The Treatment of Modern Western - Biblio.nhat-nam.ru

16 THE TREATMENT OF MODERN WESTERN DISEASES WITH CHINESE MEDICINETHE FIVE BASICMECHANISMS OF YIN FIRE➤LIVER DEPRESSION /DEPRESSIVE HEAT➤➤DAMPHEAT➤➤➤➤SPLEENQIVACUITY➤➤YIN BLOOD VACUITY/VACUITY HEAT➤➤➤➤➤➤➤➤➤STIRRING OFMINISTERIAL FIRE➤FIGURE 6sense and level in a spatial sense. If ministerial fire stirs, A) itloses its calm and B) it counterflows upward. When ministerialfire counterflows upward, it damages the spleen or centralqi. As Li says, “Ministerial fire and the source qi [heremeaning the central or latter heaven source qi] are enemies;both cannot exist in the same place.” If one reads Li’s Pi WeiLun, Li posits five basic disease mechanisms for the developmentof yin fire. These are:1. Spleen qi vacuity2. Damp heat3. Liver depression/depressive heat4. Yin & blood vacuity5. Stirring of ministerial fireAlthough we must explain these one after the other in a linearfashion, the reader should understand that these five diseasemechanisms are all mutually interdependent. Thismeans that any one of these mechanisms can result in the creationof any of the others. Because of this, real-life patients donot typically exhibit only one or another of these five, butrather three, four, or all five at one time. However, Li beginshis explanation of yin fire with the spleen, and that is wherewe will also begin.If, due to overthinking, anxiety and worry, under-exercise,overtaxation, faulty diet, or erroneous medical treatment, thespleen qi is damaged and becomes vacuous and weak, thenthe spleen will not be able to do its various duties and functions.One function of the spleen is to upbear clear yang. Ifclear yang is not upborne properly, it may fall downward tothe lower burner. Because it cannot upbear and out-thrust, itbecomes depressed. Because yang qi is warm in nature, thisdownwardly fallen central qi transforms into depressive heatwhich mutually engenders upward stirring of ministerial fire.Because heat is yang, it always travels upward, harassing anddisturbing the viscera and bowels above it. Such evil heat canfurther damage the spleen qi and mutually engender depressiveheat in the liver as well as damage and consume yin fluidsin the stomach, lungs, heart, and eventually the kidneys.In addition, this upwardly counterflowing evil heat may alsoharass and disquiet the heart spirit.A second function of the spleen is to move and transformbody fluids. If the spleen qi becomes vacuous and weakand, thus, cannot move and transform water liquids, thesemay gather and accumulate and transform into dampness.This dampness may then hinder and obstruct the free flowof yang qi. Because yang qi is inherently warm, it toobecomes stagnant and depressed. The yang qi backs up andtransforms into depressive heat. If this depressive heatmutually binds with accumulated dampness, this will giverise to damp heat. Although this damp heat may be engenderedin the middle burner, dampness, being turbid andheavy, typically seeps or percolates downward to the lowerburner. However, because heat is yang, it tends to counterflowupward. If this heat mutually engenders stirring,hyperactivity, and upward counterflow of ministerial fire, it