Patterns of Diagnosis in Traditional Chinese Medicine
W. John Diamond in The Clinical Practice of Complementary, Alternative, and Western Medicine, 2017
Chinese medicine is somewhat simplistic in the language it uses for diagnosis. The diagnosis is not the name of a disease, but the description of a pattern that seems to be preeminent in the whole person. The pattern is elucidated by the Chinese physical exam, which includes: Looking — examination of the eyes, tongue, lips, nose, and ears (five senses); examination with special reference to color (the five colors).Listening — to the breathing and the voice (five vocal expressions).Smelling — the skin, sweat, breath, and urine.Palpating — the abdomen (the Hara), the Channels or Meridians (Alarm Points and Ah-Shi points).Asking — relevant questions as to the nature of the imbalance.Pulse diagnosis — taking the radial pulses.Tongue diagnosis — inspecting the color, shape, coating, and quality of the tongue tissue.
Developments of Health Care: A Brief History of Medicine
P. Mereena Luke, K. R. Dhanya, Didier Rouxel, Nandakumar Kalarikkal, Sabu Thomas in Advanced Studies in Experimental and Clinical Medicine, 2021
The ancient Chinese diagnosis based on the pulse and the procedure of taking the pulse known as the pulse diagnosis [17]; it helps to recognize very subtle pulse variation. The categories of pulse classification used in traditional Chinese medicine have expanded to 51 different varieties of pulse which were to be taken from 11 different areas of the body. A strong, steady pulse would indicate to the practitioner that the person is healthy while the scattered pulses are the indication of the illness and the critical condition may be close death. Acupuncture is one of the important treatments in ancient china and is the practice of inserting needles into the superficial skin, subcutaneous tissue, and muscles at particular acupuncture points [18]. In traditional Chinese medicine, the human body has as many as 2,000 acupuncture points linked by 12 major meridians. These meridians carry energy, or “Qi,” between exterior parts of the body and its internal organs. Acupuncture is believed to maintain the balance between Yin and Yang, thus enabling the normal flow of “Qi” throughout the body and restoring physical and mental health [19]. Moxibustion is another traditional Chinese therapy which consists of burning dried moxa [mugwort root] made from dried Artimesia vulgaris on particular points on the body to facilitate healing. Moxibustion facilitated to warming and refreshing the blood, it enhances the stimulation of the flow of Qi. Moxibustion utilized to treat the diseases such as Arthritis, Back pain, Headaches, Migraines, Muscle stiffness, Menstrual cramps, Digestive problems, Ulcers, Cancer, Infertility, Tendonitis [20].
Developments in Chinese medicine from the Song through the Qing
Vivienne Lo, Michael Stanley-Baker, Dolly Yang in Routledge Handbook of Chinese Medicine, 2022
Li’s Pulse Studies of the Lakeside Master organised and codified pulse diagnosis into the twenty-seven pulses that are the basis for Chinese medical pulse diagnosis today.17 Finally, his Exposition on the Eight Extraordinary Vessels synthesised and extrapolated upon previous ideas concerning the Extraordinary Vessels, particularly with regard to herbal medicine.18 Li’s integration of Daoist inner elixir (neidan 内丹) principles of internal cultivation into medical practice in this text is representative of the widespread interest in such practices during the Ming.19
Parameter study on characteristic pulse diagram of polycystic ovary syndrome based on logistic regression analysis
Published in Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 2022
Weiying Wang, Weiwei Zeng, Xinmin Chen, Liping Tu, Jiatuo Xu, Xiuqi Yin
Pulse diagnosis is the most distinctive type and the essence of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) diagnosis of the four diagnostic methods and has been summarised through prolonged medical practice. The objectified theory of pulse diagnosis combines the theory of modern medicine with traditional pulse theory (Sang 2014). With the progress on the concept and the content of pulse diagnosis, several studies have focussed on pulse diagnosis since the 1950s (Matos et al. 2021). Most of these used advanced precision instruments, detection tools, and indicators to investigate TCM pulse syndrome.
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