spots on the root. However, very many patients complain only of frequency, difficulty and
hypogastric distension with little or no pain, the tongue is not Red and there is no thick yellow
coating and red spots on its root. Moreover, from a Western point of view, no bacteria can be
cultured from the urine, though the patient is still diagnosed as having "cystitis" and antibiotics
are prescribed. The term "urethral syndrome" has been applied to this category of patients who
are predominantly women. These cases usually correspond to other types of Painful-Urination
Syndrome, especially the Qi or Fatigue types.
The use of antibiotics is not generally called for in treating Painful-Urination Syndrome and in
the cases just outlined above, it is even less justified as there is no true infection of the bladder.
In other words, Chinese diagnosis can give guidelines not only for the use of Chinese herbs and
acupuncture but, in certain conditions, even for the use of Western drugs. Thus, if there are signs
of Heat, Damp-Heat or Blood-Heat in the Bladder with intense burning and a Red tongue with a
yellow coating and red spots on the root, then antibiotics may be more justified, they will usually
work and cause fewer side-effects. If, on the contrary, the "cystitis" manifests with symptoms
and signs of Qi or Fatigue Painful-Urination Syndrome, to administer antibiotics is even more
futile: they will usually not work at all or work only temporarily, and will cause more
side-effects such as a Candida infection.
Some doctors correlate different types of Painful-Urination Syndrome to different Western
diseases as follows:
- Heat Painful-Urination Syndrome: acute infection of urinary tract, acute nephritis, cystitis
- Blood Painful-Urination Syndrome: TB of kidney, carcinoma of bladder or kidney
- Stone Painful-Urination Syndrome: urinary calculi
- Cloudy Painful-Urination Syndrome: urethritis
- Fatigue Painful-Urination Syndrome: chronic prostatitis.10(422)
Except for Stone Painful-Urination Syndrome, which by definition corresponds to urinary
calculi, the above correlations are given only as a guideline as there is never an exact
correspondence between Chinese symptoms and Western diseases.