Eight Principles Flashcards
What are the eight principles?
Yin/Yang
Interior/Exterior
Cold/Hot
Deficient/Excess
Which principles belong to yang?
Excess, exterior and heat
What principles belong to yin?
Interior, cold, deficiency
What do yin and yang represent in terms of disease state?
General category of disease
What do exterior and interior represent in terms of disease state?
Depth of disease
What do cold and heat represent in terms of disease state?
Nature of the disease
What do deficiency and excess represent in terms of disease state?
Relative strength of upright and evil qi
What is the first and most important stage of pattern identification?
Eight Principles
- can be applied to all kinds of diseases
What are the three types of relationships between the eight principles?
Combination
Conversion
Complex
What is a combination pattern?
Simultaneous occurence of signs of two or more of the unpaired principles or the principles of interior and exterior
What is a conversion pattern?
The displacement of symptoms of one principle by symptoms of the opposing principle of the pair
What is a complex pattern?
The simultaneous appearance of symptoms of the paired principles cold and heat or deficiency and excess
What does it mean to see a false sign?
As the disease develops through certain stages, some false appearances opposite to its nature will probably appear. Eg. pseudo-heat in cold syndrome, pseudo cold in heat syndrome, pseudo excess in deficiency cases and pseudo-deficiency in excess cases
What parts of the body are considered exterior?
Skin and hair, muscle, channels and collaterals, respiratory tract
What parts of the body are considered interior?
zang fu organs, qi and blood, bone marrow
What is the clinical significance of the exterior/interior classificaiton?
Used to determine the depth of disease. Important in the treatment of exopathic febrile diseases. Helpful in determining the location and severity of disease but also with inferring the tendency of pathological changes
A disease in the exterior would be considered…
superficial and mild
A disease in the interior would be considered…
deep and serious
What is the cause of Exterior syndrome?
The invasion of the six yin via the skin, hair, mouth and nose. It is commonly seen in the early stage of exopathy and is characterized by sudden onset and short duration.
What is the manifestation of an Exterior syndrome?
Fever with aversion to cold, thin and white tongue coating, floating pulse plus headache and general aching, stuffy runnning nose, itching of the throat, sneeze, cough
What is the principle of treatment for Exterior Syndrome?
Relieve the exterior syndrome with drugs pungent in flavour
Expel wind-cold ?
What is the definition of interior syndrome?
Syndromes in which the zang-fu organs, qi and blood and marrow are affected. It is commony seen in the intermediate and late stages of diseases caused by exogenous pathogenic factors or diseases which result from internal injury
What are three causes of Interior Syndrome?
1) The transmission of exogenous pathogenic factors from exterior to interior to affect the zang fu organs
2) Exogenous pathogenic factors directly attacking the zang fu organs
3) The functional disturbance of the zang fu organs by emotional factors, improper diet or overstrain
What is the clinical manifestation of Interior Syndrome?
High fever and aversion to heat
or low fever, hectic fever, irritability, mental confusion and thirst with desire to drink
or cold limb, abdominal pain, constipatoin or diarrhea, vomiting, scanty dark urine, thick tongue coating and deep pulse
*Causative factors are complicated, range of locations is wide and symptoms varied. Basically all syndromes belong to interior syndrome except exterior syndrome
What is the principle of treatment for Interior Syndrome?
Warm the interior
Clear away heat
Nourish Yin or Reinforce Yang accordingly
What is the definition of half interior/half exterior syndrome?
A syndrome in which the exogenouse pathogenic factors stay just between the exterior and interior
What is the cause of interior/exterior syndrome?
The evil qi fails to be transmitted completely to the interior or the right qi is not strong enough to expel the evil qi to the body surface
What is the manifestation of interior/exterior syndrome?
Alternating chills and fever, discomfort and fullness in teh chest and hypochondrium, vexation, nausea, anorexia (not eating enough), bitter taste in mouth, dry throat, blurring of vision, taut pulse
(This will be discussed again in six-channel pattern identification as Shaoyang syndrome)
What are the main tips for distinguishing between exterior and interior syndromes?
A) Know characteristics
Exterior syndrome - sudden onset, short duration, superficial location
Interior syndrome - chronic onset, long duration, deep location
B) Observe chills and fever as well as urine
C) Observe tongue and pulse
What would be the reasons for exterior and interior being affected simulataneously?
1) Evil qi transmitted to the interior while the exterior syndrome has not been relieved
2) An old disease has not been completley cured while a new disease is coming on
3) Bothe exterior and interior affected simultaneously in initial stage
What are some reaons for transmission of evil qi from exterior to interior?
Weakened body resistance
Hyperactivity of pathogenic factors
Improper care
Incorrect or delayed treatment
Preponderence of yin leads to…
endogenous cold
Deficiency of yin leads to…
endogenous heat
Preponderence of yang leads to…
heat manifestation
Deficiency of yang brings on…
external cold
Definition of Cold Syndrome
Pathological conditions which result from the invasion of exogenous pathogenic cold or from deficiency of yang in the body
What are the causes of Cold Syndrome?
- Invasion of exogenous pathogenic yin cold
- Exhaustion of yang qi after a prolonged disease
- Excessive internal cold caused by eating too much raw and cold food