Signs & Symptoms of Exterior Pathogenic Cold

Cold is prevalent in winter. It usually attacks the body when the temperature is low and one fails to adapt oneself to the change by dressing properly. Pathogenic Cold may attack the Exterior of the body or invade the interior of the body directly. Diseases in the former case are called affliction of pathogenic Cold, and those in the latter case, direct attack of Cold on the interior.

Pathogenic Cold has the following features:

First, being a Yin pathogen, Cold tends to impair Yang Qi. Cold is the prevalent climate in winter, in which Yin Qi of nature is flourishing, so it is a Yin pathogen. Like attracts like. So Yin of the body will become hyperactive in the case of invasion of Cold and Yang Qi is over-restricted. For example, Cold attacking the Exterior often obstructs Defensive Qi (the immune system), leading to failure of the Exterior to be warmed and resultant chills. Direct attack of Cold on the Spleen and Stomach usually cause Cold pain in the abdomen, watery diarrhea, etc., meaning that Spleen Yang is impaired and its transforming and transporting actions are disturbed.

Second, cold is liable to cause coagulation of Blood and retention of Body Fluids. Blood and body fluids depend on the propelling effect of Yang Qi and a moderate temperature for their free circulation. If Cold invades the body, Yang Qi will be impaired and body temperature will be lowered. So the flow of Blood and Body Fluids will become sluggish, or even coagulated, which is clinically marked by pain. For example, rheumatic arthralgia is marked by Cold pain of the joints, which is usually severe and fixed.

Third, contracting nature of Cold. Cold often leads to inward movement of Qi, contraction of the muscle tissue and convulsion of tendons and vessels. If attacked by pathogenic Cold, the muscle tissue and the sweat pores will be closed, leading to obstruction of Defensive Qi, fever or chills and an absence of sweating. Cold Invasion into the vessels will cause coagulation of Qi and Blood and contraction of the vessels, leading to headache, pantalgia, tense pulse, etc. Inability of the limbs to flex and extend freely or Cold and numbness of the limbs will follow if the Cold attacks the Channels and joints and results in contraction of the tendons and Channels.

Chinese herbal medicine and acupuncture can be used to treat pathogenic Cold preventing it from creating more serious problems.

Meridian Harmonics

Brief History of Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine

The origin of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) can be traced back to three legendary Emperors/mythical rulers: Fu Xi, Shen Nong, and Huang Di.

Shen Nong and Fu Xi are believed to be early tribal leaders. Fu Xi developed the Yi Jing (I Ching) or Book of Changes.

Shen Nong was known as the "Divine Cultivator" by the Chinese, because he is considered the founder of herbal medicine, and taught people how to farm. In order to determine the nature of different herbal medicines, Shen Nong sampled various kinds of plants, ingesting them himself to test and analyzed their individual effects.

Shen Nong is believed to have tasted a hundred herbs, including 70 toxic substances in a single day, in order to rid people of their illnesses. As there were no written records, the discoveries of Shen Nong were passed down verbally from generation to generation. Many years later, the oldest known book on agriculture and medicinal plants was compiled - Shen Nong Bencao Jing.

In 1578, Li Shizhen completed the Bencao Gangmu, also known as the Compendium of Materia Medica, which has been translated into 20 languages and used as a Chinese herbal reference until today. Clinical diagnosis and treatment in TCM are mainly based on the yin-yang and five elements theories. These theories use natural laws to study of the physiological activities and pathological changes of the human body and its interrelationships.

TCM diagnostics are based on overall observation of human symptoms rather than laboratory tests. There are four types of TCM diagnostic methods: observe, hear and smell, ask questions and palpation.

The diagnostics of an ailment includes its cause, mechanism, location, and nature, and the confrontation between the pathogenic factor and body resistance. Treatment is not based only on the symptoms, but differentiation of specific patterns.

Consequently, those with identical ailments may be treated in different ways, and on the other hand, different ailments may result in the same syndrome and are treated in similar ways.

Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine comprise one of the oldest organized systems of medicine the world has ever seen (8000 years) and has been used to address nearly every health concern that allopathic medicine traditionally has been treating the last 200 years.

Meridian Harmonics