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Food malaria, also known as stomach malaria, is caused by irregular diet damaging the stomach qi. Its symptoms include abdominal pain, fullness in the middle jiao with inability to eat, vomiting and regurgitation after eating, belching with a putrid odor and acid reflux, and the pulse at the qikou (radial artery) position is exclusively vigorous. Dai Fu'an's method: Use Pingwei San (Regulate the Stomach Powder) added with Caoguo (Tsaoko Cardamom Fruit) and Sharen (Amomum Fruit), taken together with Hongwanzi (Red Pill). (Formula seen in the Food Category section.)

*Notes from Xianxing Studio* records that Wang Xingfu from Wuxi accidentally ate beef, felt unwell, and subsequently developed malaria. His food intake gradually decreased until he could not swallow food; soon after, even water could not go down. Even plain white tea passing through the throat was vomited out with a greenish color. Medication was rejected, urine output was reduced to a single drop resembling dark red tea, and severe constipation occurred. Physicians were helpless. Zhongchun (Yu Chang) suddenly arrived, examined him, instructed him to lie on his back, and pressed with his finger to the lower right of the heart region. The patient cried out in pain, revealing the cause upon inquiry. A dose of pill medicine was administered; upon reaching the throat, vomiting ceased, and the digestive tract gradually cleared. The next day, several black lumps like iron were passed, and the illness vanished. The pills were made from Fanhong (Alum Red) and Pingwei San powdered together, formed into pills with jujube paste, and taken with warm water, 3 qian per dose.

Deficiency malaria refers to cases where one contracts malaria due to constitutional weakness, or becomes weak due to malaria. The six pulses are faint and weak, and spirit and qi are fatigued and listless. Therefore, the primary treatment principle is to tonify and nourish healthy qi. The Classics state: "If the pulse in malaria is slow, large, and deficient, medication should be used, and acupuncture is not suitable." This is because when malaria presents with a deficient pulse, qi has already become depleted; thus, acupuncture is unsuitable while medication is appropriate. This corresponds to the principle that for those whose yin, yang, form, and qi are all insufficient, one should not use needles but regulate with sweet medicines.

Buzhong Yiqi Tang (Tonify the Middle and Augment the Qi Decoction) and Xiaojianzhong Tang (Minor Construct the Middle Decoction). Both formulas are agents for tonifying deficiency and dispersing pathogens. Yang Renzhai stated: There was a middle-aged man whose zang-fu organs had been deficient for a long time, with frequent loose stools. He suddenly contracted malaria with abnormal vomiting. Only dedicated use of Renshen (Ginseng Root) could stop the vomiting; other antimalarial drugs were ineffective. Thus, Erchen Tang (Two-Aged Phlegm Decoction) was used with added Renshen and Suosha (Cardamom Seed), with Baiddoukou (White Cardamom Seed) doubled. After one or two doses, the patient felt his qi and pulse instantly harmonize, and the chills and fever ceased. This is because Baiddoukou can digest and grind accumulation, circulate through the three jiaos, and once the ying and wei (nutritive and defensive qi) turn, the chills and fever naturally subside.

(Xin Ding) Renshen Wu Mei San (Ginseng and Dark Plum Powder). Treats deficiency malaria and chronic malaria presenting with shortness of breath and anorexia. It also treats laomalaria (consumptive malaria), which is defined as malaria that recurs upon exertion and persists for years without resolution.

Renshen (Ginseng Root) (3 qian), Wu Mei (Dark Plum) (1 piece), Huangqi (Astragalus Root), Danggui (Angelica Sinensis Root), Fuling (Poria), Chenpi (Aged Tangerine Peel) (each 1 qian), Biejia (Tartar Testudinis Carapax et Plastrum), Zhi Heshouwu (Prepared Polygonum Multiflorum Root), Baizhu (Atractylodes Macrocephala Rhizome) (each 2 qian).
All ingredients constitute one dose, decocted with ginger.