How does Chinese medicine doctor treat disease and what is the basis of the diagnosis?
In fact, the ancient Chinese people invented some methods to grasp complexity with simplicity, which is a very clever methodological idea. That is , to find out the main direction of treatment, and then adjust the condition in the main direction, so as to let the body recover itself.
If it comes to deficiency disease, we will see thousands of conditions associated with it. However, in Traditional Chinese Medicine, practitioners often focus on the most fundamental conditions. Thus the deficiency disease is highly summarized as four kinds：Yin deficiency, Yang deficiency, Qi deficiency, and blood deficiency.
The main content of this article is Yin deficiency.
Yin deficiency refers to the pathological phenomenon of the loss of fine matter such as blood or body fluid. It is called Yin deficiency because both blood and body fluid belong to Yin. That is just like the lack of water in the roots of a tree. In modern society, the white-collar crowd of Yin deficiency ratio is very high because these people need to do lots of mental work and are more likely to stay up late. Also, too much spicy diet can also lead to Yin deficiency if the living environment is not very humid.
How to know that the condition belongs to Yin deficiency?
The judgement is based on the symptoms. According to basic theory of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Yin deficiency creates internal heat. So the general symptoms include night sweat, malar red, dry mouth and throat, hot flashes in the afternoon, strong hot feelings in hands and feet, gradual emaciation, preferring cold drinks, yellow urine and red tongue with little coating. The pulse manifestation is usually a little bit faster and thin.
Yin deficiency is subdivided according to different viscera.
Yin deficiency of lung is mainly caused by chronic infections of lung or mucosal tissues. Apart from the general symptoms mentioned above, the typical performance is cough with less and viscous phlegm, or even with blood phlegm, hoarse voice.
The heart Yin deficiency is usually associated with blood deficiency, which is often caused by work pressure and thinking too much. The specific manifestations are insomnia, dreaminess, palpitation, forgetfulness, weakness, irritability and dizziness.
The stomach Yin deficiency is caused by chronic stomach problem and too much spicy food intake. Main performance is dull pain in the stomach area, strong hungry feelings but eat little, vomiting and nausea sometimes.
Yin deficiency of liver is also known as liver heat syndromes, which is often related to emotional problems. The specific clinical manifestations are dizziness, dry eyes, vision loss, burning pain on side ribs, facial flushes, shaking hands and getting angry easily.
The kidney Yin deficiency is usually caused by chronic kidney disease, excessive sexual intercourse, overtaking warm and tonic Chinese herbs (Ginseng, monkshood, for instance) by mistake. The clinical manifestation of kidney Yin deficiency are dizziness, tinnitus, hair loss, loose teeth, soreness and weakness of lower back and knees, spermatorrhea in man and amenorrhea in women.
How should Yin deficiency people regulate their body?
A healthy and proper diet is very important. Some foods, which have a cool and sweat nature, can regenerating body fluid and fresh vegetables and fruits with moisture functions are also effective.
The following foods and herbs are highly recommended for Yin deficiency body.
Duck nourishes Yin of stomach. Wang Meng Ying, a famous Chinese doctor in Qing dynasty, said that the duck meat can replenish the Yin essence of internal organs and clear the heat of stomach. For those who eat too much fried, fatty and spicy food, duck meat and soup can help them keep healthy.
Lean meat and skin of pork have benefits for the dryness of the body. About 1700 years ago, the most well-known Chinese herbalist, Zhang Zhong Jing used pork skin soup to treat dryness conditions deduced from Yin deficiency. Once again, Wang Meng Ying found that blacksmith can keep body safe when they were working in the very hot and dry environment because they often drink the soup made by lean pork. He realized that lean pork is also suitable for Yin deficiency constitution.
Eggs not only can enrich Qi and blood, but also has the effect of moistening dryness , no matter the egg white or the egg yolk. In Zhang Zhong Jing's book, there is an effective herbal prescription for Yin deficiency insomnia, in which an egg needs to be added into the decocted herbal soup.
Mulberry can nourish fluids and blood and especially benefit for liver and kidney Yin deficiency. For people who suffer from tinnitus, dry eyes, consumptive thirsty, etc, mulberry is a kind of very appropriate nutrients source.
Chinese wolf-berry fruit is also good for liver and kidney Yin deficiency. Another famous Chinese doctor, Zhang Xi Chun, ever felt thirsty at night. Then he started to take a couple of Chinese wolf-berry fruit before sleeping, and the thirsty gone incredibly.
Tremella fuciformis(white fungus) is rich in nutrients for moisture human body and is commonly used as a kind of refreshing food in China for ages, especially for patients with Lung Yin deficiency and stomach Yin deficiency.
According to Chinese Medicine, autumn is a season of dryness, and one of the most ideal fruit for autumn is pear. Cooked pear is especially benefit for moistening lung system and relieving dry cough.
And generations of Chinese doctors believe that the nature of milk is cool and id fit for people with deficiency heat.
Actually, for Yin deficiency syndromes, you can find a nearby doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine to help analyze. It is very easy for an experienced doctor to make a diagnosis. If you are really in the state of Yin deficiency , then a little remedies, such as root of rehmannia, root of straight ladybell, and ophiopogon, can be cooked for soup or make into beverage to drink, two or three cups a day, the conditions may be adjusted in one or two weeks.
