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"Lysimachia 3 is based on a traditional prescription (Sanjin Tang, the Three Golds Decoction, referring to Jin Qian Cao, Hai Jin Sha, and Ji Nei Jin) for preventing, reducing, and eliminating stones. Lysimachia, the common name for Jin Qian Cao, refers to several genera of herbs that are reputed to have this stone-resolving effect, including Lysimachia, Glechoma, and Desmodium (the former is used here). Lygodium spore is a very slippery material which, like talc (the slippery stone) is thought to make stones and gravel also slippery (preventing new material from binding onto its surface, thus slipping out more easily). Gallus (chicken gizzard lining) is used both as a digestive aid and to resolve masses (see Gallus-Malt Tablets). To make this formula specific for stones in different parts of the body, one combines it with a second formula that affects that part of the body. The traditional Sanjin Tang also includes three diuretic herbs (pyrrosia, abutilon, and dianthus; all of these are in Pyrrosia 14), which makes the formula more suitable for kidney stones. However, Lysimachia 3 focuses on the stone resolving trio, allowing the practitioner to adjust the treatment to the site of stones or to use it for treating other masses or accumulations. For example, it is possible that the formula can be applied to help treat salivary gland stones by combining with a formula for upper body stasis, such as Upper Palace Tablets. Lysimachia 3 and other Chinese herbal therapies for stones are best applied to stones that have not fully calcified; cholesterol-based stones (as found in the gallbladder) are particularly susceptible to the action of these herbs." |
