Breastfed infants may also be sensitized by minute amounts of foreign proteins (such as from
cow's milk, eggs and fish) present in the maternal milk. Studies have shown that atopic
dermatitis was significantly lower in the babies of mothers avoiding the above foods during the
first six months of breastfeeding.20(128)
The deficiency of the Lung and Kidney's Defensive-Qi systems may also play a role in the
pathogenesis of eczema in babies and very young children. The relationship between the Lungs
and skin is well known in Chinese medicine and yet, as mentioned above, it is seldom used to
explain the linkage between asthma and atopic eczema in children. The Kidneys also influence
the skin. The Lungs influence the skin in as much as they spread Defensive-Qi and fluids to the
skin and control the pores. The Kidneys control the condition and lustre of the skin. The same
deficiency of the Kidney's Defensive-Qi system that leads to IgE-mediated allergic asthma,
causes eczema lesions on the skin. From a Chinese perspective, the Kidneys fail to nourish the
skin, leading to either Wind-Heat or Damp-Heat.
Furthermore, there is a close relationship between the Kidney-Essence and the Lung's Corporeal
Soul. The Corporeal Soul is closely linked to the Essence and is described in chapter 8 of the
"Spiritual Axis" as the "exiting and entering of the Essence".21(129) The Corporeal Soul derives
from the mother and arises soon after the Pre-natal Essence of a newly-conceived being is
formed. It could be described as the manifestation of the Essence in the sphere of sensations and
feelings. The Corporeal Soul provides movement to the Essence, i.e. it brings the Essence into
play in all physiological processes of the body. The Corporeal Soul is the closest to the Essence
and, as such, is responsible for the first physiological processes after birth. Zhang Jie Bin says:
"In the beginning of life ears, eyes and Heart perceive, hands and feet move and breathing
starts: all this is due to the sharpness of the Corporeal Soul".22(130) He also says: "The
Corporeal Soul can move and do things and [when it is active] pain and itching can be felt."
This shows that the Corporeal Soul is responsible for sensations and itching and is therefore
closely related to the skin through which such sensations are experienced. This explains the
somatic expression on the skin of emotional tensions which affect the Corporeal Soul via the
Mind and the connection between Corporeal Soul, Lungs and skin.
The relationship between Corporeal Soul and Essence may therefore explain the eruption of
atopic eczema and asthma in babies. From the Chinese point of view, eczema in babies is due to
the surfacing of toxic Heat from the uterus: it is therefore closely linked with the Pre-natal
Essence of the baby. Since the Essence is related to the Corporeal Soul which manifests on the
skin (itching and pain), the toxic Heat from the uterus erupts on the baby's skin in the form of
eczema. Asthma can be explained in the same way as the deficient Essence of the baby fails to
root its Corporeal Soul and therefore its Lungs.
Wind as Main Pathogenic Factor in Asthma
Having discussed the role of the Lung and Kidney's Defensive-Qi systems as the Root in asthma,