Chinese Diagnostic
Approach to Disease and Healing
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 © 20108 by Stephen Lau
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