‘Herbs That Clear Heat From Deficiency’ – A Misnomer?

The ‘Herbs that Clear Heat from Deficiency’ are a subgroup of the ‘Herbs that Clear Heat’ in the Chinese materia medica. This article discusses the term ‘heat from deficiency’ and highlights the differences in pathomechanism, signs and symptoms, and treatment methods between heat from yin deficiency and residual heat in the late stages of warm disease. The so-called herbs that clear heat from deficiency in fact only address the latter and not the former. The authors believe that the term ‘herbs that clear heat from deficiency’ misrepresents the functions of the herbs that go under this title and the pathomechanism that they address, as well as being misleading as to their clinical applications. They suggest that this sub-category should be renamed ‘Herbs That Clear Residual Heat in the Late Stages of Warm Disease’.