A study of herbal frequencies used in medicine formulations for Lha, La-ong, and Shang treatment based on Khamphi Prathomchinda

Abstract

Khamphi Prathomchinda (KP), a scripture of childhood diseases, describes the illnessesof children from newborn to 12 years old including 'Lha La-ong Sang' as well as Thai traditional medicine recipes for treatment. However, there is no articles clearly describing the herbal selection principlefor treatment. Therefore, this study, was aimed to categorize the herbal medicine for 'Lha La-ong Sang'  treatment based on the 3rd attachment in chapter 1 and chapter 2 of KP into 4 categories: 1) type of natural ingredients (plants, animals and minerals), 2) herb flavors (the first taste of herb), 3) route ofadministration, and 4) herb and solvent.

It was found that among the 231 medicinal recipes of Lha La-ong Sang treatment can be defined as1) the highest use of natural ingredients were plants (73.23%), animals (14.13%), and minerals (12.63%), respectively; 2) the highest use of herb flavors were bitter flavor (25.09%), astringent flavor (23.06%), and hot flavor (16.42%), respectively; 3) the most frequent route of administration were oral medicine (65.80%), external medicine (25.90%), and topical medicine (25.50%), respectively; and 4) the most common used herbs and solvents were alcohol, Curcuma zedoaria, Sodium tetraborate pentahydrate (purified borax), Ocimum tenuiflorum leaves, and Pogostemon cablin.

Almost all the herbs mentioned in KP exhibit an immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and antiviral activities which are related to the herbs’properties. In this regard, future research should focus on drug formulations from Thai traditional medicine texts, along with a systematic review of bioactivities.