Di Long (extract)
Encyclopedia
Di Long or Dilong
Dilong
Dilong Ward is one of the sixteen wards of Mokokchung town. It is located in the lower slope of the town and forms the Northern part of Mokokchung....

 extract
is a medicinal preparation based on abdominal extracts from the earthworm species Lumbricus rubellus
Lumbricus rubellus
Lumbricus rubellus is a species of earthworm that is related to Lumbricus terrestris. It is usually reddish brown or reddish violet, iridescent dorsally, and pale yellow ventrally...

used in traditional Chinese medicine
Traditional Chinese medicine
Traditional Chinese Medicine refers to a broad range of medicine practices sharing common theoretical concepts which have been developed in China and are based on a tradition of more than 2,000 years, including various forms of herbal medicine, acupuncture, massage , exercise , and dietary therapy...

 (TCM) for a wide variety of disorders, from convulsions and fevers to rheumatoid arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, systemic inflammatory disorder that may affect many tissues and organs, but principally attacks synovial joints. The process produces an inflammatory response of the synovium secondary to hyperplasia of synovial cells, excess synovial fluid, and the development...

 and blood stasis
Blood stasis
Blood stasis syndrome, or blood stagnation is an important underlying pathology of many disease processes according to traditional Chinese medicine...

 syndromess.

Synopsis

Di Long comes in two variants, Guang Di Long native to Guangdong
Guangdong
Guangdong is a province on the South China Sea coast of the People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province...

, Guangxi
Guangxi
Guangxi, formerly romanized Kwangsi, is a province of southern China along its border with Vietnam. In 1958, it became the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, a region with special privileges created specifically for the Zhuang people.Guangxi's location, in...

, Fujian
Fujian
' , formerly romanised as Fukien or Huguing or Foukien, is a province on the southeast coast of mainland China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, and Guangdong to the south. Taiwan lies to the east, across the Taiwan Strait...

 and collected from spring to autumn, and Tu Di Long collected during the summer in many regions of China. The abdomen of an earthworm of the L. rubellus species is cut open immediately after capture, whereupon viscera and extraneous matter are removed. The abdomen is washed clean, and dried in the sun or indoors at a low temperatures.

It is also used in the treatment of blepharoptosis, or drooping of the upper eyelid, along with other Phlegm Herbs (such as Dan Nan Xing, Jiang Can, Ban Xia, Tian Ma and Bai Fu Zi).

According to TCM, Di Long is associated with the Bladder, Liver, Lung and Spleen meridians, and has Salty and Cold properties. It is thought to work by draining Liver Heat and by clearing Lung Heat, and also by clearing Heat in the collateral channels. Its "channel-opening" properties are thought to derive from its habits of burrowing through the earth, constantly searching out new spaces to slither.

Recommended dosage is 4.5 to 12 grams per day as an oral preparation.
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