Cerebral arteriosclerosis is a part of systemic arteriosclerosis, and its incidence rate is higher in men than in women, especially among middle-aged and elderly people over 50. Due to lipid metabolism disorders, cholesterol and fat are deposited deep in the arterial intima, and a large amount of collagen fibers also proliferate, causing the intima of the arterial wall to thicken and the arterial lumen to narrow. Due to human aging, physiological decline of brain function, aging and atrophy of brain tissue, as well as genetic and socio-environmental factors, can all contribute to cerebral arteriosclerosis.
In the early stages of cerebral arteriosclerosis, there may be no symptoms. The series of symptoms caused by cerebral arteriosclerosis are mainly due to reduced cerebral blood flow and decreased brain function. These include headaches, dizziness, vertigo, tinnitus, hand tremors, numbness in the limbs, poor sleep, easy fatigue, and memory loss. Among these symptoms, headaches are often dull pain, located in the occipital or frontal area. Memory loss often manifests as difficulty remembering names and numbers, as well as recent forgetfulness. Sleep disorders are mainly characterized by insomnia, excessive dreaming, difficulty falling asleep, or light and short sleep. Some scholars consider headache, vertigo, and forgetfulness as the three main symptoms of cerebral arteriosclerosis. In the later stages of cerebral arteriosclerosis, changes in behavior or personality may occur, such as a dull expression, carelessness, childishness, repetition of words, emotional instability, irritability, and complaining or getting angry over trivial matters. In short, there are many symptoms.
1. Avoid mental stress and emotional fluctuations to reduce the occurrence of cerebral vasospasm.
2. Pay attention to a balance between work and rest, and participate in activities within your physical capacity, such as walking, gymnastics, playing Tai Chi, playing chess, and traveling. These activities can promote smooth blood flow and enhance physical fitness.
3. Smoking can cause hardening of blood vessels, and long-term heavy drinking can promote arteriosclerosis, so you should quit smoking and drink less alcohol.
4. A reasonable diet is effective in preventing arteriosclerosis. Avoid eating foods high in fat or cholesterol. Fruits, vegetables, and foods rich in vitamins should be supplemented.
5. Seriously adhere to the treatment of chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes, as the progression of these diseases can promote cerebral arteriosclerosis.
6. Under the guidance of a doctor, some drugs that dilate blood vessels, lower blood lipids, and activate blood circulation to remove blood stasis can be used according to the condition to improve symptoms. These include Compound Lutong, Cinnarizine, Nimodipine, Naoxinshu, Xinnaoshutong, Vitamin E, etc.
Ginkgo
Semen Ginkgo
(Eng) Ginkgo Seed
Also known as Yinxing He, Gongsun Shu Zi, Yajiao Shu Zi.
Source: The seed of Ginkgo biloba L. of the Ginkgoaceae family.
Plant morphology: A deciduous tree. Branches are divided into long and short branches. Leaves are clustered on short branches or spirally scattered on long branches, fan-shaped, with a shallowly wavy upper margin, sometimes shallowly or deeply lobed in the center, with forked veins; petioles are long. Flowers are unisexual, on separate plants (dioecious), sometimes on the same plant (monoecious); strobiles are born in the leaf axils or bract axils of short branches, opening at the same time as the leaves; male strobiles are in catkin-like inflorescences, female strobiles have long peduncles, the peduncle is forked at the apex, with 1 ovuliferous scale on each fork, each bearing 1 ovule, only 1 of which develops. Seeds are drupe-like, elliptical to nearly spherical, the outer seed coat is fleshy, with a white powder, orange-yellow when ripe, the inner seed coat is bony and white. Flowering period is May, fruiting period is October.
Grows in sunny, moist, fertile loam and sandy loam, usually cultivated. Mainly produced in Guangxi, Sichuan, Henan, Shandong, Hubei, and Liaoning.
Harvest and preparation: Harvested in autumn when the seeds are ripe. The fleshy outer layer of the seed coat is removed, then slightly steamed or briefly boiled, and dried.
Characteristics of the medicinal material: Ovoid or elliptical, 1.5-3 cm long, 1-1.8 cm wide; surface is milky white to light brownish-yellow, smooth, with 1-2 rounded tubercles at the base, and edges with ridges. The inner seed coat is hard, and the kernel is扁 spherical (flattened spherical), light yellow-green. Taste is slightly sweet and bitter.
Chemical composition: Contains ginkgolic acid, bilobol, ginnol, ginkgetin, protein, fat, carbohydrates, calcium, phosphorus, iron, carotene, etc.
Properties and flavor: The property is neutral, the flavor is sweet, bitter, and astringent.
Functions and indications: Astringes the lungs to stop wheezing, stops leukorrhea, and reduces urination. Used for excessive phlegm and wheezing cough, leukorrhea, and enuresis/urinary frequency.
Ginkgo, also known as Bai Guo (white fruit), is the most ancient living relic plant among seed plants. Botanists often compare ginkgo with dinosaurs and call it the "panda of the plant kingdom." Ginkgo belongs to the category of dry nuts, and among the many dry nuts, ginkgo ranks third in economic value. The value of white fruit is mainly reflected in its edible and medicinal uses.
As a food, eating white fruit is said to promote longevity. In the Song Dynasty, ginkgo was listed as a royal tribute. The Japanese have the habit of eating white fruit daily. Westerners consider white fruit a Christmas essential. In terms of consumption methods, ginkgo is mainly eaten fried, roasted, boiled, as a side dish, in pastries, preserved fruits, canned goods, beverages, and wines.
The medicinal value of white fruit is mainly reflected in three aspects: medicine, pesticides, and veterinary medicine. Li Shizhen of the Ming Dynasty once said: "It enters the lung meridian, benefits the spleen qi, stops wheezing and coughing, and reduces urination." In the "Ben Jing Feng Yuan" by Zhang Lulu of the Qing Dynasty, it is recorded that white fruit has the functions of reducing phlegm, clearing toxins, and killing insects, and can treat "sores, scabies, carbuncles, tumors, breast abscesses and ulcers, tooth decay and caries, infantile diarrhea, red and white leukorrhea, chronic strangury, spermatorrhea, enuresis, etc." In the Ming Dynasty, proprietary Chinese medicines made from processed ginkgo appeared in Jiangsu, Sichuan, and other places for clinical use. The outer seed coat of ginkgo contains a large amount of hydrogenated ginkgolic acid and ginkgo flavonoids. The water-soluble components of the outer seed coat have a good cough-suppressing and phlegm-expelling effect, similar in nature to cyclophosphamide and dexamethasone. The alcohol-soluble intermediates of the outer seed coat have an 81% effective rate in inhibiting 22 common clinical pathogenic fungi. A 0.1% concentration of hydrogenated ginkgolic acid has a 92% effective rate in inhibiting 25 clinical pathogenic fungi. In addition, the extract of the outer seed coat has an inhibition rate of 88%-100% against 11 plant diseases such as apple anthracnose. The alcohol extract has a 100% control rate against the cotton white caterpillar within 3 days, and can also control pests such as spider mites, peach aphids, and rice stem borers. According to "Folk Veterinary Herbal Medicine," ginkgo preparations can treat livestock conditions such as fatigue and nasal discharge, lung abscess and cough, lung deficiency cough, urinary strangury and hematuria, and leukorrhea in female animals. The Dingchuan Tang (Asthma-Relieving Decoction) developed by the Shandong Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Station has a cure rate of 95% for infectious laryngotracheitis in chickens.
Ginkgo leaves also have important medicinal value. So far, more than 160 chemical components have been identified in ginkgo leaf extracts. The main ones are flavonoids, terpenoids, phenols, alkaloids, isoprenes, quinic acid, linoleic acid, ginkgolic acid, ascorbic acid, a-hexenal, ginkgol, ginkgosterone, etc. In the 1960s, the Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and other units developed Shuxuening injection from ginkgo leaves, which was tested to have a certain therapeutic effect on coronary heart disease, angina pectoris, and cerebrovascular diseases. At the same time, ginkgo leaves can also be used as a pesticide. Soaking 1 kg of leaves in 20 kg of water, boiling for 30 minutes, and then steeping for 2-3 days, the resulting medicinal liquid can be sprayed to control red spiders and cabbage worms with a control rate of over 90%, and it leaves no residue.
Currently, there are more than 50 types of skin care and hair care products made with ginkgo leaf extracts. In addition, health products made from ginkgo leaves, such as ginkgo leaf beverages, ginkgo peach juice, ginkgo beer, and ginkgo tea, are already on the market and have achieved good results.
The ecological benefits of ginkgo are mainly reflected in the following aspects: From a cultivation perspective, ginkgo is a fruit tree - a dry fruit; it is also a forest tree - a timber species, a protective species, a disease and pest-resistant species, a long-lived species, and a pollution-tolerant species. Ginkgo has strong adaptability and is an ideal species for fast-growing and high-yield forests, farmland protection forests, road protection forests, bank protection forests, shoal protection forests, village protection forests, intercropping of forest and grain, and "four-side" (around fields, villages, houses, and roads) greening. It can not only provide a large amount of high-quality wood, leaves, and seeds, but also purify the air, conserve water sources, prevent wind and fix sand, conserve water and soil, and improve the microclimate of farmland. It is an excellent species for afforestation, greening, and ornamental purposes, and is of great significance to the adjustment of agricultural and forestry planting structure and the development of forestry in plain agricultural areas in China. Ginkgo wood is of high quality and expensive, known as "fragrant silver wood" or "silver wood." Ginkgo wood has a lustrous appearance, straight grain, fine texture, is easy to process, does not warp or crack, has strong corrosion resistance, is easy to paint, has small nail-holding power, and has a special medicinal fragrance, with strong insect resistance. In addition to being used to carve plaques and wooden fish and other crafts, ginkgo wood can also be made into high-end furniture such as display cabinets and desks. Ginkgo wood has resonance, sound conductivity, and elasticity, making it an ideal material for making musical instruments. It can be used to make surveying instruments, pen holders and other cultural products, and is also a superior material for making chessboards, chess pieces, sports equipment, seals, and small handicrafts. In industrial production, silver wood is most suitable for making X-ray machine filter panels, textile printing and dyeing rollers, machine molds and wooden molds for bodiless lacquerware, plywood, cutting boards, and wooden telephones.
Ginkgo also has good ornamental value. In summer, ginkgo is a lush green, and in autumn, it is a golden yellow, giving people a feeling of handsome, magnificent, magnificent, and elegant. Therefore, both ancient and modern, Chinese and foreign, ginkgo has been used as an important tree species for courtyards, streets, and landscaping. In China's famous mountains and great rivers, ancient temples and monasteries, there are tall and straight ancient ginkgo trees everywhere. They have experienced the vicissitudes of history, tracing back to ancient and modern times, giving people a mysterious and unfathomable feeling. Poets and writers of past dynasties have visited these monasteries and left many poems, essays, and odes, inscribing on steles to describe the beauty of the scenery and recording their merits with pride. No wonder people marvel at the close connection between ancient ginkgo trees and ancient culture.
Ginkgo trees are magnificent, with gnarled trunks and lush, solemn foliage. Selecting ginkgo trees with beautiful shapes and processing them into bonsai concentrates the majestic posture of ginkgo in nature into a pot, which is ancient, unique, elegant, full of wild interest, and pleasing to the eye when placed on a desk.