Is Acupuncture Right for You? by Ruth Lever Kidson

Author:Ruth Lever Kidson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Health/Alternative Medicine
ISBN: 9781594779602
Publisher: Inner Traditions/Bear & Company
Published: 2010-06-08T00:00:00+00:00

THE HEART

The heart, which is a zang organ, is linked to the small intestine (a fu organ) and the tongue (a sense organ). A long illness may affect the heart by causing a general weakness of Chi. If the Chi of the heart is weak, this will affect the organ’s mechanical function, and the heart may develop irregularities in its beat. As a result the patient may suffer from palpitations and shortness of breath, especially upon exertion—symptoms that the Western physician, too, will associate with heart disease. If the weakness of Chi is not treated, it may develop into a general deficiency of its active aspect, yang, resulting in yin-associated symptoms such as a general lack of energy, coldness, and pallor, together with a susceptibility to other illnesses.

Conversely, if the yin of the heart becomes deficient, the symptoms produced may be due to the relative excess of yang. In this case the patient may be restless and feverish and have a flushed face. The deficiency of yin interferes with the function of the heart and thus of the mind that is housed there; it may cause insomnia, nightmares, poor memory, or other mental symptoms.

A long illness may weaken the heart, in turn interfering with its normal function of pumping blood around the body. A Chinese diagnostician would then say that there was stagnant blood in the heart, which was causing the symptoms and signs demonstrated by the patient: pain in the chest, palpitations, blue lips, and blue nails. This corresponds to Western medical thinking to the extent that an orthodox practitioner would recognize these as symptoms of inadequate circulation resulting from poor heart function, although he would not accept the Chinese concept of stagnant blood.

Severe heat, or fire, can also affect the heart. This can arise internally as a result of persistent mental problems that depress the body’s Chi and stimulate the production of fire. The symptoms may include fever (reflecting the causative agent), insomnia (due to the effect on the mind, which is housed in the heart), and problems affecting the mouth and tongue, such as ulceration, pain, and swelling. The latter are due to fire affecting those parts of the body with which the heart is directly linked.

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