Medicine made from bear gallbladder
Traditional Uses of Bear Gallbladder in Medicine
It's okay to drink alcohol in moderation, but people you love tend to drink heavily, and even though you know what you're doing, it's hard to stop, and the next day you feel sick to your stomach, feel queasy, and feel nauseous, and you end up regretting it the next day. Since ancient times, drugs such as Kumamingan, Kumamaen, and Kumasangan have been used as effective medicines for overdrinking, nausea, nausea, and loss of appetite. The main ingredient is bear bile, which is made by drying the bear's gallbladder, and is also included in over-the-counter medicines such as Hankontan and Kuromaruko. Since only one can be harvested from each animal, it is a valuable medicine whose price fluctuates depending on the number of fish caught in a given year, which is why the medicine was so widely available. It would be fine if the gallbladder of other animals were used, but some medicines were created using the bitter-tasting herbal medicine Huang Bao.
Historical Accounts of Bear Bile in Japanese Medicine
The book ”Japanese Sankai Famous Products” even describes how to make fakes, saying, ”If you powder Huangbai, Sankai, and Maohuangren and decoct it, it will become black and when dried, it will have a luster and look like the real thing.”
In ”Seiji Hyakudan,” ”Bear bile is used to treat eclampsia, which is a condition in which a pregnant woman has fainting and convulsions, by dissolving bear bile in warm water and putting it in her mouth,”which describes not only how to drink it, but also how to identify objects. If you put a chestnut-sized piece of bear bile in a bowl of water, it will be authentic if it scatters streaks like a line.If you put a grain of rice into the clear water, it will fly away. He also made a charcoal fire, placed some bear bile on top of it, and warned, ”If it burns and leaves scum behind, you should know that it is a fake.”
Fake Bear Bile and How to Identify It
In those days, ”Tokugawa Japan as seen by a Russian officer” clearly shows that Kumagawa was a rare flower that was difficult for the common people to obtain, and fakes were on the market. ”The Japanese make solid bear bile and use it as a stomachic and other medicine for ailments. The hunter asked if there was a gallbladder, and knowing that there was a high demand for it, he showed them the gallbladders of other animals and sold them the bear gall.So that the common people would not be fooled, they licked it to determine if it was real. The contents are as follows.
Regulations and Substitutes for Bear Gallbladder in Contemporary Medicine
Bear bile is currently called Yutan and is described in the Japanese Pharmacopoeia as ”Dried bile from brown bears or other closely related animals, and contains tauroursodeoxycholic acid as a component.”
When tauroursodeoxycholic acid is decomposed with an alkali, the sulfur-containing amino acid urin and ursodeoxycholic acid, which has a gallstone dissolving effect, are obtained. It has a bitter taste and is used as a stomachic, intestinal regulation, antispasmodic, and as a choleretic agent. It is still a valuable medicine, but it is difficult to obtain as it is regulated by the Washington Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. Most products use cows or other animals as substitutes, but there are some products that use real ingredients.
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