes: "With Xixin, never pass the measure; cross that line, and your life is forfeit."

This wasn’t just an ironclad rule sworn by students of traditional Chinese medicine; even many ordinary people who had never studied medicine had heard of it.

This was because Xixin contains volatile oils, making it a toxic Chinese herb. An excessive dose could easily cause respiratory paralysis or even death!

In the livestream, sharp-eyed viewers also saw the dosage, and the chat instantly exploded:

"Holy shit, am I seeing things? Nine grams of Xixin?"

"Is this doctor insane? Doesn’t he know the rule about the Xixin limit? He’s trying to poison someone."

"Did Doctor Li’s hand slip and he made a typo? Someone remind him, quick!"

"My god, this old man can barely breathe as it is. Can he handle such a large dose of a poison? This is murder, isn’t it?"

Of course, some of Li Xu’s die-hard fans were passionately defending him:

"Don’t just run your mouths. If Divine Physician Li dares to prescribe it, he must have his reasons."

"Exactly. Laymen trying to tell an expert what to do? You have to trust a doctor’s professional judgment."

Daoist Sun watched the controversial comments scrolling wildly across the screen, a cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.

He was getting a deep, personal understanding of why so many doctors loathed livestreaming from their clinics.

The more people there were, the more opinions there were.

When faced with an unconventional treatment plan, the ignorant and self-righteous doubts of laypeople not only put immense pressure on the doctor but could also severely disrupt the normal course of medical care.

’This was the price of popularity.’

...

With Xixin, never pass the measure; cross that line, and your life is forfeit.

The reason this saying was so widespread, even treated as gospel, was mainly due to Xixin’s botanical classification and chemical composition.

Xixin is a plant in the Aristolochiaceae family. It gets its name from its fine, dense roots and its intensely pungent aroma.

If you were to taste raw Xixin, you would feel a distinct numbness on the tip of your tongue, and your entire mouth might even temporarily lose all sensation.

This is, in fact, a sign of mild poisoning.

Modern pharmacological studies show that Xixin contains volatile oil components like safrole, a substance that can paralyze the human nervous system.

A mild dose of the toxin causes localized paralysis.

If the dose is too large, it can even lead to paralysis of the central nervous system, causing complete respiratory arrest and death.

Therefore, in modern clinical practice, extremely strict limits have been placed on the dosage of Xixin.

The Materia Medica explicitly states that a single dose of Xixin should absolutely not exceed three grams.

The rule of "never passing the measure" for Xixin seemed to have become an uncrossable red line.

But was this really an absolute truth?

In truth, many current ideas in the world of Chinese medicine regarding dosage are conclusions drawn from the perspective of Western medicine, viewing the issue purely through the lens of chemical composition and toxicological experiments.

While this "ingredient-centric" perspective ensures a certain degree of absolute safety, it completely ignores the core essence of Chinese medicine: the principles of herb combination and preparation, as well as the concept of "Qi transformation."

If you look through the Medical Classics from throughout history, none of the great ancient physicians who founded their own schools of thought, like Zhang Zhongjing, ever rigidly stated that a certain herb "must never exceed" a specific dose.

In Li Xu’s own years of clinical practice, he had encountered many critical and severe cases, and it was by using unconventionally large doses that he had pulled those patients back from death’s door.

Normally, Li Xu would have disdained explaining his prescriptions to others at length.

Those who understood would understand; for those who didn’t, explaining was a waste of breath.

But today, the situation was special.

He glanced at the camera on Daoist Sun’s phone.

Thousands, perhaps even tens of thousands, of people were watching him through the livestream.

To avoid unnecessary panic and misunderstanding, and also to take this opportunity to educate the public on the true principles of Chinese medicine, he decided to make an exception and say a little more.

"You’ve probably all heard the saying about not passing the measure with Xixin."

Li Xu explained in a calm tone while typing on his keyboard, "Actually, that saying has a specific context. If Xixin is ingested directly as a powder, all of its volatile oils are absorbed by the body, and its toxicity is indeed very high. In that situation, the dose absolutely must not exceed the traditional limit."

"However, if it’s decocted as a medicinal soup, the situation is completely different. For one, we have to consider the combination of herbs. For another, after prolonged, high-temperature decoction, the toxic volatile oils in Xixin largely evaporate, and its toxicity is greatly reduced."

"In Chinese medicine, we follow the principle that ’where there is a cause, there is no harm.’ As long as the illness requires it, a poison can become a remedy. Take Aconite, for example. The Materia Medica also has strict dosage limits for it.

But when faced with a dying patient suffering from heart failure or an imminent collapse of Yang Qi, the dose of Aconite can sometimes be as high as 150 grams, or even more, in order to restore Yang and rescue them from collapse."

Li Xu pointed to the old man still wheezing beside him. "This gentleman’s condition is decades of phlegm-fluid retention due to cold. The cold has penetrated deep into his bones and lung channels. If I only used three grams of Xixin, it would be like pouring a cup of hot water on a glacier. The illness is severe, but the medicine would be too weak. It wouldn’t be nearly enough to melt this stubborn ice. If the old phlegm can’t be cleared, his illness will never be cured."

"Only by increasing the dose to nine grams, combined with dried ginger and Schisandra, can we generate enough Yang-warming power to warm the lungs, transform the fluid, and uproot the phlegm entirely."

Li Xu’s explanation was so logically rigorous that it not only quieted many of the doubtful voices in the chat but also made the patients waiting in line nod in silent agreement.

Li Xu finished writing the prescription, double-checked it, and handed it to Song Sisi.

"Sisi, don’t let the gentleman take this home. Go to the decoction room and help prepare the medicine. Once it’s ready, have him drink it here in the clinic while it’s still hot."

Although the toxicity of Xixin is reduced after decoction, the dose was, after all, quite large.

Furthermore, the old man was in his eighties, his eyesight was failing, and he lived alone. Li Xu couldn’t rest easy letting him go home to brew the medicine himself. If he didn’t control the heat properly or if the decoction time was too short, any accident would be a matter of life and death.

"Leave it to me. Sir, please have a seat over there and rest for a bit."

Song Sisi took the prescription and helped the old man over to the waiting area.

...

The next patients were a mother and daughter.

In front was a girl of about seventeen or eighteen, her head lowered. She wore a baseball cap with the brim pulled down very low, as if trying desperately to hide her face.

Following behind her was a middle-aged woman.

In fact, Li Xu had already noticed the mother and daughter when they were in the waiting area earlier.

Although the girl deliberately kept her head down, Li Xu had still managed to catch a sharp glimpse of the large patches of red, swollen rashes on her cheeks and jaw—what was commonly known as acne.

"Hello, Dr. Li. We heard your medical skills are brilliant, so we came all the way from out of town specifically to see you," the girl’s mother said.