Chinese Medicine : Other Pathogenic Factors

Other Pathogenic Factors

Besides the previously mentioned pathogenic factors there are also pathogenic factors relating to irregular food intake, over-strain and stress or insufficient physical exertion, traumatic injuries, parasites, and pathological products such as phlegm-humor and blood stasis.

1. Irregular Diet

Overeating or hunger: Voracious eating or hunger may give rise to disease. Hunger causes malnutrition and leads to an insufficient supply of qi and blood, which causes general body weakness. Overeating damages the digestive and absorptive functions, and manifests the symptoms of epigastric and abdominal distension and pain, belching, acid regurgitation, anorexia, vomiting, diarrhea, etc.

Partiality for a particular kind of food: Food intake should be varied. In this way necessary nutrient substances are guaranteed. Partiality to a particular food may bring on disease due to insufficient nutrients. For example: long-term intake of polished white rice may cause beriberi; long-term drinking of iodine-deficient water may cause goiter; indulgence in spicy or boiling hot food may give rise to dryness of the mouth, halitosis, diabetes, etc.; indulgence in smoking, alcoholic drinks, or greasy and highly flavored food may produce pathological phlegm indigestion, stuffy chest, excessive sputum, or boils and ulcers.

Intake of contaminated food: Eating contaminated, poisonous, or stale food (food poisoning) may impair stomach and intestinal functioning causing clinical manifestations such as epigastric and abdominal distension and pain, nausea, vomiting, borborygmus, diarrhea, etc.

Over-strain and stress or deficient physical exertion: Lack of physical exertion may cause retardation of qi and blood circulation, unhealthy zang-fu organs, general weakness, lassitude, anorexia, dizziness, palpitation, insomnia, etc., also a liability to contract diseases caused by exogenous pathogenic factors. Prolonged over-strain may bring on lassitude, weakness and tiredness of the four extremities, dizziness, hypersomnia, palpitation, spontaneous sweating, asthma or dyspnea due to physical exertion.

In addition, traditional Chinese medicine considers that excessive sexual activity consumes the kidney essence manifested by soreness and weakness of the knees, lumbago, dizziness and vertigo, ringing in the ears, lassitude and listlessness, or even spermatorrhea, impotence, and leukorrhea.

2. Traumatic Injuries and Parasites

Traumatic injuries include incisions, gunshot and sword wounds, scalds and burns, contusions, sprains or animal stings and bites. Mild cases that only sustain injuries to the skin include pain, bleeding, bruises, and hematoma due to the obstruction of blood vessels. While severe cases may include injuries to the tendons, bones, and internal organs manifesting as joint dislocation, fracture, hemorrhage due to rupture of the internal organs, prostration, etc.

3. Phlegm-Humor and Blood Stagnation

Phlegm-Humor: Phlegm-humor can form due to the accumulation of body fluids, therefore it has a close relationship to functional disorders of the lung, spleen, and kidney which control water metabolism. It may also be produced by an over-indulgence in alcohol or fatty and highly flavored foods, leading to stagnation of liver qi and derangement of the functional activities of qi.

Blood Stagnation: Under normal conditions, blood circulates continually within the blood vessels at a certain speed. Any retarded circulation of blood or extravasated blood in spaces between the tissues may form blood stasis. its syndromes are characterized as follows:

Pain: The pain location is fixed with local tenderness and has a stabbing or boring sensation.

Hemorrhage: Blood stagnation prevents normal flow inside the vessels causing extravasation and hemorrhage. The blood is often deep red or dark purplish.

Ecchymosis or Petechia: Blood stagnation subcutaneously forms ecchymosis or petechiae accompanied by local pain. Initially they present a red color, then change to purple or yellow, finally disappearing. If the tongue proper is purple, or ecchymosis or petechiae are present, this is significant in the diagnosis of diseases caused by blood stagnation.

Mass Tumor: Most mass tumors, especially large lumps in the abdominal cavity, are considered to be related to stagnation of the blood. The location of the tumors should be fixed and unmovable, accompanied by pain.