The Health Indexes in Chinese Medicine System

By Sophia Tang

Are you really healthy? What are the health indexes in Chinese medicine system?

Chinese medicine sees our body as a reflection of this universe and sees the material world as consisting of the five elements of wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. In the human body, each organ is attributed to one of these five elements. Each of the five elements has a supporting and controlling relationship with each other. Chinese medicine also treats the human body as a network system. This network system is constructed of 12 major meridians or channels that connect directly to 365 major acupuncture points. Everything in our body is connected with those meridian channels including the organs such as liver, heart, spleen, lung, kidney, gall bladder, intestines, etc. Different types of energy such as Qi, blood, essence (Jing), and body fluids flow through our meridian channels and nourish the whole body system including all our organs. If the flowing of each meridian channel is vibrated at its optimal frequency without any disturbance and blockage, every organ has a harmonious supporting and controlling relationship with each other, and there is no deficient or excess energy within our body, we should be healthy.

Because Chinese medicine physiology is based on a type of theory that is totally different from Western medicine, it stands to reason that the health indexes based on Chinese medicine are also completely difference from Western medicine.

I will give you an example. If a person is always feeling chilled along with cold hands and feet, the diagnosis from Chinese medicine would likely be Heart Yang deficiency. The Heart has the fire attribute in the five elements system. It is like the sunshine that warms our body. Yang energy represents functional energy. Without enough functional Yang energy, the heart cannot carry its normal function to pump out blood with enough pressure, speed, and temperature. The result of this is poor circulation in our body. The body extremities will be cold because the heart is lacking of functional energy and it cannot do its job. Thus, it is easier for the body to accumulate garbage and become susceptible to tumor growths for people with this type of physical constitution.

If this same person goes to a Western doctor due to chronic fatigue syndrome and frequent urination, but gets “normal” lab test numbers and examination from the doctor, the doctor would tell that person that his/her physical health is fine. However, if this person sees an authentic Chinese medicine physician, he/she would definitely know what is going on with this person's health and can even foresee what physical conditions may manifest in the future. The healer will then tune up this person with acupuncture, herbal medicine, or some other healing modality. This will prevent these physical symptoms from manifesting into a serious disease.

There are examinations used by Chinese medical healers to check if a person is healthy. These examinations include visual inspection of the tongue, eyes, and other parts of the body; smelling, questioning, and pulse taking. Traditional Chinese medicine healers do not rely on a disease name and laboratory tests to tell you if you are healthy or not. If you would like to know if you are healthy or not, below are health indexes Chinese medical healers use to gauge health. If you meet these criteria without any uncomfortable symptoms in your body, then you are physically healthy from the view of the Chinese medicine system. If not, you should see a traditional Chinese medicine healer to get an examination and to tune up your body, so your body will be back to the balance and meet these criteria of these health indexes according to Chinese medicine physiology.

Health indexes in Traditional Classical Chinese medicine system: