Other Factors that Cause Diseases

In the past couple of articles, I have explained the causes of diseases in Chinese Medicine, such as “Six Climatic Factors”, “Pestilent Qi”, “Seven Emotions”, “Improper Diet”, “Work-Rest Imbalance” and “Phlegm Fluid and Static Blood”.

Today I am going to discuss all other pathogenic factors that could cause diseases.

Congenital Factors

Everyone is born with a certain constitution. This depends on the parents health condition and the mother’s habit during pregnancy.  Congenital factors can cause hereditary diseases and inborn diseases.

In the future I will talk about precautions of mothers during pregnancy.

Traumatic Injury

Traumatic injuries result from physical force exerted on the body, such as burns, frostbite, gunshots, cuts, falls, etc.

These injuries causes stagnation of Qi and Blood in the body. Severe cases can cause damage to the internal organs and even death.

Insect and Animal Bites

These factors are of a lesser concern in modern society. However, insect and animal bites are very common in the past.

Insect and animal bites can cause a localized injury, swelling, pain and bleeding. In serious cases, this may cause damage to internal organs and toxins circulating in blood, and could eventually lead to death.

Parasites

The major cause of parasites is from polluted food and water. Raw food such as meat and fruit may carry roundworm, pinworm and tapeworms.

The symptoms of worms can include abdominal pain, loss of appetite, itching of the nostrils, drooling and grinding of the teeth during sleep, small spots on the inside of the lips, etc.

This concludes the Etiology (Causes of Diseases) in Chinese Medicine. In the next article I will introduce the pathogenesis in Chinese Medicine.

Registered Acupuncturist (R.Ac), Alex Hui created this blog to share with the world the treasures in Chinese Medicine (CM).