Treatment of Chronic Nephritis March 24, 1997

Treatment of Chronic Nephritis March 24, 1997

In the year of Bingzi, my treatment for chronic nephritis always relied on Gui Zhi Fu Ling Wan combined with Yi Shen Tang, achieving good results. However, in several cases, patients showed no significant improvement, so I switched to using Shi Wei, Ting Li Zi, Bai Zhi, Yin Chen, Da Huang, Zao Jiao Ci, Jin Qian Cao, Chi Shao, Bai Jiang Cao, Fang Feng, Pi Pa Ye, Shan Yao, Huang Qi, Tu Si Zi, Qian Shi, Jin Ying Zi, Bai Bu (Bai He), Dang Shen, Bai Zhu, Fu Ling, Gan Cao. After taking this formula for 10 doses, three patients showed varying degrees of improvement: one saw urinary protein drop from (+++) to (+), one from ++ to -, and one from (+) to (-).

Thus, it is evident that the aforementioned formulas, when used in treating chronic nephritis, form a complementary pair of “strengthening the righteous” and “eliminating the evil” alongside Gui Zhi Fu Ling and Yi Shen. Therefore, for chronic nephritis, it is advisable to alternate between attacking the evil and strengthening the righteous—solely attacking the evil will eventually exhaust its effectiveness; after a period of attacking the evil, one must switch to strengthening the righteous, and after strengthening the righteous, return to attacking the evil. Looking at the combination of Gui Zhi Fu Ling and Yi Shen, it represents a synergy of promoting blood circulation and clearing heat and detoxifying; similarly, the combination of Shi Ting Bai Yin and Pa Shan, though containing some diuretic and anti-inflammatory components, still includes nourishing herbs such as the Four Gentlemen, Huang Qi, Shan Yao, Tu Si Zi, and Bai He, which serve as tonics. From the perspective of “attacking” versus “tonifying,” this aligns with the aforementioned explanation; moreover, from the perspective of “blood” versus “qi,” Gui Zhi Fu Ling and Yi Shen focus on the blood aspect, while Shi Ting Bai Yin and Pa Shan focus on the qi aspect. Therefore, treating chronic nephritis requires addressing both blood and qi! There are also formulas such as Ji Sheng Shen Qi, Lu Tu Niu Yang Ji Ba Xian, Shen Qi Si Shui Jia Han Lian, Zhen Wu, and Shi Pi, all of which are designed to tonify the kidneys. Hence, considering both the spleen and kidneys, the principle of treating this disease should be to tonify both the spleen and kidneys. Ancient sages said that strengthening the spleen is better than tonifying the kidneys, and tonifying the kidneys is better than strengthening the spleen; thus, tonifying the kidneys and strengthening the spleen are both crucial for treating nephritis.