Traditional Medicine in Asia

Traditional Medicine in Asia
differentiation of syndromes. Differentiation
of syndromes is often more important.
TCM regards the human body as an
organic entity. The component parts of the
body are physically interconnected, so a
local pathological change may influence
the whole body. Similarly, disorders of
internal organs may be reflected on the
surface of the body. There are four major
diagnostic methods used in TCM:
inspection, auscultation and olfaction,
interrogation and palpation.
Inspection is a method used to examine
the mental state, complexion, physical
condition, behaviour, secretion and
excretion, as well as observation of the
tongue.
Auscultation and olfaction detects the
clinical status of a patient by listening to
his voice, his breathing, and his coughing,
and by smelling his body odours.
Interrogation is a way to interview the
patient, find out his or her family history to
determine the patient’s health state, major
complaints, and progress of illness. Apart
from this, other specific conditions must be
inquired into while interrogating. This was
called “Ten Questions” recommended by
Dr Zhang Jie-bin (1563–1640) and
includes: chills and fever; perspiration;
headache and general pains; urination
and defecation; appetite; feeling in the
chest and abdomen; hearing; thirst; pulse
taking and observation; auscultation and
smelling; characteristic of menstruation for
women patients.
Palpation is the most important
diagnostic method unique to TCM. It
include two parts: pulse feeling and body
palpation. Pulse feeling emphasizes the
quality of the pulse at the radial arteries of
both wrists. It is recognized that there are
28 different pulse qualities which can be
felt and each with its own subtle nuance of
interpretation. It is used to examine the
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strength or weakness of qi and “blood” and
predict the progress of the illness. Body
palpation refers to systematic feeling of the
surface of the body, the meridians, body
temperature, and body moisture. Body
palpation is applied especially when pain
is concerned. The final diagnosis is based
on the information gathered from all the
above-mentioned diagnostic methods.
These methods are not used in isolation,
but as parts of a system.
Differentiation of syndromes is a
process in which the characteristics of
disease and syndrome are decided
through interpretation and summing-up of
the phenomena collected from the four
basic diagnostic methods. “Syndromes” in
TCM is not a simple summation of
symptoms and sign; it reflects rather the
pathogenesis and pathophysiology of a
given case, and provides a basis for the
prevention and treatment of disease.
There are a number of methods in TCM
for syndromes diagnosis (differentiation of
syndromes). It includes the differentiation
of pathological conditions in accordance
with the eight principal differentiation
syndromes according to pathological
changes of zang fu organs, differentiation
syndromes according to the condition of
body qi, blood and fluid, differentiation
syndromes in accordance with the theory
of meridians, differentiation of epidemic
febrile disease in accordance with the
theory of wei, qi, ying and xiue, and the
differentiation syndromes in accordance
with the theory of triple energizer. Of the
several ways of syndrome differentiation,
differentiation of pathological conditions in
accordance with the eight principal
differentiation syndromes according to
pathological changes of zang fu organs
are the most useful.
The eight principal syndromes serve as
a guideline, namely, yin and yang, exterior