Understanding Illness Causes in Traditional Chinese Medicine

In traditional Chinese medicine, illness origins are attributed to various factors. External causes include the six harmful influences: wind, cold, heat, dryness, dampness, and summer heat. Internal causes involve the seven emotions: anger, joy, worry, pensiveness, sadness, fear, and shock. Additional contributors to disease include diet, lifestyle choices, and accidental injuries.

A healthy body maintains a harmonious balance of its substances and energies, both internally and with the external environment. When the body's innate vitality (true qi) and immune defenses (wei qi) are robust, it becomes challenging for external diseases to take hold, particularly if the invading pathogen is weak.

However, an extremely potent pathogen can overpower even a healthy individual, especially if weakened by stress, fatigue, overexertion, or other lifestyle factors. For instance, someone with a strong immune system might resist catching a cold even after being sneezed on by an infected person. Yet, consuming a concentrated dose of the same virus would overwhelm their defenses. Conversely, individuals with weak wei qi are highly susceptible to pathogens due to their compromised immunity, making the elderly and young children particularly vulnerable during influenza outbreaks.

The interaction between wei qi (also known as good qi) and harmful pathogens (evil qi) influences whether a person falls ill, how their body reacts to the illness, and the duration of recovery.

Proceed to the next page to explore the six harmful influences in traditional Chinese medicine.

To delve deeper into traditional Chinese medicine, including treatments, remedies, beliefs, and other fascinating subjects, check out:

The Six Pernicious Influences

The six pernicious influences, referred to as the six pathogenic factors, six excesses, or six evils, are external causes of disease originating outside the body. These include wind, cold, heat, dampness, dryness, and summer heat. While Western medicine identifies only viruses and bacteria as external pathogens, Chinese medicine observes that the body reflects specific environmental conditions.

A diagnosis such as "wind and cold invading the lungs" may seem simplistic, but it precisely captures how certain pathogenic factors behave within the body. Wind symptoms mimic natural wind: they appear and disappear unpredictably.

Likewise, cold symptoms mirror natural cold: they cause contraction, slow bodily functions, and induce a feeling of coldness. The high success rate in treating such conditions (e.g., with herbs that "expel wind and disperse cold") demonstrates that this diagnosis is more than just a philosophical concept. While Western medicine can identify the virus behind such conditions, it lacks safe and effective treatments beyond symptom relief. In contrast, centuries of observation and experimentation in Chinese medicine have yielded numerous effective remedies for viral infections fitting this pattern.

When exploring the internal "climates" of the body, it’s crucial to note that they may not align with external weather. For instance, someone might exhibit cold and damp symptoms during a rainy winter, while another might develop heat symptoms under the same conditions. Illness results from the interaction between specific pathogens and an individual’s unique response. Pernicious influences can also stem from internal imbalances, often due to chronic conditions. Below are descriptions of the six pernicious influences.

Continue to the next page to discover wind, the first of the six pernicious influences in traditional Chinese medicine.

To explore more about traditional Chinese medicine, including treatments, remedies, beliefs, and other intriguing topics, refer to:

Wind in Traditional Chinese Medicine

Wind is regarded as the primary cause of illness in traditional Chinese medicine, often combining with other pathogens to create conditions like wind cold, wind heat, and wind dampness. Like natural wind, it appears suddenly and changes unpredictably. As a yang-type pathogenic factor, it typically targets the upper body, head, throat, and eyes. Wind induces movement, so symptoms like twitching, spasms, or shaking are often linked to it. Externally, wind primarily affects the lung, while internally, it is usually associated with liver imbalances.

Syndromes of Wind

Wind Cold: This syndrome arises when wind combines with cold. Symptoms include chills, mild fever, no sweating, headache, nasal congestion, and stiffness or pain in the shoulders, upper back, neck, and back of the head. Cold causes contraction, leading to tight, stiff muscles and difficulty staying warm, even with proper clothing. Traditional treatment involves warm, sweat-inducing herbs to disperse cold and expel wind.

Wind Heat: This condition results from a mix of pathogens, often seen in colds or flu. Symptoms include a red face, high fever, sore throat, red eyes, thirst, a red tongue, and a rapid pulse. Treatment focuses on herbs that clear heat and repel wind.

Wind Damp: This pattern is often seen in arthritis. Like natural dampness, it is persistent and challenging to treat. Wind causes pain to shift between joints, sometimes disappearing and reappearing unexpectedly. Treatment includes herbs that drain dampness, improve qi and blood circulation, and moxibustion therapy to apply heat and aid recovery.

Wind Water: This syndrome involves sudden edema (swelling) due to allergies, poisoning, or acute kidney inflammation. Treatment combines sweat-inducing or diuretic herbs, acupuncture, and moxibustion to eliminate fluids, improve circulation, and expel pathogens.

Wind Rash: This includes sudden skin conditions, often complicated by dampness. Treatment involves herbs that scatter wind, clear heat, and drain dampness. For red, burning rashes, heat-clearing herbs are added. Dietary adjustments, such as avoiding coffee, are crucial, as it heats the blood and exacerbates wind-related symptoms.

Liver Wind Moving Internally: This internal liver condition often stems from long-term imbalances, such as liver yin deficiency or blood deficiency. Symptoms include abnormal movements like twitching, shaking, convulsions, and spasms. The liver regulates the smooth flow of qi and blood, and an imbalance disrupts this, causing erratic movements exacerbated by wind.

Excessive Heat Producing Wind: Extreme heat can lead to sudden collapse, as seen in heatstroke, or cause convulsions, particularly in children with high fevers. This mirrors natural phenomena where rising hot air generates strong winds.

Blood Deficiency Leading to Wind: Blood deficiency impacts the liver, which stores blood, resulting in wind-related symptoms like numbness and cramping. Strengthening the blood alleviates these symptoms.

Continue to the next page to explore how cold acts as a pernicious influence in traditional Chinese medicine.

For further insights into traditional Chinese medicine, including treatments, remedies, beliefs, and other fascinating topics, see:

Cold in Traditional Chinese Medicine

Cold, a yin-type pathogenic factor, slows movement, causing tightness, contraction, stagnation, and poor circulation. Externally, it affects the skin, muscles, and lungs. Internally, it disrupts the functions of the spleen, stomach, and kidneys.

Syndromes of Cold

Wind Cold: When cold combines with wind, it targets the body's exterior and the lungs, leading to chills, no sweating, occipital headaches, upper body aches, stiff shoulders and neck, and nasal congestion. Wind causes sudden onset and upper body symptoms, while cold tightens muscles, causing pain and stiffness. Clear nasal secretions indicate cold. Treatment involves warm, sweat-inducing herbs, acupuncture, and moxibustion to expel wind and disperse cold.

Obstruction Due to Cold: Known as cold bi (blockage) pain, this condition involves body or joint pain eased by warmth, often diagnosed as arthritis. Affected joints may feel cold, and pain worsens in cold weather. Treatment focuses on warming meridians, improving circulation with moxibustion, acupuncture, and herbs.

Cold Attacking the Spleen and Stomach: This external disorder causes digestive issues like abdominal pain, clear vomit, and watery diarrhea. It often accompanies colds, stomach infections, or virus (stomach "flu"), and can result from consuming cold foods like ice cream.

Cold Congealing the Liver Meridian: Cold in the liver meridian, which runs through the genital area, causes symptoms like testicular pain, shrinking, or hernia pain. Moxibustion, acupuncture, and herbs can quickly restore balance.

Spleen Yang Deficiency: A lack of spleen yang (energy and heat for digestion) makes digestion vulnerable to cold. Symptoms include watery stools with undigested food, cold limbs, edema, and a slow pulse. External cold exacerbates this imbalance, making it harder to treat.

Treatment begins by expelling the cold pathogen, followed by strengthening the yang of the spleen and kidneys to enhance the body's metabolism and its ability to generate heat for digestion, known as life-gate (metabolic) fire in traditional Chinese medicine. Spleen yang deficiency is addressed with moxibustion and warming herbs to boost spleen yang.

Kidney Yang Deficiency: The kidneys provide yang metabolic fire for the body, so a deficiency makes one more susceptible to cold. Symptoms include cold limbs, low libido, frequent urination, edema, and lower back pain. Long-term moxibustion and kidney yang-tonifying herbs can restore metabolic fire.

Proceed to the next page to explore heat and dampness in traditional Chinese medicine.

For more insights into traditional Chinese medicine, including treatments, remedies, beliefs, and other fascinating topics, see:

Heat and Dampness

Heat and dampness, two of the six pernicious influences in traditional Chinese medicine, have contrasting effects on the body. Heat increases activity, while dampness causes stagnation. Each influence is associated with distinct syndromes.

Heat

Heat, or fire, is a yang pathogenic factor. Like natural heat, it causes expansion and heightened activity. Imbalance can lead to irritability, fever, and inflammation. Heat rises, resulting in a red face, red eyes, sore throat, and dizziness. When affecting the heart or liver, it may cause anger. Heat also impacts body fluids, causing thirst, constipation, and dark urine. It can generate wind, leading to spasms.

Syndromes of Heat Wind Heat: This common condition often manifests as colds and flu. Wind combined with heat causes symptoms like fever, sore throat, thirst, headache, sweating, rapid pulse, and sometimes a red tongue tip. Treatment involves repelling wind and clearing heat with acupuncture and herbal remedies.

Excess Heat in the Organs: This yang excess condition presents symptoms like irritability, thirst, dry throat, dark or burning urine, constipation, a red tongue with a yellow coating, and a strong, rapid pulse. Specific symptoms vary by organ: heart fire causes severe emotional issues; stomach fire leads to mouth ulcers; liver fire triggers intense anger; lung fire results in yellow mucus in the lungs. Treatment involves clearing excess heat with herbs and acupuncture targeting the affected organ.

Deficiency Heat: This syndrome arises from a lack of yin, the cooling aspect of an organ, causing heat to rise. Symptoms include red cheeks, night sweats, irritability, chronic inflammation, a red tongue without coating, and a thin, rapid pulse. Organ-specific symptoms include chronic urinary infections (kidneys), a dry cough from lung deficiency (often due to smoking), and insomnia from heart yin deficiency.

Dampness

In nature, dampness saturates the ground, causing stagnation. Similarly, in the body, dampness is persistent, heavy, and hard to eliminate. External dampness can result from prolonged exposure to rain, damp environments, or sleeping on the ground.

Internal dampness often stems from consuming excessive ice cream, cold foods, greasy items, and sweets. Dampness manifests tangibly as phlegm, edema, or discharges, and intangibly as feelings of heaviness or dizziness. A slippery pulse and greasy tongue coating are common. Symptoms include water retention, swelling, heaviness, phlegm-related coughing or vomiting, and oozing or crusty skin rashes like eczema.

Dampness, being heavy, tends to settle in the lower body, causing sensations of sinking or heaviness, often with swelling in the legs. Unlike wind, which affects the upper body, dampness combined with heat creates damp heat, leading to symptoms like dark, burning urine, sticky foul-smelling stools, yellow vaginal discharges, and jaundice.

Syndromes of Dampness Wind Damp: This type of common cold features chills, headaches, afternoon fever, nausea, and diarrhea. Patients often describe a sensation of a wet towel wrapped around their head. Treatment involves moxibustion and aromatic herbs to expel wind and drain dampness.

Wind Damp Joint Pain: This condition causes dull, heavy pain and numbness in specific joints, often worsening in damp weather, as seen in rheumatic pain. It is chronic and hard to treat. Acupuncture, moxibustion, and herbs like mulberry branches (sang zhi) and cinnamon twigs (gui zhi) reduce swelling and improve circulation, following the principle of treating body limbs with tree limbs.

Damp and Toxins on the Skin: This includes skin inflammations with a damp, weepy nature, such as eczema, ulcers, or allergic reactions with discharge. Treatment combines internal herbs and topical poultices.

Internal Dampness: Often due to spleen imbalance, symptoms include bloating, diarrhea, poor appetite, undigested food in stools, fatigue, and abdominal edema. Coughing up mucus after eating ice cream indicates a cold spleen producing dampness. Dampness stored in the lungs can lead to frequent colds and allergies. Treatment focuses on diuretic herbs to eliminate dampness and tonifying herbs to strengthen the spleen.

Proceed to the next page to explore dryness and summer heat in traditional Chinese medicine.

For further insights into traditional Chinese medicine, including treatments, remedies, beliefs, and other intriguing topics, see:

Dryness and Summer Heat

Dryness and summer heat, the final two of the six pernicious influences, negatively impact the body's fluids. Associated syndromes include constipation, thirst, headaches, and excessive sweating.

Dryness

Dryness, a yang pathogenic factor, is linked to autumn due to low humidity. It dries and depletes bodily fluids, causing constipation, dry cough, concentrated urine, dry throat and nose, thirst, and dry skin. It typically enters through the nose and mouth, quickly affecting the lungs.

Syndromes of Dryness External Warm Dryness: This syndrome arises from summer heat combining with autumn dryness. Symptoms include fever, headache, thirst, dry mouth, nose, and eyes, dry cough with little mucus, red tongue, and rapid pulse. Treatment uses moistening herbs and wind-repelling herbs. Pears, known for their hydrating properties, are especially beneficial in autumn.

External Cool Dryness: Common in late autumn, this condition features chills, mild fever, no sweating, dry cough, nasal congestion, dry and itchy throat, and a wiry, floating pulse. Treatment resembles wind cold remedies but includes moistening herbs.

Internal Dryness: This chronic condition results from long-term depletion of body fluids, often linked to yin or blood deficiency, especially in the elderly. Acute cases stem from fluid loss due to sweating, vomiting, diarrhea, or bleeding. Prolonged heat, internal or external, exacerbates fluid depletion.

Internal dryness typically manifests as dry, itchy skin, thirst, constipation, and chronic fluid deficiency. Treatment varies based on the affected organ or vital substance, often involving yin or blood tonics and herbs that help retain fluids.

Summer Heat

Summer heat, a yang pathogenic factor, occurs during hot, humid summers. It affects the head, causing thirst, red face, and headaches, and leads to excessive sweating, dark urine, and yin depletion. Extreme heat impacts the heart, causing restlessness or, in severe cases like heatstroke, coma.

When summer heat combines with dampness from humidity or sugary drinks like soft drinks, it affects the spleen, causing appetite loss, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and fatigue. Treatment involves herbs that clear heat and moisten the body. Effective foods include watermelon (xi gua) and mung beans (lu dou). Applying ice behind the knees can also help cool the body. For digestive issues caused by dampness and heat, cooling herbs are paired with dampness-clearing herbs like patchouli (huo xiang).

Continue to the next page to explore the seven emotions in traditional Chinese medicine.

For further insights into traditional Chinese medicine, including treatments, remedies, beliefs, and other fascinating topics, see:

The Seven Emotions

The seven fundamental emotions linked to organ function are anger, joy, worry, pensiveness, sadness, fear, and shock (fright). While Western medicine has only recently recognized the mind-body connection, traditional Chinese medicine has long emphasized the interplay between emotions and physical health.

Each organ correlates with a specific emotion; an imbalance in this emotion can disrupt the organ's function. For instance, chronic anger can harm the liver, while liver imbalances can manifest as anger, creating a cyclical issue.

When discussing emotions in disease, it's important to note that experiencing a full range of emotions is normal. Problems arise when an emotion persists intensely or for too long, causing imbalance. While professional therapy is crucial for severe emotional issues, addressing the corresponding organ imbalance enhances treatment effectiveness. Acupuncture is particularly useful for emotional disorders, often bringing emotional calm even if physical symptoms persist.

Anger

Anger is tied to the liver. It causes qi to rise, resulting in a red face, red eyes, headaches, and dizziness, akin to liver fire rising. Anger can also make liver qi "attack the spleen," leading to appetite loss, indigestion, and diarrhea (common in those who argue during meals or eat while driving).

Over time, suppressed anger or frustration can stagnate liver qi, leading to depression or menstrual issues. Interestingly, those taking herbs to relieve liver qi stagnation may experience temporary anger as the blockage clears. Anger and irritability are key indicators of liver qi stagnation, and many find comfort in knowing their rage has a physical cause. Avoiding coffee is crucial during treatment, as it heats the liver and worsens the condition.

Joy

Joy is linked to the heart. While joy is desirable, imbalances arise from excessive excitement, overstimulation, or sudden good news that shocks the system. Disorders aren't caused by happiness but by overwhelming emotional highs.

Psychologists assess stress from both positive and negative events. While negative events like the death of a spouse or job loss are stressful, positive ones like marriage or promotions also contribute. A lifestyle of constant activity and excess can lead to heart imbalances, causing palpitations, anxiety, and insomnia. Heart imbalances may also manifest emotionally, as the heart houses the spirit (shen). Severe disturbances can result in erratic behavior, like talking to oneself or sudden laughter.

This behavior stems from the heart's inability to anchor the spirit. Treatment involves acupuncture along the heart meridian and herbal formulas that nourish heart blood or yin. If heart fire disrupts the spirit, heat-clearing herbs are used.

Worry

In today's high-stress world, worry is common and can drain the spleen's energy, leading to digestive issues and eventually chronic fatigue. A weakened spleen struggles to convert food into qi, and the lungs fail to extract qi from air effectively. Excessive worry makes one feel as if "carrying the weight of the world," a symptom of weak spleen qi causing dampness. Treatment involves moxa and spleen-strengthening herbs, providing energy to tackle life's challenges rather than obsessing over them.

Pensiveness

Overthinking or obsessing can stagnate spleen qi, causing symptoms like poor appetite, forgetting to eat, and bloating. Over time, spleen qi deficiency may lead to a pale complexion and even affect the heart, causing repetitive dreams. Students often face this imbalance; treatment includes herbs that nourish heart blood and spleen qi.

Sadness

Sadness or grief impacts the lungs, leading to fatigue, shortness of breath, crying, or depression. Treatment includes acupuncture on lung and kidney meridians, often combined with herbal formulas to strengthen lung qi or yin.

Fear

Fear is tied to the kidneys. Extreme fear can cause involuntary urination, and in children, it may result in bed-wetting, often linked to insecurity and anxiety. Prolonged anxiety about the future can deplete kidney yin, yang, and qi, causing chronic weakness. Treatment focuses on kidney tonics tailored to specific symptoms.

Shock

Shock severely affects the kidneys and heart. The "fight or flight" response triggers excessive adrenaline from the adrenal glands, leading to heart palpitations, anxiety, and insomnia. Chronic shock stress can debilitate the entire system, while severe shock may harm heart shen, as seen in post-traumatic stress syndrome. Treatment includes psychotherapy, spirit-calming herbs, heart and kidney tonics, and regular acupuncture.

Proceed to the next page to explore how poor dietary habits impact traditional Chinese medicine.

For further insights into traditional Chinese medicine, including treatments, remedies, beliefs, and other fascinating topics, see:

Poor Dietary Habits

Poor dietary habits are a significant cause of illness. Since food is the most frequently consumed medicine, many diseases are hard to treat without dietary changes. Below are some eating and drinking habits that can lead to health issues.

Irregular Times and Amounts: The time food takes to pass through the stomach matters. Simple fruits and vegetables exit the stomach in about 20 minutes, while dense proteins, starches, and fats take 4 to 5 hours. Eating another meal before the stomach empties disrupts digestion, akin to smothering a small fire with logs before it’s ready.

Conversely, long gaps between meals halt digestive juice production, like letting a fire die before adding logs. Eating when truly hungry is key. Drinking large amounts of cold water after meals dilutes digestive enzymes, and cold liquids slow the stomach's necessary heat for digestion. A soup-like consistency in the stomach aids digestion, as dryness can also hinder the process.

To achieve this, sip warm liquids during meals, a common practice in China and other Asian countries. If cool water is desired, drink it at least 30 minutes before or 3 hours after meals when the stomach is empty.

Consuming the Wrong Types of Food: Foods have varying energetic qualities; what suits one person or climate may harm another. Cold and raw foods benefit those in hot weather or with internal heat but can weaken spleen qi and yang, causing dampness in cold weather or for those with internal cold. For example, in coastal California, where weather shifts rapidly, a warm breakfast like grains or soup suits a cold morning, while fruits and salads are ideal for a hot midday.

Similarly, spicy foods suit cold weather or yang-deficient individuals but can cause imbalances in hot weather or for those with internal heat. This highlights that no food is universally healthy; it’s about matching foods to internal and external climates. Foods like sweets or alcohol should be consumed sparingly, as overindulgence can lead to various health issues.

Overeating or Undereating: Undereating can cause malnutrition, leading to chronic qi and blood deficiencies. While more prevalent in developing nations, it also occurs in developed countries due to poverty, emotional issues, or substance abuse. Treatment involves qi and blood tonics and improved nutrition. Overeating, more common in the West, contributes to heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes, and cancer. Acupuncture reduces cravings, and dietary and lifestyle changes are crucial.

Food Cravings and Addictions: The body thrives on a diverse diet. Fad diets or addictions to limited foods can be harmful, as they often lack essential nutrients. Eating a variety of colorful vegetables, whole grains, and proteins ensures the nutrition needed for optimal health.

Contaminated Food: Parasites, though more common in developing or tropical regions, are a global issue, damaging spleen and stomach qi. Strong herbal treatments for parasites require accurate diagnosis via stool tests. Bacterial toxins in processed foods, especially meats, are another concern—always cook meat thoroughly. Boiling questionable water prevents water-borne illnesses.

Treatment for pathogenic microorganisms varies by type. Herbal remedies can effectively address gastrointestinal distress caused by microbes but should be a temporary measure until consulting a healthcare provider.

Proceed to the next page to explore how lack of exercise impacts traditional Chinese medicine.

For further insights into traditional Chinese medicine, including treatments, remedies, beliefs, and other fascinating topics, see:

Lack of Exercise

Insufficient exercise can cause qi and blood stagnation, leading to degenerative diseases like obesity, cancer, and heart disease. Moderate exercise strengthens the heart and lungs, promoting blood and lymph flow, the body's detox system. Unlike blood, lymph relies on movement, not the heart, for circulation. Ancient Chinese texts highlight the risks of inactivity:

"Excessive sleep harms qi." Oversleeping often leaves one feeling fatigued throughout the day.

"Too much sitting weakens the muscles." Inactivity leads to muscle atrophy.

"A flowing stream stays fresh." Stagnant water spoils, just as stagnant qi and blood cause illness.

Conversely, excessive activity harms the body, especially when fighting a cold or needing rest. Overexertion can drain qi. Traditional wisdom warns against too much activity:

"Overusing the eyes harms the blood." The eyes are closely linked to the liver, and excessive eye strain can deplete this organ. Since the liver stores blood, overuse of the eyes weakens the blood supply.

"Excessive standing harms the bones." Those who stand all day, especially on hard surfaces, often experience sore feet, joint pain, and varicose veins.

"Too much walking harms the tendons." Tendinitis is common, particularly among runners. Repetitive stress injuries and prolonged computer use also strain the tendons.

"Overworking the heart harms the spirit (shen)." The heart houses the mind, so excessive mental work affects the spirit. Regular physical exercise helps prevent this imbalance.

"Overworking the liver harms the blood." Excessive strain on the liver depletes blood, as seen in marathon runners who lose their menstrual periods. Reducing intense workouts often restores their cycle.

"Overworking the kidneys harms the essence (jing)." Sexual activity tolerance varies by age and constitution. Excessive indulgence can deplete the kidneys, leading to fatigue and chronic low back pain.

Proceed to the next page to explore other causes of illness in traditional Chinese medicine.

For further insights into traditional Chinese medicine, including treatments, remedies, beliefs, and other fascinating topics, see:

Other Causes of Illness

Some disease causes don't fall under the six pernicious influences, seven emotions, exercise, or nutrition.

Predisposition to Disease

We inherit prenatal qi and essence from our parents, a genetic factor beyond our control that influences many ailments. For instance, if a man's father and grandfather died of heart disease in their 40s, he’s more likely to develop it than someone with a similar lifestyle but long-lived ancestors. Those with weak inherited constitutions must adopt a healthy lifestyle to prevent illness.

Accidents and Injuries

These causes of illness are straightforward. However, individuals with strong qi and blood recover from injuries faster than those deficient in these vital substances. Traditional Chinese medicine is highly effective in treating various injuries.

Side Effects of Medical Treatments

This is particularly common in Western medicine, where drug side effects can span pages. A recent study found that up to 30% of hospital patients are treated for drug side effects. Herbal medicine can mitigate many of these effects; for example, cancer patients in Chinese hospitals often receive herbs to counteract chemotherapy side effects.

While herbal medicine is generally safe, mild side effects like loose stools can occur due to hard-to-digest herbs. Herbalists address this by adding specific herbs to formulas. However, improper prescriptions can lead to severe side effects. For instance, Ephedra (ma huang) should never be given to those with high blood pressure, as it raises blood pressure. Traditional texts include formulas to counteract improper treatments.

For further insights into traditional Chinese medicine, including treatments, remedies, beliefs, and other fascinating topics, see:

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Bill Schoenbart has been a practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) since 1991, after earning his Masters degree in TCM. He teaches TCM theory and herbalism at a California acupuncture school and maintains an active clinical practice.

Ellen Shefi is a licensed massage therapist, acupuncturist, and registered dietitian. She is affiliated with the American Association of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, the American Herb Association, and the Oregon Acupuncture Association.