- heat and cold for the character of the disease based on subjective
feelings of heat (fever) and cold (chills) - exterior or interior for the body area showing symptoms
- ki(vital energy), ketsu(blood) and sui(water) for the body’s overall
homoeostatic balance - the theory of the pathogenesis of visceral disease
- the six stages in the progress of disease.
TCM is based on the theory of yin–yang and five elements (see Chapter
6). The yin–yang theory interprets all materials and phenomena as the
contrasting results of two opposing abstractions: yin and yang. The theory of
five elements aims to categorise these entities in terms of the five elements –
wood, fire, earth, metal and water. Wood corresponds to hepatic function,
fire to the heart or circulatory and autonomic nervous functions, earth to
spleen and digestive function, metal to lung function, and water to kidney
and urogenital function. Using a rationale based on these concepts, TCM
explains the physiology and state of the viscera.
In kampo medicine, the disease state is observed to change over time.
The Shokanronclassifies the process of the disease into six stages, three each
for yang and yin:
- Yang: tai yang, shao yangand yang ming
- Yin: tai yin, shao yinand jue yin.
Yang disease exhibits febrile and active reactions against pathological
conditions whereas yin disease shows cold and passive reactions. Each stage
has its primary sites where the disease appears:
- In tai yang,shao yang, and yang mingthese appear in superficies (the
outer surfaces of a body), mesoderm (the germ layer that forms many
muscles, the circulatory and excretory systems, and the dermis,
skeleton, and other supportive and connective tissue), and the interior
of the body. The three stages of yang diseases are distinct in character
because the primary sites all differ. - Yin diseases are located mainly in the interior of the body.
Depending on the process of patient diseases, corresponding kampo
herbal formulae are chosen for treatment.
Ki,ketsuand sui are concepts of three physiological factors that explain
disturbance of the whole body. Ki (corresponding to the Chineseqi) is the
vital energy and considered to correspond to the functions of digestion and
absorption, and the neural system. Decreased kibecomes as weak in all of
the activities as the human.
Japanese kampo medicine | 227