Applying Chinese Medicine

HIV Wellness: Living Well with HIV

Guardians of Harmony:
The Immune System in Chinese Medicine

How Disease Impacts the Essential Substances

The Essential Substances develop disharmonies as a result of Pernicious Influences, Epidemic Factors and disrupted emotions. As mentioned above, those disharmonies conform to specific patterns—interior and exterior; excess and deficiency; heat and cold; Yin and Yang. Those patterns impact the Essential Substances — Qi, Xue (blood), Jing, Jin-Ye and Shen (spirit) in specific ways, triggering symptoms. Let’s look at how those patterns are described.

Qi may become excess, stagnant or deficient.

When Qi does not flow smoothly through the channels and the Organ Systems, but pools up, some areas of the body end up with excess Qi and others with deficient Qi . This can happen because of the invasion of a Pernicious Influence, the suppression of an emotion, poor nutrition or even a traumatic injury.

• Symptoms may include pain that worsens with pressure and is not easy to locate precisely; frequently the pain comes and goes in response to your emotions. You may also experience bloating and belching; achiness all over and fidgitiness. Frequently, excess Qi collects and becomes stagnant. And severe stagnant Qi can, in turn, become rebellious—leading to hiccups, vomiting, coughing, asthma, liver problems and fainting.
• Deficient Qi happens when poor nutrition, lack of exercise, respiration problems and/or disharmony of the spirit and mind use up Qi and don’t replenish it. This can lead to spontaneous sweating, fatigue, lethargy and weakness, a weak voice, a pale but bright face, disharmony of a particular Organ System and symptoms which become worse when you move around. When severe, deficient Qi can evolve into collapsed or sinking Qi, which is characterized by Organ prolapse, vertigo, weariness, and a very weak pulse.

Shen may become disturbed or deficient.

There are two types of Shen disharmonies: disturbed Shen and deficient Shen. These are both triggered by disharmony in one of the seven internal emotions and may be accompanied by stagnant Qi and disharmony in the Heart and the Liver Organ Systems. Sometimes, if the Heart has a Xue (blood) deficiency, the Spleen System may also be involved. Feeling out of sorts, fatigued, blue, grumpy and dispirited — the classic indications of a developing Shen disharmony — is often the first sign of a developing sickness or disorder.

• Disturbed Shen is associated with forgetfulness, disorientation, trouble sleeping and a dull look in the eyes. If it becomes severe, profound mental instability may develop.
• Lack of Shen makes a person physically unresponsive and verbally uncommunicative.

Xue (blood) may become either deficient or excess.

• Deficient Xue may arise because of malnutrition, blood loss, deficiency in the Spleen Organ System, lack of sufficient Qi and emotional stress. Symptoms include, sleeplessness, dry skin, dizziness, hair loss, palpitations, menstrual irregularities and blurry vision. In addition lack of sufficient Xue in the Organ Systems can cause secondary disharmonies and severe Xue deficiency, affecting the whole body, causes dry skin and a sallow complexion.
• Excess Xue often results from tissue trauma, such as cuts, bruises and abrasions or from stagnant Qi, deficient Xue or cold obstructing Xue. Symptoms include stabbing, fixed pain, tumors or swollen organs.

Jing tends to become deficient.

We're born with our lifetime supply of Jing — the fluid-like essences that is essential for reproduction and development — and we deplete it bit by bit as we age, as we neglect ourselves, as we battle stress and tension. Although it can be replenished, it takes some effort. That’s why we all tend toward Jing deficiency as we age.

• Symptoms of deficient Jing may include congenital disabilities, improper maturation, premature aging, sexual problems and infertility. Jing disharmonies are associated with a deficient Kidney System.

Jin-ye may be either deficient or excess.

Jin-Ye—the bodily fluids other than Xue (blood), such as urine and sweat, can also be easily used up through poor nutrition and other destructive personal habits. Sometimes when dampness invades excess Jin-Ye may become a problem.

• Symptoms of deficient Jin-Ye include lack of moisture in skin, lips, hair and eyes.
• Symptoms of excess Jin-Ye include stagnation of fluids, edema and swelling.

How disease impacts the Organ Systems and the channels.

The Organ Systems and the channels are also subject to disharmonies when attacked by External Pernicious Influences or disturbed by the Internal Seven Emotions — and those disharmonies conform to the eight Fundamental Patterns described above. However, because there are so many and the descriptions are a bit long, I decided to put them into an appendix at the back of the book. You can look at them as you want and when your Chinese medicine practitioner makes a diagnosis, I urge you to refer to that section to find out what symptoms are associated with it.

This completes our preliminary exploration of the Chinese medicine concepts of health and of disharmony. Now let’s take a look at the Chinese view of HIV/AIDS and associated disorders and diseases.