The Basic Concepts of the Occurrence of Disease
TCM holds that the occurrence of disease is due to the breaking-up of the body's "normal state of yin and yang" and the "disharmony between yin and yang" from the influences of certain pathogenic factors. The causes that lead to the disharmony between yin and yang can be divided into two aspects, namely the dysfunction or abnormality of the body itself, and the impairment or influences over the body by pathogenic factors.From this point of view, it may be said that the occurrence of disease is the result produced due to the struggle between the evil-qi and the genuine-qi in the body.
The harmonious balance of the human body's internal environment, and the unity of the human body with external environment, is the basis of human life, while the occurrence of disease is due to the breaking-up of this harmonious balance and unity. In the developmental course of disease, there always exists the struggle between various kinds of pathological impairments caused by the evil-qi and the resistance of the genuine-qi against these in the body. The result of this struggle between the genuine-qi and the evil-qi determines the developing direction and prognosis of disease. The task of pathogenesis, therefore, is to study all aspects and general rules of the occurrence and prognosis of diseases.
