Chapter 535: Chapter 228: More and More People Are Developing Heart Problems (Part 2)

"Having seen so many years of Chinese medicine, you’re the first doctor who can explain differentiation and prescriptions in such detail."

The middle-aged man couldn’t help but give a thumbs up, praising, "Yesterday, when I heard about you, I was thinking, what can a twenty-something young man know? Does he understand Chinese medicine? I apologize for my ignorance yesterday. No wonder, even though you’ve only been consulting at the clinic for a day or two, so many people say you’re a miracle doctor. Just your understanding and knowledge of Chinese medicine is beyond that of ordinary practitioners."

Lu Xuan smiled slightly, "Explaining it clearly will increase the patient’s trust in the physician, which has a positive effect on their condition as well.

Although explaining these things might delay a bit of time, it’s also an opportunity for people to understand Chinese medicine.

If the patients want to listen, I naturally say as much as I can. Besides, when I say it, it’s not just you listening; my assistant is also recording by the side, which is a learning process for him as well.

If you’re interested in Chinese medicine, you can learn a bit on your own in your free time. Even if you don’t know how to handle big issues, at least you can manage some minor ailments yourself.

But don’t use medications recklessly—every medicine has its toxicity. Some medicines shouldn’t be used indiscriminately."

"Thank you for the lesson." The middle-aged man cupped his hands, then took the prescription from Ji Xiuwen and stood up to pay the medical fee.

"I’ve already said it’s a free clinic today, no charge," Lu Xuan said.

But the middle-aged man insisted, "The medical fee isn’t much, just about a dozen yuan. What should be paid should still be paid. Your fees aren’t expensive, and I certainly can afford this bit of medical expense. While free clinics are indeed good for patients, saving a lot of money, doctors are human too and need to eat. It’s impossible not to charge a single cent.

The money isn’t much, so please don’t refuse."

After saying that, the middle-aged man paid the money and left in a hurry before Lu Xuan could even get up, leaving Lu Xuan a bit helpless.

Meanwhile, he was also thinking that if every patient was like him, the doctor-patient relationship might become better.

Doctors understand the difficulties of patients, and patients understand the challenges doctors face.

Mutual understanding.

After the middle-aged man left, the young woman behind him stepped forward, giving Lu Xuan a slight smile, "Hello, Dr. Lu!"

"Hello!" Lu Xuan nodded at her.

"What’s uncomfortable for you?" Lu Xuan asked.

The woman began, "Chest tightness and a rapid heartbeat."

Upon hearing this, Lu Xuan couldn’t help but raise his head, surprised and frowning.

Another patient with a heart problem.

Tachycardia.

Rheumatic heart disease.

Are there really so many people with heart problems now?

The previous middle-aged man, although older than Lu Xuan, was not yet forty and already had heart issues, having suffered from it for over ten years, indicating that he had heart problems in his twenties.

And the young woman before him, only in her twenties, also had discomfort with her heart.

Cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases were most common in the elderly before.

But now, it’s becoming increasingly common among the young.

It’s inherently abnormal.

But upon reconsideration, it’s understandable why this happens.

Why?

Prolonged exposure to smoking and alcohol.

Cardiovascular diseases have widespread impacts and can prevent the heart from receiving the nutrients it needs in time. After vascular lesions around the heart, many experience chest tightness, shortness of breath, and obvious symptoms. The tendency towards younger demographics is related to long-term exposure to smoking and alcohol.

To maintain health, the most important thing is to quit smoking and alcohol. If harmful substances from smoking and alcohol are continuously accumulated without being expelled, they will impact organ functions, harming not only the lungs and liver but also accelerating vascular lesions, leading to blocked blood supply to the heart and inviting serious diseases.

Some people, while not smoking themselves, have ingested quite a bit of secondhand smoke.

Moreover, secondhand smoke is more harmful than smoking.

Of course, the younger demographics of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases aren’t just due to smoking and alcohol but also significantly related to improper diet.

Whether dietary methods are reasonable determines the degree of physical health. Prolonged high-calorie diets, without dietary restrictions, and the large intake of foods unfavorable to vascular function, will accelerate vascular lesions.

Common high-salt, high-sugar, and high-fat foods all have these hidden dangers.

Illness comes from the mouth, making it quicker for cardiovascular diseases to invade.

As the saying goes, the increasing number of diseases nowadays is inseparable from diet.

Furthermore, apart from eating, another crucial point is the lack of exercise.

Nowadays, many young people are overly addicted to electronic products, spending less and less time on outdoor activities. Unlike in the past, without these advanced devices providing entertainment, people spent more time outdoors socializing and engaging in activities.

Moreover, since computers, phones, and other electronic products have become more advanced, many have become addicted, often staying home playing with these devices, resulting in reduced time spent outdoors, insufficient physical activity, common consequences being decreased immunity, reduced circulation and metabolism, being prone to obesity, and these factors collectively making it easy for cardiovascular diseases to invade.

The exercise here doesn’t mean intense exercise; walking is also considered a form of exercise. In terms of Chinese medicine, low-intensity exercise is more advocated.

Thinking of these things, Lu Xuan was both taking the pulse and listening to the woman’s self-description.

Chest tightness, impatience, anxiety, panic, especially severe after taking a nap; headaches on both sides, memory decline, prolonged duration, severity fluctuates, uneven pulse sizes.

Lu Xuan signaled Ji Xiuwen to record the woman’s condition while explaining the prescription:

White Peony Root, Baked Licorice, Chaihu, Scutellaria baicalensis, Ginger Pinellia, Dragon Bone, Oyster, Ophiopogon, raw Rehmannia, Hemp Fruit, Chinese Dates, Cinnamon, donkey-hide gelatin (mixed after melting), Codonopsis, Fresh Ginger

Once Ji Xiuwen had noted down the prescription, Lu Xuan continued, "The patient experiences chest tightness and palpitations, along with headaches on both sides, chronically unresolved, with irregular pulse sizes, diagnosed in Western medicine as tachycardia.

According to the chest being the gathering place of ancestral qi, insufficiency or blockage of ancestral qi causes chest tightness symptoms.

The heart governs the blood vessels; disharmony between heart blood and ancestral qi often leads to irregular pulse, anxiety, impatience, and restlessness symptoms.

The sides of the head belong to the Lesser Yang Meridian; headaches on both sides are due to blockages in the Lesser Yang Meridian.

The prescription includes Shaoyao Licorice Decoction, Chaihu with Longgu and Oyster Soup, and Baked Licorice Decoction combinations.

Shaoyao Licorice Decoction treats injuries to the nutritive blood causing convulsions and reversal;

Chaihu Longgu Decoction treats chest fullness, restlessness, and fear due to lack of inner control;

Baked Licorice Decoction treats irregular and intermittent pulse, palpitations.

The combination of the three is used to treat chest tightness, palpitations, headaches on both sides, and tachycardia symptoms."

Ji Xiuwen nodded repeatedly as he listened, while the woman, although showing a look of surprise, didn’t say much, but after receiving the prescription, she asked, "Dr. Lu, can this be made into pills or something? Although I live in Anjiang, I often go on business trips, running around almost every few days, with no time to decoct the medicine.

Even if I prepare it at home in advance, if I’m away for three or four days, the medicine will spoil."

"That’s indeed a consideration."

Lu Xuan mused after a moment, "Whether or not it can be made into pills, you might need to check with Huian Pharmacy over there. If they offer such services, then it’s possible. If not, you might need to find a place to handle it yourself, or if necessary, you can also do it at home; pill-making isn’t a complicated task.

If small pills are inconvenient, you can make large honey pills, one or two a day, which is more convenient than small pills."

"You can also do this yourself at home?" The woman was amazed, evidently not expecting this, as she had always thought such tasks needed professionals, but was surprised at Lu Xuan’s suggestion of home preparation.

"Of course you can."

Lu Xuan explained, "Crafting pills isn’t actually difficult. Do you have an oven and a powder grinder at home?"

"I do have an oven and a food processor."

"Then that’s fine, these are the most crucial."