Liver Heat

“Many men have a hot Distemper of their Liver from their Birth”. (The Practice of Physick, 1663)

Liver Heat may be constitutional, and as stated above, many young men have Liver Heat. In contrast, Liver Heat as an illness is a disposition with symptoms, due to Heat and Inflammation of the Liver. However, those that have a Hot Liver by nature may occasionally benefit from taking medicines used to treat Liver Heat disease.

Cause:

“The Causes of this Distemper are hot Weather, immoderate Exercise, much Anger, and other great Passions of the Mind, and especially hot nourishment, and Physick, or things spiced, a pure and strong Wine drunken plentifully”. (The Practice of Physick, 1663)

Liver Heat manifests with red eyes, headache, irritability and anger, high-colored and strong smelling urine, a red tongue or red edges on the tongue, and a fast or bounding pulse. There maybe constipation, insomnia, hypertension etc.

Symptoms:

” thirst, binding of the belly, vehement heat in the whole body, especially in the palms of the hands and soles of the feet; leanness of the whole body, the Patient is worse for hot things, and better for cold, and if there be plenty of hot Humors, there will sometimes be vomiting and purging of Choler [Bile]; there is a bitterness in the mouth, and for the most part a Fever”.

Treatment:

Medicines that Purge Bile, and cooling Hepatics to Cool the Liver are the primary medicines used.
Barley decoction with Licorice can be taken as common drink.

“Opening of a Vein doth much cool the Liver”, especially the Liver Vein of the right arm.