1 Asthenia syndrome
Asthenia syndrome refers to symptoms marked by asthenia of healthy qi and non-predomination of pathogenic factors. The cause of asthenia syndrome is either congenital or postnatal, especially the postnatal one. The postnatal cause includes insufficiency of qi and blood production due to improper diet, impairment of visceral qi and blood due to emotional factors and overstrain, exhaustion of renal essence due to excessive coitus, or impairment of healthy qi due to chronic disease, etc.
Clinical manifestations- Healthy qi in the human body mainly includes yangqi, yin fluid, essence, blood and body fluid, all of which are closely related to the viscera. Therefore, asthenia syndrome is mainly marked by insufficiency of yangqi, yin fluid, essence, blood and body fluid as well as the decline of visceral functions. The clinical manifestations of asthenia syndrome vary. with different types which will be explained in the following parts. Here the common symptoms are taken as example to analyze the clinical manifestations of asthenia syndrome. The common symptoms include fatigue, shortness of breath, no desire to speak, aversion to cold and cold limbs, spontaneous sweating, clear and profuse urine, loose stool, emaciation, feverish sensation over the five centers (palms, soles and chest), tidal fever, flushed cheeks, night sweating, pale or sallow complexion, dizziness, palpitation and insomnia, dry mouth and throat, thirst with desire to drink, dry skin, scanty urine and dry feces, tender tongue with thin fur or little fur and weak pulse, etc.
Analysis of symptoms: Fatigue, shortness of breath and no desire to speak are due to failure of asthenic yangqi to propel and nourish the body, leading to hypofunction of viscera and tissues; spontaneous sweating is caused by failure of deficiency of yangqi and failure of defensive qi to guard the superficies; clear and profuse urine and loose stool are due to failure of deficient yang to astringe, warm and transport; emaciation is due to failure of deficient yin to nourish the body; feverish sensation over the five centers, tidal fever and flushed cheeks are due to predominance of yang heat, internal generation of asthenic heat and yin asthenia failing to control yang; night sweating is due to asthenic heat driving body fluid to be excreted; pale or sallow complexion is due to blood asthenia failing to nourish the face; dizziness is due to blood asthenia failing to nourish the head and eyes; palpitation is due to malnutrition of the heart; insomnia is due to blood asthenia failing to nourish heart spirit; dry mouth, desire to drink and dry skin are due to failure of deficient fluid to nourish and moisten the tissues and organs; scanty urine is due to deficiency of body fluid and insufficiency of body fluid production; dry feces is due to loss of lubrication in the large intestine; tender tongue, thin fur or little fur and weak pulse are signs of deficiency of healthy qi.
