Let's begin our class In the last unit I have introduced the concept of Chinese materia medica and its cultural attributes Now that we have known what are Chinese herbs we should further understand why they can be used to treat diseases So in this unit I'd like to focus on the action mechanism and wisdom in disease treatment To begin with, I'd like to introduce essential principles of traditional Chinese medicine in treating diseases As we know, since Chinese herbs are used to treat diseases It’s necessary for us to know how Chinese medicine understands disease In terms of health WHO has a very clear definition In this definition "health" includes three elements: physical health mental health and social well-being Let’s take a look at how Chinese medicine defines health It's actually very simple but profound and philosophical What is health? From the prospective of T.C.M., balance is health Such a simple answer Contains a great amount of things The term "balance" is not abstract In fact, it has substantial content I think it at least contains two aspects One is the interior balance of human body As we all know, in human body We have 5 zang and 6 fu organs, four limbs, bones, five sense organs and nine orifices Each organ and tissue has its own functions Those functions are not isolated from each other Instead, they are mutually coordinated and harmonized A dynamic equilibrium should be kept We also know that functional activities consume a certain amount of nutrient substance whereas the metabolism of substance depends on the corresponding functional activities That is to say, between functional activities and substance there must be a dynamic equilibrium Therefore, only by maintaining the internal balance of your body can you achieve health Let's move on to the other aspect After all, we don't live in a vacuum We live in the real world Every aspect of changes in this universe for instance, climate change environmental change social factors, etc. Every aspect of changes has impact on human beings, either directly or indirectly Is your body capable of adapting to it If you can accommodate the change of circumstances and impacts from all aspects in the world then you can achieve a balance Only if the internal balance accommodates the changes of external circumstances or so-called "the concept of correspondence between man and universe" could one stay healthy As a result, we say balance is health not in an abstract way but rather with specific meanings Now we understand balance is health Quite simply, what is the opposite of health It is imbalance Of course, it has two forms One is so-called illness The other, which does not meet the diagnostic criteria of disease but manifested a sign of imbalance is called a sub-healthy state A sub-healthy state or illness Involves multiple factors Those factors can be internal or external External factors in Chinese medicine, include abnormal weather changes Six pathogenic factors including wind, cold, summer-heat, dampness, dryness and fire Internal factors may include excessive emotional fluctuations joy, anger, anxiety, thought, sorrow, fear, fright which is known as injuries of seven emotions Of course, diet and other factors also plays a role which will result in internal imbalance Internal imbalance, in a sense means deviation occurred in the body which can manifest in various forms systemic or localized persistent or temporary, etc If imbalance has occurred What's the purpose of using Chinese herbs To restore balance of the body and regain health Then how to correct the deviation By using Chinese herbs The characteristics of herbs in correcting the deviation of the body is considered as their bias Accordingly, the fundamental principle in treating diseases with Chinese herbs is actually quite straightforward correct the deviation using their bias That is to say, correct the deviation of the body using the bias of herbs Such bias of Chinese herbs commonly speaking is called properties. The theory about properties of Chinese herbs, which is also referred to as medicinal properties, precisely speaking, medicinal properties are defined as the basic properties about actions of Chinese herbs and a summarization of their characteristics What are the properties of Chinese herbs In fact, there are many Since you use Chinese herbs for disease treatment and diseases result from multiple causative factors and disease occurrence involves multiple elements If an herb is selected for treatment it has to target every element to obtain treatment effect For example In terms of nature, a disease can be a cold syndrome or a heat syndrome How do we use herbs accordingly We treat heat syndrome with cold and cold syndrome with heat We also have a theory of four properties of Chinese herbs: cold, cool, warm and heat We also know that diseases can be diagnosed as an excess syndrome or a deficient syndrome As for herbs there is a theory of reinforcing and reducing No matter what syndrome it is, heat or cold deficiency or excess it can tell you the exact location of the disease For instance, if a patient has hyperactivity of heart fire another patient has a hyperactivity of liver fire we knew the exact locations of the problem For Chinese herbs, we have a special theory about the disease location What is that We call it meridian entry (meridian tropism) Apart from this there is another condition If a patient has persistent sweating we think the disease tends outward Persistent sweating If some patients have prolapsed organs such as prolapsed stomach, kidney or uterus Undoubtedly, these conditions tend downward Now that we know about the disease tendency as for Chinese herbs we have a special theory about the property of Chinese herbs ascending, descending, sinking and floating In addition we also have a special theory targeting the causative factors of diseases Some herbs are used to remove wind and dissipate cold; some herbs are used to clear heat and reduce fire so on and so forth In clinical practice I'd like to focus on three things First, four-property theory targeting the nature of cold or heat Second, meridian tropism theory targeting the disease location Third, five-flavor theory targeting the actions of Chinese herbs As to others, like ascending, descending, sinking, floating reinforcing or reducing there's another theory about toxicity which will be discussed when we move on to specific herbs Notably, when we talk about toxicity we also need to address safety of Chinese herbs So before I give you a detailed explanation about medicinal properties I’d like to introduce the fundamental principle of treating diseases with Chinese herbs Next, I'd like to give you more details on theories about properties of Chinese herbs First, properties of diseases and four basic properties of Chinese herbs First of all, we need to understand the meaning of four basic properties What are they Of course, four is a number Property means nature That is to say, Herbs have four different properties: cold, cool, warm and heat These are the four basic properties In the history of Chinese herbs the four basic properties were also called four types of qi But think about it Cold and cool are actually the same nature So are warm and heat Therefore, there are actually two basic properties rather than four One is yin, including cold and cool the other is yang, including warm and heat Between yin and yang There is another type which are neither warm-heat nor cold/cool called neutral in nature So as for theory about properties of Chinese herbs There’s a theory of three properties Warm-heat is yang heat; while cold-cook is yin cold Neither warm-heat nor cold-cool is neutral From the perspective of yin and yang the theory of three properties seems more reasonable But what we need to be aware that as was mentioned before Herbs are used to treat diseases and diseases vary greatly in clinical practice even a cold or heat syndrome can differ in severity For example, some patients may present with high fever others low-grade fever Some more severe others just mild Since you need to prescribe herbs to treat diseases You need to match with the disease severity in nature So practically four basic properties are more useful Although the three-property theory seems more rational practically four basic-property theory is more practical So we've got used to name cold, cool, warm and heat as four properties of Chinese herbs So this is the first concept I'd like to tell you about the four properties The second question is, you may ask how do you know that How do you know which herb is warm/heat or cold/cool Next I'd like to say something about the basis of determining the cold, cool, warm and heat properties of Chinese herbs As I said herbs are used for disease treatment of course, we need to make a correct pattern differentiation How to define heat syndrome and cold syndrome There is a theoretical basis Yin-yang theory and principles of cold-heat differentiation But after all, we evaluate an herb By its actions on the body So the real basis is that after being taken by a patient whether it works for a cold or heat syndrome That's how we evaluate an herb For instance, A patient has persistent high fever Restlessness, a dry mouth dark-yellow urine dry stools, a red tongue with a yellow coating and a rapid pulse Apparently, this patient can be diagnosed as Yang heat syndrome or a heat syndrome According to Chinese medical theory Heat syndrome should be treated with cold-property herbs So we can use Shi Gao (Gypsum Fibrosum), Zhi Mu (Rhizoma Anemarrhenae) Huan Lian (Rhizoma Coptidis) and Yu Xing Cao (Herba Houttuyniae), etc to eliminate or alleviate these symptoms We consider the aforementioned herbs Have a cool/cold property On the contrary if a patient has cold intolerance cold hands lassitude profuse clear urine, loose stools a white tongue coating a pale tongue and a deep slow pulse Then we can conclude that this is a cold syndrome or a yin cold syndrome According to Chinese medical theory, a cold syndrome should be treated with warm-property herbs we can use Fu Zi (Radix Aconiti Lateralis Praeparata) Gan Jiang (Rhizoma Zingiberis) and Gui Zhi (Ramulus Cinnamomi), etc To eliminate or alleviate these symptoms Therefore those herbs have a warm/heat property To sum up Herbs that can eliminate or alleviate heat symptoms are cool/cold in property Herbs that can eliminate or alleviate cold symptoms are warm/heat in property So this was the answer of the second question The third question What are the clinical significance of cool/cold and warm/heat properties of herbs We have various theories about property of Chinese herbs We can say that The properties of cold and heat are the most important theory on nature of Chinese herbs As an ancient saying goes Mistakes begins with unclear differentiation between cold and heat Without knowledge about whether an herb is cold or warm in property how can you use it in a correct way How can you use it to treat specific patients That is the first point The second point is that Gui Zhi (Ramulus Cinnamomi) can be fatal for patients with yang excess This is not only the experience from ancient people but also a warning of distinguishing cold from heat We will mention that later Gui Zhi (Ramulus Cinnamomi) is very warm in property It is mainly used to treat cold syndrome. If you use it for excessive yang heat syndrome it may not work at all or cause side effects or even death So cool, cold, warm and heat properties of Chinese herbs in Chinese medicine are the manifestation of "treating heat with cold" and "treating cold with heat" which should always keep in mind and follow in clinical practice That's all about the four basic properties of Chinese herbs
