Encephalopathy, a long-standing medical problem puzzling human health and a big burden puzzling the society, not only causes the patient to have sufferings all his life but also puzzles his family about his illness, it makes an impact on the quality of Chinese population as well as on the patient's life quality. In recent years, the rapid development in studies on encephalopathy at home and abroad, especially those of molecular neurology of the brain, has led to new progress in the diagnosis, treatment and prophylaxis of the disease. However, there have been no satisfactory therapies in Western medicine for diseases caused by developmental retardation or nerve retrograde affection of central nervous system. Although the use of a series of physical rehabilitation training and intense training measures does improve, to some degree, the imitative power of feebleminded children and part of their motor ability, the problem is not settled at all. Drugs newly developed with the development of molecular neuropharmacology and bioengineering technology have some neurotrophic value but they fail to pass directly through blood-brain barrier and do not produce direct pharmacodynamic action on maldevelopment of neurons or restoration of damaged neurons, so there are no specific remedies for various diseases that affect the functioning of the brain at present in Western medicine. The superiority of traditional Chinese medicine to Western medicine in the

Author's unit name: Guangdong Gaoming Medical and Medicinal Institute of Encephalopathy, 2 Heping Lane, Cangjiang Road, Hecheng District, Gaoming, Guangdong 528500.

prophylaxis and treatment of encephalopathy
is the specific constituents and functions of many Chinese drugs which can enhance the function of blood-brain barrier, directly penetrate the blood-brain barrier, enter into brain tissue, clear away metabolic and microcirculatory disturbances of the brain, act on neurons and thus produce drug effect, that is, promote development of immatured neurons, repair damaged nerve cells and inhibit apoptosis of nerve cells, provide neurons with protein inhibiting nerve cell apoptosis, strengthen the activities of nerve cells, enhance neuronal function and mobilize the latent energy of the brain. Therefore, traditional Chinese medicine makes up the weakness of Western medicine in the treatment of encephalopathy. Li's Prescription No.5 is formed on the basis of this unique nature of traditional Chinese medicine and combination with medical theories and techniques of modern medicine, it is a neurotrophic prescription created in accordance with therapeutic mechanism of encephalopathy. In Guangdong Province, more than ten thousand indicated patients have been admitted and treated, many patients with congenital cerebral palsy have stood up and go on foot, many feebleminded children have gone to school with their schoolbags; more than ten vegetatives have regained their consciousness; patients with chromosomal aberration have improved their life quality and social functions; and many patients with senile dementia have restored their abilities to take care of or provide for themselves and their consciousness. On 18th April, 1998, Li's Prescription No.5 used in the treatment of various diseases that affect the functioning of the brain passed the clinical scientific evaluation organized jointly by the Science and Technology Commission of Guangdong Province and the Department of Public Health of Guangdong Province and was confirmed to be in the lead at home and abroad. This cannot but be said to be the pride of traditional Chinese medicine and the pride of the Chinese nation.
The human brain has thousands upon thousands of millions of cells; of these, 98.5%-99% are in dormant state, and about 1%-1.5% of the cells participate in functional activities of cranial nerves. The amount of kinetocytes in the brain of everybody determines his intelligence and memory. The so-called kinetocytes refer to a nerve cell connected with another nerve cell by a " nerve bond" to make a return circuit of nerve and become a huge information storage unit, and it is by the memory in the information storage unit that human beings can have language, literature, creation and invention and the complex higher nervous activities such as consciousness, emotion and thought. Encephalic diseases caused by congenital, genetic or perinatal factors are due to developmental retardation of nervous system which leads to decreased number of nerve cells participating in the functional activities of the brain, or to maldevelopment of nerve cells which results in neuronal hypofunction; those caused by infection, poisoning or trauma are due to nerve cell injury which results in nervous hypofunction; and those of retrograde affection of nervous system caused by aging and calcification of the brain as seen in the middle-aged and old people, such as encephalatrophy, senile dementia and Parkinson's syndrome, are all due to too early apoptosis of hypofunctional nerve cells. However, the damaged nerve cells are not completely dead, part of the damaged nerve cells are in half-dead state, or state of reduced activity, which we call "dormant state." Because of the plasticity of central nervous system, namely, some power of regeneration, nutritional supplementation of these damaged nerve cells through different pathways of the brain to improve ischemic-anoxic state and metabolic disturbance and increase amino acids, peptides and phospholipids facilitates regeneration of the residual neurons and restoration of their functions, raises the activities of the nerve cells and the sensitivity to external stimulation, and makes the damaged nerve cells in dormant state revive, thus mobilizing the latent energy of the brain. For instance, some patients with mental retardation, especially those caused by chromosomal aberration often show no marked abnormalities in brain morphology, and this suggests that there may be only neuronal hypometabolism and insufficiency and that suitable pharmacotherapy may improve functions of nerve cells and promote development of immatured neurons. For years we have used the serial products of Li's Prescription No.5 (Naolizhibao, Naokang, etc.) to treat more than 70 000 patients with different encephalic diseases and got satisfactory results. A three-month's retrospective sampling survey made on 1 164 patients from Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Yunnan and Guangdong Provinces in 1998 by experts from Beijing Medical University, the People's Hospital of Guangdong Province and Guangdong Institute of Gerontology showed that the total effective rate was 93.3%. For patients who are too old or have too long a course of disease, the treatment is also proved to be effective in ameliorating their sequelae or retrograde affection in varying degrees. That there isn't any connection between curative effect and the cause and kind of the disease and the patient's age suggests that the mechanism of drug action is nonspecifically promoting restoration of damaged brain functions and bidirectionally regulating functions of intracerebral neurotransmitters and nerve conduction pathway.