Obstructive Sleep Apnea & Su Zi Jiang Qi Tang

abstracted & translated by
Bob Flaws, L.Ac., FNAAOM (USA), FRCHM (UK)

Keywords: Chinese medicine, Chinese herbal medicine, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)

Sleep apnea is a disorder that commonly affects more than 12 million people in the United States. It takes its name from the Greek word apnea which means “without breath.” People with sleep apnea literally stop breathing repeatedly during their sleep, often for a minute or longer and as many as hundreds of times during a single night. There are three types of sleep apnea: 1) obstructive, 2) central, and 3) mixed. Of these, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is the most common. Obstructive sleep apnea occurs in approximately two percent of women and four percent of men over the age of 35. On page 68 of issue #2, 2007 of the Zhe Jiang Zhong Yi Za Zhi (Zhejiang Journal of Chinese Medicine), Shu Xin-zhong published an article titled “The Treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnea with Su Zi Jiang Qi Tang (Perilla Seed Downbear the Qi Decoction).” A summary of that article is presented below.

Cohort description:

Thirty-three patients with confirmed OSA were enrolled in this cohort study, 16 males and 17 females. Thirteen of these were 40-65 years of age and 20 were more than 65 years old. The Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS) was more than 9 in all 33 cases. In 28 cases, there was snoring and recurrent waking in 28 cases. In 18 cases, there was night-time polyuria. In 17 cases, there were night sweats. Further, 32 cases suffered from dizziness and bodily fatigue. Twenty-seven cases had a history of asthma, while five cases had a history of stroke. The body mass index (BMI) was equal to or greater than 28 in 28 cases, 10 cases had high blood pressure, and 30 cases had a dark tongue with white, slimy fur, and a soggy pulse.

Treatment method:

Each day, patients decocted and took two packets of the following modification of Su Zi Jiang Qi Tang:

Zi Su Zi (Fructus Perillae)
Ban Xia (Rhizoma Pinelliae)
Qian Hu (Radix Peucedani)
Hou Po (Cortex Magnoliae Officinalis)
Rou Gui (Cortex Cinnamomi)
Gan Cao (Radix Glycyrrhizae)
Dang Gui (Radix Angelicae Sinensis), 6g each

If there was a tendency to heat, six grams each of Sang Ye (Folium Mori) and Kuan Dong Hua (Flos Farfarae) and 10 grams of Huang Qin (Radix Scutellariae) were added.

If there was a tendency to cold, 20 grams each of Xiang Ren (Semen Armeniacae) and Yi Yi Ren (Semen Coicis) and six grams each of Ma Huang (Herba Ephedrae) and Bai Guo (Semen Ginkgonis Bilobae) were added. However, if the patient had hypertension, the Ma Huang was not used.

At the same time, if the patient had coughing and panting (or asthma) due to external contraction, they were also prescribed antibiotics and panting-leveling medications. If the patient had had a stroke, they also received blood-quickening medicinals and other medications which improve brain function. If the patient was hypertensive, they also took blood pressure lowering medications. During the course of this study, all patients were advised not to smoke tobacco or drink alcohol and to lose weight. One course of treatment was 15 days and 1-2 successive courses were administered.

Study outcomes:

Depending on whether the patients in this study saw the symptoms of OSA either improve or remit, there was an effectiveness rate of 91%. The outpatients all saw improvement within one half month. The inpatients typically saw improvement within one month and were discharged from the hospital.

Discussion:

According to Dr. Shu of the Tong Chuan Municipal Chinese Medicine Hospital in Jiangsu province, Su Zi Jiang Qi Tang is mainly for the treatment of kidney vacuity loss of gathering with cold rheum attacking the lungs and phlegm droll congestion and exuberance. In this case, there is repletion above and vacuity below. This formula warms the kidneys and absorbs the qi, downbears the qi and levels panting, transforms phlegm and eliminates dampness. Thus it improves the free flow of the qi function. Because it benefits the root of this disease, the symptoms all remit.

Copyright © Blue Poppy Press, 2007. All rights reserved.