Licorice is a very common traditional Chinese medicine with good medicinal value and many effects, such as tonifying the spleen and qi, relieving pain slowly, eliminating phlegm and cough, clearing heat and detoxifying, and harmonizing the intensity of certain drugs. Therefore, licorice has become one of the most frequently used Chinese medicinal herbs. According to statistics, among more than 700 commonly used medicinal herbs in clinical practice in China, the prescription rate of licorice is over 70%. In addition to being used as medicine, some people also use licorice to soak in water and drink, achieving the effect of health preservation. However, long-term and excessive consumption of licorice or its compound preparations not only fails to maintain health, but can even cause limb edema, which is actually not conducive to physical health. Why does licorice cause edema? According to the chemical analysis of liquorice ingredients, liquorice extract has the function of mineralocorticoid, which can cause false aldosterone increase symptoms such as water sodium retention, lowering blood potassium level, and can also cause rhabdomyolysis. Therefore, long-term and excessive use of licorice preparations can lead to symptoms such as fatigue, decreased muscle strength, muscle pain, decreased urine output, limb edema, and elevated blood pressure. If you experience edema due to long-term and excessive consumption of licorice preparations, don't be nervous for now. Firstly, we need to simply identify the cause of this edema and whether there are other organ diseases present, such as nephritis, chronic heart failure, hyperthyroidism, etc; Whether there are asthma, hematuria, increased foam in urine, palpitations, fear of heat, protruding eyes and other symptoms. Secondly, it is important to check for the presence of licorice preparations in one's long-term oral medication or tea drink. If licorice preparations are found in oral medication after excluding internal organ diseases, the medication can be discontinued for about a week for identification. Generally, licorice preparations cause edema, which will disappear after one week of discontinuation. The premise for distinguishing whether edema is caused by compound licorice preparations is that you do not have any obvious symptoms mentioned above. If the above symptoms are obvious, please go to the hospital for diagnosis and treatment as soon as possible. The active ingredients of licorice have various pharmacological effects, which are not only valued by traditional Chinese medicine, but also found in Western medicine to have effects such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, detoxifying, antihistamine, antibacterial, and hepatoprotective effects. During the use of licorice in children and the elderly, monitoring should be strengthened and it should be used reasonably. (Le Xin She) Wen/Liang Dengting Yang Jie (Beijing Jishuitan Hospital)
Edit：GuoGuo Responsible editor：FangZhiYou
Source：gmw.cn
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