PUBLISHED ONDecember 15, 2013 1:00 AM
Dragon's blood, a type of tree sap, can invigorate blood without increasing the risk of bleeds. Joan Chew reports:
WHAT IT IS: As the sticky dark-red sap trickles down the trunk of the umbrella-shaped tree, it is not hard to see how dragon's blood got its name.
It is said that once the sap is fully extracted, the trees, which are found in Vietnam, Indonesia, Yunnan and Guangxi provinces in China, Europe and South America, do not produce the sap any more.
Thus, the sap, known as xuejie in Chinese, is precious indeed.
Reconstituted into a rust-coloured powder, it is packed into capsules for use in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).
Dr Liu Wen-Fong, a TCM practitioner at Tanglin Shopping Centre, said good quality dragon's blood is dark red, sticky and hard to clean off properly.
In Singapore, dragon's blood is sold in only a handful of medical halls at between $30 and $50 for a 100g packet of its powdered form.
HOW TCM USES IT: The slightly salty dragon's blood, which is considered neutral in nature, is used mainly for pain relief and wound healing.
It is said to move through the meridians of the heart and liver, which are responsible for circulating and storing blood.
Meridians are channels in the body through which qi (vital energy) travels.
In TCM, when blood and qi do not flow properly, the result is stasis, which gives rise to pain in different parts of the body.
Dr Liu said blood stasis can occur with exposure to cold, such as being in air-conditioned rooms or eating "cold" food, such as ice cream, sushi and white carrots, in excess over a prolonged period.
These habits trigger coldness of the body, which tends to cause blood to coagulate and circulate slowly.
A person with blood stasis typically exhibits symptoms such as a dark tongue, dull complexion and weak pulse.
Women may have fibroids, menstrual pain or blood clots during their menstruation, Dr Liu added.
People who have sustained injuries, such as fractures or sprains, are said to benefit from using dragon's blood, which promotes recovery.
Besides being taken orally, dragon's blood can also be applied topically to treat wounds and sores.
The herb helps to invigorate blood, disperse stasis and alleviate pain, yet does not increase a person's risk of bleeding, Dr Liu said.
WHO IT IS FOR: Elderly people tend to have blood stasis as they are more sedentary and lack exercise, said Dr Liu.
Office workers who complain of painful and stiff necks or shoulders - most likely due to poor sitting postures - and are also showing signs of poor qi and blood flow, would benefit from using dragon's blood, he added.
WHO SHOULD AVOID IT: Dr Liu said few people are allergic to dragon's blood and it is suitable for most people to consume.
But, in general, pregnant and breastfeeding women should not use blood-promoting herbs such as dragon's blood.
WHAT RESEARCH HAS SHOWN: In a study published in the Evidence-Based Complementary And Alternative Medicine Journal in April, the plant extract of dragon's blood was tested for its ability to heal wounds in rats.
It found that rats which had the extract mixed with ointment applied on their wounds had better wound contraction than rats which had just the ointment base.
The extract-treated animals also required a shorter time to achieve growth of tissues over the wound compared with those treated with only ointment.
The authors of this study, from the Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine in China, wrote that the ethanolic extract of dragon's blood showed the presence of phytochemical constituents, such as flavonoids and triterpenoids.
These are "known to promote the wound-healing process mainly due to their astringent and antimicrobial properties, which appear to be responsible for wound contraction and increased rate of epithelialization (formation of skin cells)", the authors wrote.
These authors also noted that further studies are needed to isolate the active compound responsible for these effects.
joanchew@sph.com.sg
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