Rehmannia glutinosa  地 黄  Dì huáng  Rehmannia, Figwort, Chinese Foxglove  Family: Scrophulariaceae    
生 地 黃 Shēng dì huáng   Dry root- collected in Autumn    
Nature: Cold,cool     FLAVOR: Pleasant, bitter, sweet CHANNEL: Heart, Liver, Kidney
FUNCTIONS
GROUP: Clearing Internal Heat- Cool Blood
1. Clears Heat and cools the Blood.[3]
2. Nourishing Yin to produce fluids:[1,5] Restlessness, T- red. Moisturises dryness and promotes salivation.[1]
3. Clear fever, cool Blood.[1] Stop bleeding.[5]
4. Strengthen Heart-[5] especially useful in heart failure as it strengthens the myocardium. Cools the upward blazing of Heart Fire.[3]
ACTIONS
INDICATIONS
1. Epidemic febrile diseases with pathogenic Heat in the Ying and Blood systems: high fever,[1] dryness in  the mouth,[1] T- scarlet red or deep red, thirst.[1,3]
2. Syndromes of of Yin deficiency in febrile diseases due to Yin deficiency, such as diabetes. Five Hearts hot (palms, souls and face), moisture on palms, hot at night.[5] Constipation.
- Yin deficiency in febrile diseases marked by thirst and dryness of the mouth, red tongue and dry lips, diphtheria, tonsillitis.[1] Sore throat.
- Yin deficiency due to exuberant Heat and deficiency of body fluid, with constipation. Continuous low grade fever. Throat pain.[3]
- Diabetes marked by thirst and polydipsia. Wasting and thirsting disorder.[3]
3. Bleeding due to invasion of the Blood by pathogenic Heat, such as hematemesis. Epistaxis. Hematuria. Difficult urination. Macula with skin eruptions. Hot blood shows as skin symptoms:[5] Urticaria, Damp rash.
4. Febrile diseases in the later stage with lingering low grade fever, or chronic diseases with fever due to Yin deficiency.
5. Cools upward blazing of Heart fire: mouth and tongue sores, irritability, insomnia, afternoon or low grade fever, and malar flush.[3]
6. Yin deficiency: dry throat, irritablity, P- fast and thready, T- scarlet body.
7. Constipation or difficult urination.[1]
PATENT COMBINATIONS
COMBINATIONS
CONTRAINDICATIONS: This drug is sweet, cold and greasy, and can cause stagnation, so in cases of Spleen deficiency with Damp pathogen marked by abdominal distension and loose stool, it should not be used.[3,4,5] Pregnancy- especially where Qi in Blood is deficient.[3,5] Yang deficiency.[3]
Overuse causes digestive disorders - stomach pain, diarrhea, nausea etc. These symptoms disappear when usage is discontinued. Also during pregnancy if the Qi and Blood are deficient or Stomach deficient and weak.[5,3]
Because of its greasy nature, Rehmannia (Cooked or uncooked) should be used cautiously with patients suffering from poor digestion. It may help to add other formulas such as Bao he wan (Citrus and Crataegus) if necessary.
PREPARATIONS: Decoction- Fresh tuberous root  10-30 g each dose.[1,2,3,4] Good quality is thick and reddish yellow in color.
Fluid extract 25 % alcohol 1-2 ml.[6] 1:2 in 60% alcohol.[7]

- Rheumatoid arthritis- 90 g in 600-800 ml of water. Boil for 1 hour down to 300 ml. For first 3 days in first week. 2nd week- 3 days continually. Then every 10th day. Then once a month for pain relief.[5]
熟 地 黃 Shú dì huáng- "Cooked earth yellow" Cooked root                   
Nature- slightly warm       FLAVOR: Sweet, pleasant, slightly bitter.
FUNCTIONS
GROUP: Nourishing Blood
1. Nourish Yin, tone up Blood.[1]
INDICATIONS
1. Liver and Kidney deficiency with blurred vision, ringing in ears, sore loins, thirst. Seminal emission.[1] Anemia, dizziness.[1]
2. Menstrual irregularity, post-partum hemorrhage.[1] Suppression of menses, vaginal bleeding.
3. Lung Yin deficiency manifesting as wheezing and coughing.[1]
PATENT COMBINATIONS
PREPARATIONS: Decoction- Cooked tuberous root  9-30 g each dose.[1]

先 地 黃 Xiān dì huáng Fresh root- not dried       
FLAVOR: Fragrant smell, slightly sweet and bitter taste.
FUNCTIONS
1. Clear Heat, cool the Blood.[6]
COMPARISON
Sheng di huang nourishes the Ying more than Xian di huang. Shu di huang is more more supplementing the essence, enriching the Yin and nourishing the Blood.[6]
HABITAT: Grows mostly on hill-sides, foothills and waste places along roadsides.
DESCRIPTION: Perennial herb. Whole plant covered by dense coat of greyish-white, long and soft hairs. Rhizome; fleshy and thick. Stems; erect. Basal leaves clustered. Leaves obovate to long oval, apexes obtuse, bases gradually narrowing to form long petiole, margins irregularly crenate, leaf surfaces wrinkled, stem leaves seen infrequently, rather small. Flowers; in the spring, purplish red. Capsule; ovate- rounded.
References
Inner Path can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. Always seek advice from a professional before using a plant medicinally.
Constituents
Research
Fresh root: Shows a hepatoprotection effect on mice with hepatitis induced by carbon tetrachloride. Reduces hyperglycaemia in rats. Tests demonstate usefullness in treating rheumatoid arthritis in both adults and children. Also has shown success in treating eczema in humans.[1,2,3,4,5]
References
[6] Combinations and Applications, Xu Li, Translated by Dr. Li Xu, Contributor Dr. Wei Wang Publisher Elsevier Health Sciences, 2002. ISBN 1901149021, 9781901149029
Dried root of Rehmannia glutinosa prevents bone loss in ovariectomized rats.
Lim DW, Kim YT.
Abstract
Dried root of Rehmannia glutinosa is a kidney-tonifying herbal medicine with a long history of safe use in traditional folk medicine for the treatment of joint diseases. This study was conducted to investigate prevention of bone loss by a standardized dried root of R. glutinosa in an ovariectomized (OVX) rat model of osteoporosis. The OVX groups were divided into five groups treated with distilled water, 17β-estradiol (E2 10 µg/kg, once daily, i.p) and dried root of R. glutinosa extracts (DRGE 30, 100, and 300 mg/kg, twice daily, p.o) for eight weeks. We measured the body, organs, and uterus weights, and femur and lumbar vertebrae bone mineral density (BMD), serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP), estradiol levels. The treatments with DRGE 300 mg/kg significantly inhibited BMD decrease in the femur and lumbar (17.5% and 16.4%, p < 0.05, respectively) by OVX without affecting the body, organs, and uterus weights. Also, serum ALP level in the DRGE 300 mg/kg treated group was significantly decreased, but the estradiol level did not change in serum of the DRGE 300 mg/kg treated group. These results show that DRGE is able to prevent OVX-induced bone loss without influencing hormones such as estrogen. Molecules. 2013 May 17;18(5):5804-13. doi: 10.3390/molecules18055804. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Rehmannia glutinosa suppresses inflammatory responses elicited by advanced glycation end products.
Baek GH, Jang YS, Jeong SI, Cha J, Joo M, Shin SW, Ha KT, Jeong HS.
Abstract
Fresh rhizome of Rehmannia glutinosa Libosch. (Saeng-jihwang in Korean: SJH) has been prescribed for the treatment of diabetes-associated complications. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the underlying mechanisms of the efficacy of SJH in diabetes-related complications. Decoction was obtained after boiling SJH in water and subsequent lyophilization. The cellular toxicity of SJH was determined by MTT assay. The antioxidant activity of SJH was measured by DPPH and DCFH-DA assays. The effects of SJH on inflammatory responses elicited by AGEs were assessed by western blotting and semi-quantitative RT-PCR analyses. The water extract of SJH had a high free radical scavenging activity in vitro and decreased the level of intracellular ROS in THP-1 cells treated with AGEs. SJH suppressed the expression of pro-inflammatory genes, including TNF-α, MCP-1, IP-10, COX-2, and iNOS; the activation of NF-κB; and the expression of RAGE, a receptor for AGEs, where the expressions of which were induced by AGEs. These results suggest the possibility that SJH can be an alternative therapeutics for diabetes-associated diseases.
Inflammation. 2012 Aug;35(4):1232-41. doi: 10.1007/s10753-012-9433-x. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov