TCM I Flashcards

1
Q

How are natural terms used to describe human conditions in TCM?

A

People are often referred to as being or suffering from:
* Damp
* Wind
* Fire

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2
Q

What are TCM practitioners employed to do?

A

Keep people well, as well as treat disease.

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3
Q

What is the Legendary Period in TCM?

A

Pre-1000 BCE

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4
Q

Why is it difficult to date TCM?

A

It was principally an oral tradition

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5
Q

What are the key texts during the Legendary Period?

A
  • I Ching (Book of Changes) : primary source of Yin/Yang theory 500 BCE
  • Tao Te Jing (Classic of the Way and the Virtue), Lao Zi: primary Taoist text

*TCM has roots in Taoism (plus some Confucianism and Buddhism)

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6
Q

Who was the earliest physician known to use acupuncture?

A

Bian Que

the earliest physician known to use acupuncture and pulse diagnosis

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7
Q

Which text laid the conceptual framework for TCM?

A

The Huangdi Neijing
(Yellow Emperor’s Inner Classic)
400 – 100 BCE

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8
Q

When was the first textbook of acupuncture written?

A

270 BCE

Hangfu Mi writes the Zhenjui Jiayijing
(The ABC compendium of acupuncture)

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9
Q

When was the Treatise on Cold Diseases published?

A

219CE

Zhang Zhongjing publishes the Shang Han Lun (Treatise on Cold Diseases)

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10
Q

When was Bencao Gangmu published?

A

1596CE
Li Shizhen publishes the influential diagnostic and herbal book Bencao Gangmu (Compendium of Materia Medica)

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11
Q

What did the Republic of China government policy do in the years 1911-1949?

A

Traditional medicine rejected with the intention of replacing it with Western medicine

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12
Q

How has the Communist Party handled TCM since 1949?

A
  • Situation revaluated in order to consolidate and systematise the traditional practices
  • Formal body of knowledge known as Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) emerges
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13
Q

How old is ‘official’ TCM ?

A

Only about 70 years old

This is the ‘formal’ body* of knowledge that the Communuist authorities allowed to be published and taught in univiersities
No spiritual dimension

*Considered standardised, mechanistic compared to the classic teachings

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14
Q

What are the differences in emphasis between Western medicine and TCM?

A

TCM:
Stimulating self-healing

Modern western medicine:
Medication and procedures

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15
Q

What are the differences in basis between Western medicine and TCM?

A

TCM:
Based on centuries of clinical observation

Modern western medicine:
Based on experimentation

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16
Q

What are the differences in aims between Western medicine and TCM?

A

TCM: maintain health

Western medicine: Manage disease .

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17
Q

What are the The Eight Principles?

A

The Eight Principles are the most common way of differentiating the patterns of pathology within the human body

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18
Q

How can using the The Eight Principles help?

A

The Eight Principles guide us towards identifying where an imbalance may be situated

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19
Q

What are the Four paired Characteristics?

A
  • Yin - Yang
  • Interior - Exterior
  • Deficiency - Excess
  • Cold - Heat
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20
Q

What does pairing Yin - Yang indicate in disease?

A

Overall quality of disease

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21
Q

What does the pair Interior - Exterior qualify?

A

Exterior conditions -> skin and muscles
Interior condition -> internal organs

*There is some ambiguity with these concepts -do not be rigid

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22
Q

How can deficienct conditions be qualified?

A

Deficient conditions arise from chronic weakness

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23
Q

What does the pair Cold - Heat refer to?

A
  • The nature of disease
  • Whether symptoms of cold or heat predominate
                                    .
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24
Q

What is the concept represented by Yin and Yang?

A

The concept of dualism

Describes how opposite forces are related to one another and may give rise to each other

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25
Q

What are some (relative) Yin-associated words?

A
  • Cold
  • Wet
  • Matter
  • Contraction
  • Descending
  • Below
  • Quiet
  • Stasis
  • Night-time
  • Water
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26
Q

What are some (relative) Yang-associated words?

A
  • Hot
  • Dry
  • Energy
  • Expansion
  • Rising
  • Above
  • Loud
  • Movement
  • Daytime
  • Fire
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27
Q

What does the interplay of the Yin-Yang symbol represent?

A
  • The curved line separating the two represents their interplay
  • The small circles represent the presence of one in the other
  • Nothing is purely Yin or purely Yang
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28
Q

Where does Defensive Qi (Wei Qi) circulate?

A

To the skin and muscles

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29
Q

What is the relationship of Yin and Yang in the human body?

Yang = activity / Yin = physical form

A

Activity is nourished by the physical form

Physical form is created and maintained by activity

Yang = activity / Yin = physical form

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30
Q

Why is good balance of Yin and Yang in the body necessary for health?

A

Good health is an expression of harmony between Yin and Yang

When out of balance, there is disease

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31
Q

What are the Yin and Yang physical relationships in human body?

A
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32
Q

What is the Taiji?

A

A representation of the Yin / Yang concept

Taiji -supreme ultimate

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33
Q

What do the Chinese characters for Yin and Yang describe?

A

Yin = shady part of the hill
Yang = sunny part of the hill

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34
Q

Give an example of the Yin-Yang relational concept?

A

Walking is Yang compared to sitting, but it is Yin compared to running

Yin and Yang transform into one another. Night follows day, spring follows winter, rest follows activity

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35
Q

What can be expressed if Yin does not cool and nourish the body ?

A

Yang may rise

Leading to heat signs such as
* headaches
* red-face
* nose bleeds
* irritability

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36
Q

What can be expressed if Yang does not warm and activate Yin?

A

There may be
* cold limbs
* chills
* tiredness
* lethargy
* poor blood circulation
* oedema

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37
Q

What are the physiological Yin/Yang relationships?

A
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38
Q

What are the four principal imbalances of Yin/Yang?

A
  1. Excess Yang
  2. Definition Yin
  3. Excess Yin
  4. Deficient Yang
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39
Q

What does excess Yang produce?

A

‘Full heat’

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40
Q

What does Deficient Yin lead to ?

A

‘Empty heat’
Yang is not anchored

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41
Q

What doe Excess Yin produce?

A

‘Full cold’

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42
Q

What does Deficient Yang lead to?

A

‘Empty cold’
Yang doesn’t warm and activate the body

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43
Q

What are the symptoms related to Excess Yang (Full heat)?

A
  • Face: Whole face red
  • Thirst: Desire to gulp cold water
  • Taste: Bitter taste
  • Feeling of heat: All day
  • Mind: very restless and agitated
  • Bowels: constipated, abdominal pain
  • Bleeding: profuse
  • Sleep: dream-disturbed, very restless
  • Skin: red hot painful skin eruptions
  • Pulse: full rapid overflowing
  • Tongue: red with yellow coating
  • Voice: loud
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44
Q

What is the treatment for Excess Yang (Full heat)?

A

Clear heat

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45
Q

What is the state of the Tongue in Excess Yang?

A

Red, possibly with the yellow coating

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46
Q

What is the state of the Pulse in Excess Yang?

A

Wiry and rapid

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47
Q

What are risks and causes of Excess Yang?

A
  • Stress
  • Diet
  • Acute inflammation
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48
Q

What foods should be avoided in Excess Yang states?

A

Energetically hot foods and substances:
* Sugar, Alcohol
* Coffee, Black tea, Fizzy drinks
* Red meats
* Hot spices
* Fried or greasy food
* Onion, Garlic
* Processed foods

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49
Q

What should be encouraged in Excess Yang states?

A

Cooling foods: Bitter greens, Celery, Watery fruit, Melon

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50
Q

What activies should be avoided in Excess Yang?

A
  • Stress
  • Strong exercise
  • Hot yoga
51
Q

What activies should be encouraged in Excess Yang?

A

Moderate exercise:
* Walking
* Gentle yoga
* Qi Gong

52
Q

What are the symptoms of Deficient Yin (Empty heat)?

A
  • Face: Malar flush*
  • Thirst: Desire to drink cold water in sips
  • Taste: No bitter taste
  • Feeling of heat: late afternoon or evening
  • Mind: vague anxiety, fidgety
  • Bowels: dry stool, no abdominal pain
  • Bleeding: slight
  • Sleep: waking frequently during the night
  • Skin: red not raised, painless eruptions
  • Pulse: floating empty rapid
  • Tongue: Red peeled, possibly thin

* plum red colouration on high cheeks, due to C02 retention

53
Q

What is the treatment for Deficient Yin (Empty heat)?

A

Nourish Yin

54
Q

What is the state of the tongue in Deficient Yin?

A
  • Red, peeled or cracked
  • Dry
55
Q

What are the symptoms of
Liver Yin deficiency?

A
  • Excess Dreaming
  • Dry eyes
  • Anger
  • Scanty menstrual cycle
56
Q

How is the pulse in Deficient Yin?

A
  • Floating
  • Empty
  • Rapid
57
Q

What are the risks and causes of Deficient Yin?

A
  • Chronic illness
  • Overwork over a long period
  • Old age
  • Long-term blood loss
58
Q

What are the symptoms of Kidney* Yin deficiency?

In TCM this includes the adrenals

A
  • Dizziness
  • Tinnitus
  • Poor memory
  • Sore back and knees
59
Q

What are the symptoms of
Lung Yin deficiency?

A
  • Dry cough
  • Sticky sputum
  • Dry tickly throat
  • Hoarse voice
60
Q

What are the symptoms of
Heart Yin deficiency?

A
  • Palpitations
  • Insomnia
  • Anxiety
  • Mental restlessness
61
Q

What are the symptoms of
Stomach Yin deficiency?

A
  • Epigastric pain
  • Reflux
  • Fullness after eating
  • Constipation
62
Q

What foods are recommended in Deficient Yin states?

A

Warming and deeply nourishing foods:
* Soups
* Stews
* Broths
* Braised meats
* Dark leafy greens
* Fruits
* Yoghurt
* Honey
* Oyster
* Soy-milk
* Sesame

63
Q

What foods should be avoided Deficient Yin?

A

Energetically hot foods and substances:
* Sugar
* Alcohol
* Coffee
* Black tea
* Hot spices
* Fried of greasy food
* Onion
* Garlic

64
Q

What lifestyle recommendations in Deficient Yin states?

A
  • Sleep more
  • Seek stillness
  • Avoid strong exercise or excessive sexual activity
65
Q

What are the symptoms of Excess Yin (Full Cold)?

A
  • Face: Bright white
  • Pain: Shark, worse on pressure
  • Bowels: Better after bowel movement
  • Pulse: Full, Tight, deep
  • Tongue: thick white coating
  • Treatment: scatter cold
66
Q

What is the treatment for Excess Yin (Full Cold)?

A

Scatter cold

67
Q

What is the appearance of the tongue in Excess Yin states?

A

Blue, possibly with thick white coating

68
Q

What is the pulse like in Excess Yin states?

A
  • Deep
  • Full and slow
69
Q

What are the risks and causes of Excess Yin states?

A
  • Cold diet
  • Chronic exposure to cold
70
Q

What foods should be avoided in Deficient Yin states?

A

Energetically cold foods and drinks:
* Raw foods
* Salads
* Cold drinks
* Smoothies

71
Q

What should be eaten in Deficient Yin states?

A
  • Warming soups
  • Stews
  • Broths
  • Warm water and herbal teas / infusions (e.g. ginger, cinnamon)
72
Q

What lifestyle adaptations can be encouraged in Deficient Yin states?

A
  • Always stay warm
  • Hot baths
  • Hot water bottles
  • Scatter cold with acupuncture and moxa
73
Q

What are the symptoms of Deficient Yang (Empty Cold)?

A
  • Face: Sallow white
  • Pain: Dull, better on pressure
  • Bowels: Worse after bowel movement
  • Pulse: Weak, Tight, deep
  • Tongue: Thin white coating
74
Q

What is the treatment for Deficient Yang (Empty Cold)?

A

Nourish Yang

75
Q

What is the appearance of the tongue in Deficient Yang states?

A

Pale, swollen, wet

76
Q

What is the pulse like in Deficient Yang states?

A

Weak, possibly deep and slow

77
Q

What are the risks and causes of Deficient Yang states?

A
  • Chronic illness
  • Old age
  • Cold raw diet
  • Chronic cold exposure
78
Q

What are the symptoms of
Spleen Yang deficiency?

A
  • Diarrhoea
  • Undigested food in stool
79
Q

What are the symptoms of Kidney* Yang deficiency?

*includes adrenals in TCM

A
  • Cold back and knees
  • Oedema
  • Low libido
  • Infertility
80
Q

What are the symptoms of
Heart Yang deficiency?

A
  • Palpitations
  • Sweating
  • Cold hands
81
Q

What are the symptoms of Stomach Yang deficiency?

A
  • Lack of appetite
  • Vomiting of clear fluids
82
Q

What should be eaten in Deficient Yang states?

A

Warming and deeply-nourishing foods:
* Soups
* Stews
* Broths
* Braised meats
* Dark leafy greens
* Pumpkin
* Carrot
* Sweet potato
* Whole grains
* Cook with warming herbs and spices
* Drink: Warm water and herbal infusions

83
Q

What foods should be avoided in Deficient Yang states?

A
  • Raw foods
  • Salads
  • Cold drinks
  • Smoothies
84
Q

What lifestyle recommendations are for Deficient Yang states?

A
  • Wrap up warm
  • Avoid cold exposure
  • Avoid Stress
  • Avoid Overworking
  • Take hot baths, use hot water bottles
  • Moderate exercise, such as walking or Qi Gong
85
Q

What do Exterior conditions affect?

A

Surface layers of the body (the skin and muscles)

86
Q

What do Interior conditions relate to?

A

Internal organs

87
Q

What are Exterior conditions caused by?

A

Invasion of an exterior pathogenic factor (EPF)
Protective response of the body

88
Q

What are the symptoms of Exterior conditions?

A

Acute onset
Short duration

  • Aversion to cold
  • Chills and fever
  • Runny nose, congestion
  • Headaches
  • Sore throat
  • Floating pulse
89
Q

How can Interior conditions arise?

A

From an EPF* that has penetrated into the body

*exterior pathogenic factor

90
Q

What are the symptoms of Interior conditions?

A

Gradual onset
Longer-lasting

Symptoms of interior conditions are different for each organ

91
Q

What are the features of Heat state?

A

Yang
Seen mainly on uppermost or most superficial parts of the body .

92
Q

What are the typical symptoms of Heat?

A
  • Red face
  • Hot body and limbs
  • Fast metabolism
  • Constipation
  • Thirst
  • Scanty yellow urine
  • Disturb sleep
  • Rapid pulse
93
Q

What are the features of Cold state?

A
  • Yin in nature
  • Slows the bodily functions
  • Contracts, and moves downwards .
94
Q

What are the typical symptoms of Cold state?

A
  • Pale face
  • Cold body and limbs
  • Preference for hot drinks
  • Slow metabolism
  • Lethargy
  • Loose stools
  • Copious urine
  • Slow pulse
95
Q

Hot – Cold Comparison table

A

Hot:
Face: Red
Feeling: Hot
Preferred drinks: Cold
Metabolism: Fast
Sleep: Disturbed
Bodily secretions: Scanty, yellow, smelly
Tongue: Red body, yellow coat
Pulse: Rapid, superficial

Cold:
Face: Pale (or blue)
Feeling: Cold
Preferred drinks: Hot
Metabolism: Slow
Sleep: Curls up
Bodily secretions: Thin, copious, no smell
Tongue: Pale or bluish, white coat
Pulse: Slow, possibly deep

96
Q

How can Heat manifest in the body?

A
  • Penetrates from the exterior, or
  • Arises internally where it will damage Yin*

*Yin deficiency

97
Q

How can Cold state manifest in the body?

A
  • Penetrates from the exterior, or
  • Arises internally due to diminished Yang
98
Q

How can Full* conditions arise?

Excess

A
  • When there is a struggle between an EPF and the defensive Qi*
  • Also from overactivity of one or more organs, generating heat or stagnation

*healthy immune response

99
Q

What are typical symptoms associated with Full conditions?

A
  • Quick, bold movements
  • Loud sounds
  • Discomfort aggravated by pressure
  • Forceful breathing
  • A strong Pulse
100
Q

What do Empty* conditions reflect?

*Deficient

A
  • Internal condition
  • Chronic problems with one or more of the organs or Vital Substances
101
Q

What are typical symptoms associated with Empty condtions?

A
  • Apathy
  • Weak voice
  • Weak breathing
  • An empty pulse
102
Q

Complete the table:

A
103
Q

What are the five Vital Substances?

A
  • Qi
  • Blood
  • Body fluids
  • Jing (essence)
  • Shen (spirit)
104
Q

How can Qi be translated?

A

Qi is frequently translated as energy or life force
But this is approximative

105
Q

Which organs are involved in the production and circulation of Qi?

A
  • The digestive system (named stomach and spleen in Chinese medicine)
  • The lungs
  • The kidneys
  • The liver
106
Q

What is the role of the digestive system* in Qi production/circulation?

* Stomach & spleen in TCM

A

Extracts nutrients to produce and circulate Qi

107
Q

TEST CARD
Duplicated from #8 TCM I: Qi deck
Saved as #9 card

A

TEST CARD
Duplicated from #8 TCM I: Qi deck
Saved as #9 card

108
Q

What is the role of the kidneys* in Qi production/circulation?

*includes adrenals and their hormonal component

A

Original Qi (Yuan Qi) of the kidneys is a catalyst for all the QI transformations in the body

109
Q

What is the role of the liver in the circulation of Qi

A

The liver is not involved in the production of Qi but regulates its flow

110
Q

What is the role of the lungs in Qi production/circulation?

A

Extracts Qi from the air and circulates it

111
Q

What are the characteristics of Qi?

A
  • Rarefied & immaterial as a gas or
  • Dense & palpable as a solid
  • All material has or contains Qi
  • The Chinese character for Qi shows steam rising from cooked rice
112
Q

How does Qi affect the body?

A
  • Just as streams and rivers irrigate the land
  • Qi (and blood) circulate and irrigate the body
  • Brings life and health
113
Q

What happens if Qi stagnates?

A
  • Stagnant, flowless water becomes polluted
  • Stagnant, flowless Qi causes ill-health
114
Q

What are the two ‘True Qi’ types?

A

o Nutritive Qi (Ying Qi)
o Defensive Qi (Wei Qi)

115
Q

What are the functions of Qi?

A
  • Warming
  • Transporting/movement
  • Transforming
  • Protecting
  • Raising/stabilising
116
Q

Where does Nutritive Qi (Ying Qi) flow?

A

In the acupuncture channels and organs

117
Q

What are the Chinese concepts of blood?

A
  • A denser form of Qi, which nourishes, lubricates and regulates body temperature
  • Blood is Yin in nature and is only animated by the presence of Qi which is Yang
  • Qi is the commander of blood, blood is the mother of Qi
118
Q

Which organs are involved in blood production in TCM?

A
  • The digestive system (Stomach and spleen in TCM)
  • The lungs
  • The heart
  • The kidneys
119
Q

What is the role of the digestive system (Stomach & spleen in TCM)

A

Processes food and extracts its Qi (called food Qi) which goes to the lungs

120
Q

What is the role of the lungs in blood production in TCM?

A

The lungs push the food Qi to the heart

121
Q

What is the role of the heart in blood production in TCM?

A
  • The blood is ‘stamped red’ before being circulated
  • The heart is seen as the seat of the Shen* which impregnates the blood with every heartbeat
  • Blood is a living thing, rather than merely a nutrient-rich fluid

*loosely translated as ‘sense of self’

122
Q

What is the role of the kidneys in blood production in TCM?

A
  • The Qi of the kidneys acts as a catalyst for all transformations of Qi
  • This resonates with Western medicine when we include the adrenals into the concept of kidneys
123
Q

How does the concept of blood being pushed to the lungs resonate with Western medicine?

A

Nutrients extracted from food in the digestive system travel to the lungs

(portal vein, liver, hepatic vein, right side of the heart, lungs, left side of the heart, full circulation)

124
Q
A