Asthma In Chinese Medicine Posted: 05-29-05 21:43pm
In traditional chinese medicine theory,
asthma is clearly differentiated between
the actual attacks and the periods between
attacks. When the attacks are happening,
this is considered to be an acute, excess
condition, and the objective is to
disperse the excess and stop the attack.
Wind, a non-substantial pathogenic factor,
lodges in the bronchi and combines with
cold or heat pathogenic factors to cause
bronchospasms.
Between attacks, the body is considered to
be in a deficiency condition. The lungs
and kidneys work together to produce wei
qi, or defensive chi. Defensive chi can
be thought of as analogous to the immune
system. It is a yang energy that is
manufactured from the food we eat. The
kidneys are the root of our ability to
produce defensive chi, and the lungs
spread defensive chi near the outer
surface of our bodies to ward off
pathogenic factors like wind, cold, and
heat. When the lungs or kidneys (or
both) are weak, there is often a
deficiency of defensive chi, making us
more vulnerable to colds, infections,
asthma attacks, etc. It is thought that
a person’s defensive chi can be weak due
to a hereditary constitutional weakness
(up to 75% of children with asthma have a
family history of the disorder); but
mothers who smoke during pregnancy and
childhood immunizations are also cited as
contributing factors in asthma.
