- Region
- Asia
- Origin
- China and Japan. Salvia miltiorrhiza
- Traditions
- Chinese medical traditions
Asia · Herb · № 138
Salvia miltiorrhiza
Herb · Asia
Red sage root (dan shen)
Salvia miltiorrhiza
The red root is used in Chinese medicine to 'promote blood circulation', especially for heart and vascular complaints. There are many studies in China, often of limited quality.
Safety notes
Strongly increases the effect of blood thinners such as warfarin; serious bleeding has been reported. Heart complaints belong with a doctor.
Cautions by tradition (1)
- Chinese materia medica: Not without blood stagnation. Do not combine with Veratrum. Consult your doctor if you take blood thinners. Have chest pain assessed medically at once.
Preparation
The root as decoction or in Chinese patent preparations. No dosage is given here.
Use in traditions
Danshen is a relative of European sage but plays a very different role. In China danshen preparations are even used in hospitals for heart patients. Ody describes it as an important Chinese heart herb.
Applications
Use by tradition
How different herbal traditions describe this herb. Amounts are traditional guidelines checked for obvious errors; they are not medical advice. For poisonous plants no dosage is given on purpose.
Chinese materia medica
- Nature and taste
- bitter, slightly cold
- Meridians
- heart, liver, pericardium
Attributed effects
Moves the blood and resolves stagnation in absent or painful menstruation and pain from blood stagnation, also in the chest, cools heat in ulcers and inflammations, and calms in restlessness, palpitations and insomnia from heat. Because it is cool, it is also usable with yin deficiency.
Preparation and amount
Traditional dosage: 3–12 g a day, usually in a decoction.
Combinations
- With Chinese motherwort and hawthorn berry for tightness in the chest
- With dang gui, chuanxiong and huai niu xi for joint pain from blood stagnation
Caution: Not without blood stagnation. Do not combine with Veratrum. Consult your doctor if you take blood thinners. Have chest pain assessed medically at once.
- Ways to prepare herbs
- Decoction