Chinese medicine, with its thousands of
years of history of development through trial and error, is different from
Western medicine in many respects, and one of which is its diagnostic approach to
disease and healing. According to Chinese medicine, disease diagnosis is
important not just from the standpoint of healing but also from the perspective
of preventing disease in the future.
In traditional Chinese medicine, disease
diagnosis is not about running tests on the patient, as in the case of Western
medicine; instead, it is about taking and evaluating data of the patient in
terms of "yin" and "yang" as well as the
"deficiency" or "excess” of "qi," which is the
internal life energy coursing through the meridians connecting all the body
organs. Given that Chinese medicine focuses on the balance of "yin"
and "yang" Chinese healing is based on the harmony of "yin"
and "yang" expressed in the Five Elements, which represent different
body organs, as well as the free flow of "qi." Any blockage or
stagnation of "qi" will result in "deficiency"or
"excess," either of which will lead to disharmony or disease. The
purpose of Chinese diagnostic approach to disease and healing is to find out
not only the causes but also the underlying patterns of disharmony, thereby
instrumental in promoting natural cures as well as preventing relapses in the
future.
For thousands of years, in Chinese health
system, disease diagnosis has been comprehensive in that it includes the
environment, the social factors, and the conditions of the patient, such as
food and nutrition, as well as lifestyle. Therefore, Chinese diagnostic
approach to disease and healing is detailed and all-inclusive.
In Chinese medicine today, diagnosis begins
with data collection through observing,
asking, listening, and touching.
The first level of Chinese disease
diagnosis is visual inspection and observation of shen or spirit. Shen is the spirit of the body,
manifested in the consciousness, personality, intellect, and other
abstract qualities. Disharmony of shen
in the patient is reflected in confused or distorted thinking, heavy body
motion, dull and slow response, insomnia, and other mental and psychological
disorders and problems. On the other hand, good shen is revealed in good eye contact, clear skin, and
healthy complexion. The presence of shen, or the lack of it, is
basically a reflection of the balance or disharmony of “yin” and “yang.”
The second visual diagnosis is the
examination of the colors associated with the internal organs on the surface of
the skin, such as red for
heart, green for liver, yellow for spleen, white for lungs, and black for kidneys. Chinese medical
practitioners look for specific places to identify the colors associated with
different body organs; for example, the skin under the eyes, the temples, the
skin by the nose, the lips, and the forearms are strategic areas for physicians
to identify colors of the patient for disease diagnosis.
The most important observation is that of
the tongue. For centuries, Chinese physicians have extensively observed the size and shape (e.g. long or short; swollen or thin; cracked or
smooth), the contour, the margins, and the color of the tongue to determine the
presence of disease and the overall health of an individual. To illustrate, the
light or heavy coating of the tongue indicates the absence or presence of
body fluids (stomach fluids); if the coat is thick, the fluids are sluggish; a
thick white coat is considered normal and indicative of a relative fluid
balance; a blackish coat indicates internal imbalance.
The lifestyle of the patient, such as his
or her appetite, diet, digestion, elimination, sweat, sleep, energy level,
exercise, and sexual activity, among others, is also part of the diagnostic
approach to disease and healing.
Listening and smelling are other
unobtrusive methods of disease diagnosis. In listening diagnosis, the
Chinese physician listens for sound of voice and quality of speech to
determine the health conditions of the patient. In smelling, the
physician uses body odor, or quality of breath,
to determine the intensity of internal imbalance of the patient.
Touching is based on the pulse of the
patient--a major index of the patient's internal health. In Chinese medicine,
there are twenty-eight types of pulses, according to their speed, width,
length, and rhythm. The abnormalities of the pulse indicate weakness or excess
of "qi"
in different body organs.
In Western medicine, doctors look for one
single point where disease begins, and treatment is applied to remove or
suppress the symptoms associated with the disease. The Chinese diagnostic
approach to disease and healing is much more comprehensive and extensive in
that the diagnosis aims at finding an underlying pattern of disharmony and
identifying the organ and meridian that are the culprits, thereby instrumental
in designing healing strategies for the disease.
For more information on Chinese healing,
visit my website: Chinese
Natural Healing.
Stephen Lau
Copyright
© 2017 by Stephen Lau
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