Chinese medicine understanding of several common kidney diseases

  Acute nephritis has an acute onset, with hematuria, proteinuria, edema, and hypertension as the main clinical manifestations, and belongs to the scope of “Feng Shui” and “Drowning Blood” in Chinese medicine. The cause of the disease is that the lung loses suction, the spleen does not transfer, and the kidney has difficulty opening and closing, resulting in the inability of the water channels of the three jiao, and the obstruction of sweating and urination.  Chinese medicine has a good effect on the treatment of this disease, especially the hematuria under the mirror that does not disappear for a long time during the recovery period, treated with the method of benefitting the qi and nourishing the yin, cooling the blood and stopping the bleeding, can often achieve good results.  The chronic nephritis is a group of diseases that originate from the glomerulus, clinically with varying degrees of swelling, hypertension and renal impairment, proteinuria and hematuria as the main manifestations. Those who have edema belong to the scope of “edema” in Chinese medicine; those who have renal failure can be classified as “deficiency labor”.  This disease is caused by the invasion of external evil, which damages the spleen and kidney over time, resulting in the deficiency of both spleen and kidney, the failure of the spleen to transfer, and the failure of the kidney to open and close, or the deficiency of the spleen and kidney, which is compounded by external evil, always with the deficiency of both spleen and kidney as the origin and the actual evil (water-dampness, wind and blood stasis) as the symptoms. Chinese medicine has many treatment methods for this disease, such as promoting water and swelling, strengthening the spleen and kidney, activating blood circulation and resolving blood stasis, dispelling wind and dampness, clearing heat and detoxification, etc., which often have better efficacy.  Chronic renal failure is a clinical syndrome caused by various chronic kidney diseases, such as progressive renal impairment, waste retention, water and electrolyte metabolism disorders, and acid-base balance imbalance, etc. It belongs to “deficiency labor”, “Guange”, and “drowning poison” in Chinese medicine. It belongs to the scope of “deficiency labor”, “Guange” and “drowning poison” in Chinese medicine.  Chinese medicine believes that this disease is due to the deficiency of both spleen and kidney, from the deficiency into the loss, resulting in the spleen’s ascending and lowering of turbidity, the kidney’s collection of essence and drainage of turbidity obstacles, dampness and turbidity detention, and finally formed the evidence of spleen and kidney failure, dampness and turbidity congestion of the three jiao, that is, into the stage of uremia, the main treatment is to use the method of drainage of turbidity. Chinese medicine has certain therapeutic effects on chronic renal failure, which can improve the symptoms, reduce the retention of metabolic waste, improve kidney function and delay the process of renal failure, but for end-stage uremia, it should be combined with dialysis therapy.  In general, the worse the kidney function is, the more serious the anemia is. Modern Western medicine recognizes that the kidney is not only an excretory organ, but also an endocrine organ that can secrete many hormones, among which erythropoietin can promote the maturation of bone marrow red blood cells. In ancient times, Chinese medicine suggested that the kidney is the master of bone and bone produces marrow, and it is also believed that the kidney collects essence, which can transform blood, and essence and blood are homologous, so anemia can occur in kidney disease.  To sum up, many kidney diseases in Western medicine, such as acute nephritis, chronic nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, urinary tract infection, urinary tract stones, renal failure, etc., can be found in “edema”, “gonorrhea”, “guan ge” and “retention of urine” in Chinese medicine. Similar descriptions can be found in “edema”, “gonorrhea”, “Guange”, “retention of urine”, “deficiency labor” and other symptoms in TCM.