Cough – Yin exhaustion / qi aspect heat (YTS)

Original Case by: Ye Tian-Shi (叶天士)

(Case 6) – from Understanding Case Records Pt. 2

A 10 year-old presented with a mild cough and tidal fever. This was caused by childhood yin exhaustion and qi aspect heat.

Di Gu Pi 3 qian (Lycii Cortex)
Qing Hao 1 qian (Artemisiae Annuae Herba)
Zhi Mu 1 qian (Anemarrhenae Rhizoma)
Gan Cao 3 fen (Glycyrrhizae Radix)
Nan Sha Shen 1 qian (Adenophorae Radix)
Shi Hu 3 qian (Dendrobii Herba)

Qin Bo-Wei’s Commentary:

This case is also a cough with Lung heat and yin exhaustion, but there is a tidal fever which in general shows that the yin exhaustion has progressed. There is incessant heat that is certainly resulting in more and more consumption of the qi and yin. This is important to consider. Nan Sha Shen (Adenophorae Radix), Gan Cao (Glycyrrhizae Radix) and Shi Hu (Dendrobii Herba) not only moisten the Lungs, but with Di Gu Pi (Lycii Cortex), Qing Hao (Artemisiae Annuae Herba) and Zhi Mu (Anemarrhenae Rhizoma) also clear heat and reduce steaming. The “mild” in “mild cough” illustrates that this is a chronic disease with an infrequent cough. Therefore he did not use Xing Ren (Armeniacae Semen) or Chuan Bei Mu (Fritillariae cirrhosae Bulbus).

Translated by: Jason Blalack

Source: Case from the Cough chapter of Case Records as a Guide to Clinical Practice (lín zhèng zhî nán yï àn) 《临证指南医案》. Commentary from Complete Famous Medical Works of Qin Bo-Wei.

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