2. Ephedra is a commonly used Chinese medicine, which comes from the dried stems of Ephedra, Casuarina equisetifolia or Casuarina equisetifolia. In addition to raw ephedra, ephedra can also be fried with honey. Ephedra is pungent, bitter and warm, and the lung and bladder meridians belong to the meridians. The effects and functions of Herba Ephedrae are mainly sweating, dispersing lung qi, relieving asthma, inducing diuresis and reducing swelling. Clinically, it is used to treat wind-cold common cold, chest tightness, cough and edema caused by geomantic omen. Honey-baked ephedra has a strong effect of moistening lung and relieving cough, which is mostly used for exterior syndrome, asthma and cough.
2. The main components of Herba Ephedrae contain alkaloids, such as ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, norephedrine and volatile oil. Modern pharmacological research shows that Ephedra mainly has antipyretic, sweating, cough and asthma relieving, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, diuretic, exciting heart and raising blood pressure. It should be noted that because Ephedra is strong in sweating and dispersing lung qi, it should be used with caution if it is a patient with spontaneous sweating due to exterior deficiency, night sweats due to yin deficiency, and cough and asthma due to lung and kidney deficiency. At the same time, because it can excite the central nervous system, contract blood vessels and raise blood pressure, patients with hypertension and glaucoma should use it with caution, and athletes should also use it with caution.