Blue Poppy Press - ALLERGIES, AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES & YIN Fire

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http://www.bluepoppy.com/press/download/articles/autoimmune.html

 

This is a very timely article as it deals with Yin Fire and allergies.

 

There is a central idea in this article that I want to call readers'

attention to - " habitual bodily " condition. This concept has implications

not only in TCM but in any school of healing. It's one of those general

guidelines which can add insights in analysis and help to guide treatment.

 

" For instance, many Chinese medical beginners' textbooks give the patterns

under allergic rhintis as wind cold external invasion pattern, lung qi

vacuity pattern, spleen qi vacuity pattern, kidney yang vacuity pattern, and

phlegm dampness pattern. However, first of all, we must distinguish

between the acute allergic episode and the underlying bodily constitution or

terrain, what Chinese doctors refer to as the " habitual bodily " condition.

During an acute allergic rhinitis attack, the attack itself is provoked by

an unseen airborne pathogen, i.e., wind, and the signs and symptoms most

typically involve clear, shite or " cold phlegm. Therefore, the acute

episode is described as a wind cold external invasion pattern. But this does

not account for why one person has been invaded when another exposed to the

same external evils has not. "

 

" Habitual bodily " conditions is what I was talking about when I wrote about

pre-existing and acquired weaknesses. These are areas where an individual

is at particular risk and will tend to get hit the hardest when medical

problems develop. This is also why there can be such wide variation in

symptoms and in the strength of the symptoms in different individuals with

the same medical problem. For example, the flu can have a number of

symptoms. Someone who has a lot of digestive system problems even when the

person doesn't have the flu is going to tend to get hit harder with the

digestive system problems that can accompany the flu than someone who

doesn't have a history of digestive system problems. Likewise, someone who

tends to have respiratory problems is going to get hit harder with those

during a bout of the flu than someone who has a strong respiratory system.

 

Pre-existing weaknesses are weaknesses that a person is born with or have

become entrenched over the years. Genetic disorders and genetic

predipositions are examples of pre-existing weaknesses. From a TCM

standpoint, sometimes people are born with a tendency toward being Yang

Deficient, Yin Deficient, Jing Deficient, etc.

 

Acquired weaknesses are those that result from exposure to something in the

environment. This could be toxins that damage the lungs, surgery that

weakens an organ and allows pathogens to invade, or an accident. An example

of an acquired weakness is someone who hurts his/her arm in an accident and

afterwards is troubled with arthritis in that arm. (Though there probably

is a pre-existing weakness at work too in a case like this.) Acquired

weaknesses also can be due to something not being supplied to the person

that the individual needs. Like the effects of long-term malnutrition.

 

Why learn to think in terms of " habitual bodily " conditions? Because very

often these will impact on both lifestyle and treatment. A very obvious

example is the case of two children who catch a cold. One of the two has

cystis fibrosis. The child with CF is going to be impacted far more by the

cold than the child without. A lot more treatment is going to be called for

in the case of the child with CF than the child without.

 

This is a very obvious example, but you'll see this in a lot of areas. For

example, consider a person with a tendency to Yang Deficiency. This person

needs to be extra careful about wearing enough warm clothes in winter. This

is also a person who can't afford to skimp on keeping the house warm enough.

Someone who is Yang adequate could, but not the person who is Yang

Deficient. Cold can damage Yang, and the last thing the person who has a

tendency to Yang Deficiency needs is for cold in the environment to invade

and damage what little Yang s/he has even more.

 

Thinking in terms of " habitual bodily " conditions also can be an aid to

identifying Roots. It can enable one to finetune treatment. Let's take an

example from another recent post on here. Heat damages Yin which in turn

triggers Liver Yang Rising. Yes, one can treat the Liver Yang Rising and

supplement the Yin, but just doing these two things is going to be like

trying to bail a leaky row boat without ever plugging the leak. You'll just

have to keep bailing (supplementing Yin). Until the problem of the Heat

(which is damaging the Yin) is addressed, the Heat is just going to keep on

damaging the Yin. Ask, " Where is the Heat coming from? " In the case of

longterm infection, that is going to have to be addressed. If the Root is

Qi Stagnation causing Heat, the Qi Stagnation problems are going to have to

be addressed. If the Root is too many Hot foods, the diet is going to have

to be changed. Etc.

 

For those new to TCM: All this can seem terribly confusing at first. As

you learn more and become more familiar with the symptoms and signs of

various TCM symdromes, as you learn which questions to ask, and as you

become more observant, this will start to fall into place.

 

Victoria

 

 

 

 

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