Ching-Hao and Artemisias Used in Chinese Medicine
Ching-hao is markedly bitter in taste, cold in nature, and is classified among the heat clearing herbs, either with those that treat summer heat or those that treat deficiency heat. Summer-heat syndromes are so-named because they usually arise during the summer, when contaminated food and water are prevalent and insect-borne pathogens are transmitted. The syndromes encompassed by this category correspond to various types of infections and parasitic diseases, often accompanied by fever and headache. Deficiency heat is a condition usually accompanied by yin deficiency that involves sweating in response to fever, especially at night. While deficiency-heat syndromes may occur at any time of year, they are more likely during the summer, when the environmental heat contributes to the discomfort.
