Ban Xia Xie Xin Wan (Ban Xia Xie Xin Pian, Ban Xia Xie Xin Tang, Hange-shashin-to,
半夏泻心丸),
literally "Pinellia Drain Epigastrium Pills" in Chinese,
is a regarded Chinese herbal medicine for harmonizing the stomach and intestines. †
Today, Chinese doctors often use the Chinese medicine for various gastrointestinal disorders
such as gastritis, enteritis, gastric ulcer, gastralgia (stomach pain).†
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What does it do?
Ban Xia Xie Xin Tang was created by the Great ancient Chinese doctor Zhang Zhongjing about
1800 years ago to treat the "pi syndrome" (痞症) marked by the focal distention or fullness in the
stomach, with or without the stomach pain, along with vomiting, nausea, loose stool or diarrhea, poor appetite etc.,
which is a display of coincident cold and heat symptoms.
In the term of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), the syndrome is a disharmony between the stomach and the spleen
that results in the disturbance in the flow of the Qi energy both upwards and downwards in the stomach.
Ban Xia Xie Xin Tang is formulated to harmonize the stomach and descend the rebellious Qi. In the formula,
Zhi Ban Xia (Pinellia Rhizome) is the chief herb that harmonizes the stomach, move down the Qi,
and stop vomiting. Huang Qin (Scutellaria root) and Huang Lian (Coptis rhizome) disperse the heat with their
cold and bitter property. Dang Shen (Codonopsis), Bai Shao (Paeoniae alba) and Gan Cao (Licorice root)
nourish the spleen and promote the central Qi.
Many clinical studies have been conducted in China to relate the TCM application of
Ban Xia Xie Xin Tang to gastrointestinal disorders in the modern biomedical terms. These studies
showed that Ban Xia Xie Xin Tang and its modified forms may be successfully applied to deal with
acute gastritis, chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG), acute and chronic enteritis, gastric ulcers, peptic ulcers,
and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).† In the studies the diagnosis of the cases are generally confirmed by modern techniques such as
gastroscopy, colonoscopy, and tissue biopsy.
For example, in one study, 100 cases of gastralgia resulting from gastritis, gastric ulcer, and
enteritis with an average age of 60 were treated for 2 months with Ban Xia Xie Xin Tang with a 94%
effective rate (31 were fully recovered, 41 significantly improved, 22 improved).1
How the Chinese medicine acts to restore the stomach function remains largely unknown. Laboratory studies
suggested that it may increase the content of gastric mucin, decrease the ulcer index,
protect the mucoid lining of the stomach. Scutellaria root and Coptis rhizome in the formula have an
inhibitory effect on the growth of Helicobacter pylori, the bacterium causing most diseases of the upper
gastrointestinal tract.
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