Chinese Medicine: Starting with Daily Intelligence-Chapter 44: Can Foxtail Grass Cure Nearsightedness?

Chapter 44: Chapter 44: Can Foxtail Grass Cure Nearsightedness?

Back at the clinic.

Song Sisi was in front of her laptop, searching for information online and cobbling together her thesis.

Seeing Li Xu return, she mumbled, "Where did you go? You weren’t open yesterday, and this morning you came in for a bit and then left again."

Li Xu went to the washroom to wash and disinfect his hands, then came out wearing his white coat. "I was open yesterday afternoon, but there weren’t many patients. This morning was because..."

He explained the situation with the tick poisoning.

"Oh my, it was that serious?"

Song Sisi’s nursing program had covered infectious diseases, so she naturally knew how dangerous tick poisoning was.

The two then started talking about the Clearing Qi and Stabilizing Blood Formula developed by the team from Jinmen University’s School of Life Sciences.

"Doctor Li, now that they’ve developed a formula like this, will they be able to make a lot of money?"

"Of course."

Li Xu recalled the relevant policies. "For modifying an existing traditional Chinese medicine formula, the national reward is a minimum of 500,000 and a maximum of 4 million. But for developing a completely new one, the reward is a minimum of 1 million and a maximum of 7 million."

"On top of that, if pharmaceutical companies commercialize it, it could create a market worth one billion, or even ten billion."

"Of course, even though this tick-borne disease has a high mortality rate, the market for it is actually relatively small. Even so, it could still generate profits in the hundreds of millions."

"Wow..."

Song Sisi’s eyes lit up as she listened. "Doctor Li, when are you going to develop a new formula?"

Li Xu chuckled. "Maybe in a few days, maybe in a few years, or maybe never..."

With his own abilities, it would be extremely difficult.

But he had the Daily Intelligence System to help him.

Who knew when the system might provide a crucial piece of intelligence, allowing him to obtain a new formula.

"How’s your thesis coming along?"

"Ugh, don’t even ask. I was cooped up at home all day yesterday. Just fixing the formatting took me several hours. I sent it to my advisor a little after 6 p.m., but by 8 p.m., he’d sent it right back. He pointed out a ton of mistakes, chewed me out, and told me to redo it..."

Song Sisi said with a pained expression.

Li Xu recalled his own difficult experience writing his thesis.

He said sympathetically, "It’s always like that. Just have to grind through it..."

There were no patients in the clinic.

Li Xu took out the *Commentary on the Art and Literature Record* and continued his research.

He turned to a new page.

This page also recorded a type of massage technique.

It was called the Abdominal Rubbing Method.

Place the palm on the Shenque Acupoint, massage gently clockwise 36 times, then counter-clockwise 24 times. There were also some other very subtle points about applying pressure.

It was mainly used to regulate menstruation and aid in conception. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

According to the commentator’s notes, this massage technique seemed simple but was extremely difficult to learn.

However, once mastered, the effects were excellent.

It could clear the meridians and collaterals in a very short time, resolving menstrual pain.

Half an hour of massage every day for a month could even cure menstrual pain without the need for medication.

As for the notes on aiding conception, the following section of text was blurry and illegible. After staring at it for a long time, Li Xu could only give up.

"The Abdominal Rubbing Method..."

Li Xu thought to himself.

’This massage technique is good. I should learn it.’

’Looks like I’ll have to buy another practice dummy... I’ll get a full-body one this time...’

He figured he might have to learn to massage other parts of the body at some point.

’Getting a full-body model will be a one-and-done deal, saving me the trouble of buying parts piecemeal later on.’

’I hear they have very realistic silicone models now, where even the blood vessels and meridians are just like the real thing... They’re just very expensive...’

Just as Li Xu was thinking this,

a teenage boy peeked his head into the clinic.

"Zhang He, what are you looking at? If you need something, come on in."

Li Xu called out.

"Oh."

Zhang He obediently walked into the clinic.

Li Xu had a strong impression of Zhang He.

He was the first patient to come see him on the day he’d just bonded with the Daily Intelligence System.

His eyes had been red and his vision blurry, and Western medicine had diagnosed him with chronic conjunctivitis.

In reality, it was a symptom of Yang deficiency.

Following the information from his intelligence, Li Xu had used True Martial Soup with Asarum and successfully cured Zhang He’s eye redness.

"What’s wrong? Are your eyes bothering you again?"

Li Xu had Zhang He sit down in front of him.

"No."

Zhang He shook his head in distress. "After taking your medicine, my eyes got better a long time ago, but now my vision is getting worse."

"I want to get glasses, but my mom won’t let me. She says wearing glasses just makes your nearsightedness worse."

"She saw a video online from some social media influencer who said foxtail grass can cure nearsightedness. Lately, she’s been boiling foxtail grass water for me to drink every day. Now, just the smell of it makes me want to throw up. I wanted to ask, can foxtail grass water really cure nearsightedness?"

"Oh, that video you’re talking about? I’ve seen it too."

Song Sisi’s attention shifted from her laptop, and she chimed in enthusiastically.

"Which video?"

Li Xu asked.

"Let me find it for you. I even left a comment on it."

Song Sisi took out her phone and quickly found the video on a short-video platform.

Li Xu took it and pressed play.

In the video, a woman said she saw online that foxtail grass had vision-improving properties, so she boiled it in water for her child to drink.

After drinking it for a week, the child felt that he could see the words on the blackboard from the same seat, which he couldn’t see clearly before.

Therefore, the vlogger concluded that foxtail grass could cure nearsightedness.

The video was very popular, with likes and shares both exceeding 100,000.

Comments and saves were in the tens of thousands.

Many netizens left comments in the comment section, eager to try it themselves.

Some other netizens raised doubts.

The debate was intense.

Both sides stuck to their guns, and neither could convince the other.

"Doctor Li, is what the video says true or false?"

Song Sisi was also curious.

Li Xu shook his head and explained, "Anything can be used as medicine. Although foxtail grass is a weed, it is also a traditional Chinese medicinal herb. It can clear heat and drain dampness, expel wind and improve vision, and detoxify and kill parasites."

"From that perspective, it does indeed have a vision-improving effect."

"However, neither traditional Chinese medicine nor Western medicine has any evidence to prove that it can cure nearsightedness."

"Nearsightedness is a refractive condition caused by the elongation of the eyeball’s axial length, which increases the anterior-posterior diameter of the crystalline lens. It is difficult to treat with medication alone."

"If the woman in the video wasn’t lying, I’m more inclined to believe her child had pseudomyopia, and the foxtail grass simply had a vision-improving effect."

"However, the medicinal components in foxtail grass are limited, and all medicine is toxic to some degree. Drinking it occasionally is fine, but drinking it every day can actually harm your body. So, tell your mom to stop boiling foxtail grass water for you."

Zhang He excitedly took out his phone. "Brother Li, can you say that again? I want to record it to play for my mom."

"Alright."

Li Xu repeated himself.

"Thanks, Brother Li."

Zhang He left happily.

"Doctor Li, you know so much."

Song Sisi rested her chin in her hands, her face full of admiration.

Li Xu’s confidence was greatly satisfied. "If I didn’t even know this basic medical knowledge, then my past few years of study would have been for nothing."

Time passed, and before he knew it, evening had arrived.

Li Xu thought about Wang the Third’s situation.

He @’d Miaoli in the group chat: "How’s the patient?"

Miaoli: "We gave the patient another dose of the medicine this afternoon. His fever has broken, but the virus is still attacking his internal organs. According to our Director Guo, it seems the Clearing Qi and Stabilizing Blood Formula is relatively weak when it comes to protecting the organs. Even if the patient recovers, his organs will sustain some damage, and he won’t be able to do heavy labor in the future."

"Sigh."

Li Xu sighed.

He had been thinking of asking Wang the Third to help take care of his medicinal herb field in Tang Mountain after he recovered.

Now, it seemed he would have to find someone else.