Finer Points
Thoughts and information for continued hope and health

May 2006

Quote of the month

"May you live every day of your life."

- Jonathan Swift

It's All About Blood

In Chinese medicine, it's all about blood. Blood, or Xue (pronounced "shweh") refers to the substance that flows through our vessels - and not just the substance that flows through our vessels...

Blood is life. Blood represents our life force.

Blood must follow the pathways of the channels, the vessels, to bring life to the whole body. It must flow, without hesitation, not too quickly, smoothly, for a body to stay healthy. Blood follows the qi (prounounced "chee"). If the qi is in disorder, the blood will be stuck...and if the blood is in disorder, so follows the qi.

According to Traditional Chinese medicine, the basic functions of the blood are:

Blood runs in the vessels. It nourishes the organs. It goes to the muscles, tendons and bones. The Chinese classics say "the liver stores the blood so we can see (the eyes are the window to the liver/soul) and the feet receive the blood so we can walk".

Since blood is made from the food we eat, the strength of our blood depends on the strength of our digestion and of our constitution. Depending on the nature of digestive or constitutional disorders, patients can present with Chinese medicine patterns of Deficient Blood, Stagnant Blood, Blood Heat or Reckless Blood.

Interestingly, the Chinese classics say that because the liver stores the blood when we are at rest, if we do not have periods of inactivity, we cannot generate new blood. Many people who are "on the go" constantly will, interestingly, develop symptoms of "blood deficiency".

Perhaps a patient presenting with Blood Deficiency will show anemia on their blood count - and sometimes they will not. They may experience dizziness, spots before eyes, headaches which improve when lying down, fatigue, thin or thinning hair, scanty or no menstrual periods and perhaps a chronic low-grade fever.

Patients with Blood Stagnation may experience fixed, stabbing pain. It may present as muscle cramps or spasm or menstrual cramps. It is most often associated with endometriosis, heart attack and acute appendicitis.

Reckless Blood usually refers to acute and severe bleeding, usually uterine in nature.

Blood Heat manifests as red/purple rashes and high fevers. Western diagnoses usually align with septicemia, leukemia or related blood diseases.

Traditional Chinese Medicine can be very effective in treating both stagnant blood and deficient blood (as long as there is no surgical emergency). While Reckless Blood and Blood Heat can definitely be helped by Chinese medicine as well, the patient must be under the concurrent care of a medical doctor.