Deer Blood, a name for a traditional Chinese medicinal material. It is the blood of the sika deer (Cervus nippon Temminck) or the elk (Cervus elaphus Linnaeus) of the Cervidae family. It has the effects of nourishing blood and essence, stopping bleeding, and alleviating leukorrhea. It is primarily used to treat deficiency of essence and blood, low back pain, impotence and nocturnal emission, palpitations and insomnia due to blood deficiency, pulmonary atrophy with hemoptysis, epistaxis, metrorrhagia, metrorrhagia with leukorrhea, and abscesses, swellings, and fractures.
Deer Blood
Deer Blood, a name for a traditional Chinese medicinal material. It is the blood of the sika deer (Cervus nippon Temminck) or the elk (Cervus elaphus Linnaeus) of the Cervidae family. It has the effects of nourishing blood and essence, stopping bleeding, and alleviating leukorrhea. It is primarily used to treat deficiency of essence and blood, low back pain, impotence and nocturnal emission, palpitations and insomnia due to blood deficiency, pulmonary atrophy with hemoptysis, epistaxis, metrorrhagia, metrorrhagia with leukorrhea, and abscesses, swellings, and fractures.
Chinese Name : 鹿血
Nature, Flavor & Meridian Tropism : Taste: sweet and salty; Nature: warm
Benefits & Efficacy
Benefits
Nourishes blood and essence; stops bleeding; stops leukorrhea.
Indications
Deficiency of essence and blood; low back pain; impotence and nocturnal emission; palpitations and insomnia due to blood deficiency; pulmonary atrophy with hemoptysis; epistaxis; metrorrhagia, menorrhagia, and leukorrhea; abscesses, swellings, and fractures.
Usage and Dosage
Oral use: Mix with wine, 3–6 g; or incorporate into pills or powders.
Precautions
Not yet established.
Chemical Constituents
Blood from cervids such as the red deer (Elaphus spp.) was collected via jugular vein puncture from male and female deer aged 3 months or older for analysis. The results were as follows: in serum, γ-glutamyltransferase 19.5 u/L, aspartate aminotransferase 43.0 u/L, creatine phosphokinase 197.9 u/L,in plasma: pepsinogen 0.91 u/L, blood urea nitrogen 8.56 mol/L; and in serum: glucose 6.9 mol/L, phosphorus 1.75 mol/L, carbon 2.13 mol/L, magnesium 0.74 mol/L, potassium 4.43 mol/L, and sodium 138.5 mol/L.There were no significant differences in the above results among animals of different sexes and age groups (3–8 months, 9–18 months, and 18 months or older).
Pharmacological Actions
1. Effect on blood pressure: Intravenous injection of deer antler blood extract and deer antler extract into anesthetized cats reduced blood pressure by 34%–37%. 2. Anti-traumatic effect: Domestic rabbits were subjected to bloodletting (10%) and excision of 0.72–0.75 g of skin and muscle from the left thoracolumbar region to induce physical weakness and trauma.Subsequently, the control group was injected with saline, while the treatment group received subcutaneous injections of 0.5 ml/kg of deer antler blood extract once daily for 18 consecutive days. The results showed that body weight gain in the treatment group was significantly greater than that in the control group, and plasma protein levels and red blood cell counts were also higher than in the control group, though no significant differences were observed between the two groups.
Relevant Discussions
1. *Qianjin·Dietary Therapy*: “Nourishes blood; treats abscesses and swellings.”
2. *Newly Revised Materia Medica*: “Treats rabies bites, nosebleeds, fractures, and impotence; tonifies deficiency; alleviates lower back pain.”
3. *Rihua Zi*: “Treats pulmonary atrophy with hemoptysis, as well as metrorrhagia and leukorrhea.”
4. *Riyong Bencao*: “Nourishes yin and enhances nutritive qi.”
5. *Introduction to Medicine: Materia Medica*: “Treats lung abscesses and nosebleeds; alleviates hunger and thirst; replenishes qi and blood.”
6. *Compendium of Materia Medica*: “Powerfully tonifies deficiency and debility; nourishes essence and blood; neutralizes smallpox toxins and drug toxins.”
7. *New Compilation of Materia Medica*: “Regulates the blood vessels.”
8. *Compendium of Medical Essentials: Properties of Medicinal Substances*: “Promotes blood circulation and removes blood stasis; restores severed vessels and heals injuries.”
9. *Illustrated Compendium of Medicinal Plants of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau*: “Treats excessive menstrual bleeding in women, anemia, physical weakness, and expels intestinal parasites.”
10. *Medicinal Animals of Shandong*: “Primarily treats nocturnal emissions and sexual neurasthenia.”
11. *Chronicle of Sichuan Traditional Chinese Medicine* (1979 edition): “Used for deficiency of essence and blood in the elderly, and chest and abdominal pain caused by qi stagnation.”
Applications
Related Compatibility
1. For palpitations, insomnia, and various types of qi-related pain: Deer antler blood, 0.9 g per dose, taken twice daily with yellow wine. (*Medicinal Animals of Inner Mongolia*)
2. For pulmonary atrophy with hemoptysis: Equal parts of deer blood, glehnia root, raw rehmannia root, asparagus root, ophiopogon tuber, donkey-hide gelatin, and lily bulb. Grind into a powder and form into pills for oral administration. (*Chronicle of Sichuan Traditional Chinese Medicine*, 1979)
3. For intermittent nosebleeds: Take dried deer blood, roast it until charred, then quench it with wine and fumigate it two or three times; finally, mix it with half a cup of wine and take it orally. (*Compendium of Materia Medica*)
4. For rheumatic arthralgia: 30 g of deer antler blood; 9 g each of Cinnamomum cassia twig, Acanthopanax bark, processed Sichuan aconite, and pine knots. Soak in wine for 7 days. Drink 20 ml twice daily. (*Medicinal Animals of Inner Mongolia*)
Processing & Preparation
Harvesting & Processing
Collect the blood when slaughtering a deer or sawing off the antlers; after it cools and solidifies, air-dry it until it forms purple-brown blocks or slices.
Processing Methods
Remove impurities from the raw material and crush it before use.
Storage Methods
Store in a dry, airtight container in a cool, dry place, protected from moisture and dust.
Crude Drug Identification
Properties of Crude Drugs
It appears as irregular thin slices, purplish-black in color, with a horn-like luster; it is firm in texture, brittle, has a fishy odor, and tastes sweet and salty.
Botanical Information
Morphological Characteristics
1. Sika Deer: The Sika deer is approximately 1.5 m in body length and weighs about 100 kg. It has prominent suborbital glands, large erect ears, and a slender, long neck. Its limbs are slender and long; on the outer side of the hind ankle joints are brown plantar glands. The main hooves are narrow, and the lateral hooves are small. There is a distinct white patch on the rump, and the tail is short.Male sika deer have branched antlers; when fully grown, they have 4–5 tines. The brow tine extends diagonally forward; the second tine is set far from the brow tine, and the main shaft splits into two small tines at its tip. The sika deer’s winter coat is chestnut brown, with inconspicuous white spots. The hair on the muzzle and cheeks is short, with sandy-yellow tips. A dark brown dorsal stripe runs from the top of the head along the spine to the tail.The white rump patch has a dark brown border. The undercoat is pale brown, and the groin area is white. The outer sides of the limbs match the body color, while the inner sides are slightly lighter. The summer coat is thin, without underfur, reddish-brown in color, with prominent white spots arranged in vertical rows along both sides of the spine and the lower edges of the flanks; there is a black dorsal stripe. The belly is white, the dorsal surface of the tail is black, and the limbs are lighter in color than the body. 2. Gueland Deer: This species is large, with a body length of 2 m and a weight exceeding 200 kg. Its shoulder height is approximately 1 m; the back is straight, and the heights at the shoulders and hindquarters are equal. The tip of the nose is bare, and the ears are large and conical. The neck is about one-third the length of the body, with relatively long undercoat on the underside of the neck. The limbs are long, and the hooves on both sides are long enough to touch the ground.The tail is short. Males have antlers; the brow tines extend forward, forming nearly a right angle with the main shaft, which curves slightly backward and inward. The surface of the antlers is rough except at the tips, and the base of the antlers has a small ring of tubercle-like protrusions. The winter coat is grayish-brown. The muzzle and lower jaw are dark brown, the cheeks are brown, and the forehead is brownish-black.The outer surface of the ears is yellowish-brown, while the inner surface is white. The neck and dorsal surface of the body are slightly yellowish-brown, with a blackish-brown dorsal stripe. The outer sides of the limbs are brown, while the inner sides are lighter in color. The rump has a yellowish-ochre patch. The summer coat is shorter, without undercoat, and reddish-brown in color.
Distribution Area
1. Sika deer: Found in Northeast, North, East, and South China. 2. Elk: Found in Northeast, Northwest China, and Inner Mongolia, among other areas.