Reporter: Dampness is most related to the spleen, as an expert in spleen and gastroenterology, please explain. Li Xiaolin, Department of Gastroenterology, Dongzhimen Hospital, Beijing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine Li Xiaolin: Under normal circumstances, dampness is one of the “six gases” of nature (wind, cold, summer, humidity, dryness and fire six natural climatic factors), called dampness, which is an important substance indispensable for the nourishment and growth of all things. Therefore, dampness itself is not a disease, it is okay to be wet in summer, but excessive, hurt people, the body i pain, head heavy and confused, it becomes a dampness, called external dampness in Chinese medicine. The internal organ corresponding to dampness is the spleen. The spleen is responsible for transporting and transforming the good things in the diet into nutrients and excreting the bad things through the urine and stool. When dampness affects the spleen, the function of the spleen will be poor, first of all, the appetite is reduced, the abdomen is distended, people become lazy, the body is heavy, the mind is not fresh, the stool will be thinner, urine may not be painful; may also be manifested as the limbs are a bit pushy, the tongue is fat. At this point, Chinese medicine called this phenomenon “internal dampness”. The dampness that the common people say is actually “internal dampness”. Although there are internal and external dampness, but all have the most to do with the spleen. If the spleen functions well, dampness will not be easy to produce, and it is difficult to hurt people. In the summer in Beijing, especially in July, August and September, the dampness is the heaviest, so we should pay more attention to protecting the spleen. It should be stressed that the identification and use of medicine in Chinese medicine is not something that can be mastered through popular science, whether it is heavy dampness or not, you should ask the doctor to judge, it is best for ordinary people not to judge and use their own medicine. Reporter: Are there many people who diagnose themselves? Li Xiaolin: through reading books, watching health hall, many people have a certain amount of medical knowledge, outpatient clinics many patients come, casually say a few appearances – for example, the tongue appears on the teeth marks, fat, thick tongue moss, etc. – said they are damp evil, ask to dispel damp. These phenomena are indeed dampness, but when dispelling dampness, in addition to using dampness medicine, Chinese medicine attaches more importance to dispelling dampness by adjusting the function of the internal organs, that is, “treating the disease to seek the root. A fat tongue with teeth marks indicates that there is dampness inside, but you can ignore it because the spleen and stomach are weak in summer, so the tongue can be fat and large. This time if you are too concerned about dampness and use a lot of cold barley green beans, it may be a damage to the spleen and stomach instead. Instead of that, it is better to find a doctor to use some medicine to strengthen the spleen and stomach, the dampness will naturally disappear. So don’t pay too much attention to the visible dampness. Reporter: Isn’t mung bean and barley a good thing? How did it become something that hurts the spleen and stomach? Li Xiaolin: The people think they have wet, they eat mung beans and barley every day, in fact, it is not necessarily appropriate. The summer is coming, the spleen and stomach is weak, and mung beans and barley is cold, too much consumption of the spleen and stomach is not good. Chinese medicine pays more attention to the spleen, which is in charge of dampness, rather than dampness. The spleen and stomach function is strong, spleen qi is sufficient, yang qi is good, water and dampness will be gone naturally. If you simply treat dampness, dampness medicine is mostly cold medicine, but eat bad spleen and stomach, because the spleen and stomach is afraid of cold. In summer, people often boil porridge with damp mung beans plus spleen-healthy rice or millet, that is the reason. Reporter: Then how do we prevent dampness from coming? Li Xiaolin: summer dampness is heavy, no one can hide. For external dampness, use fans and air conditioners to remove dampness, dress as lightly as possible, change clothes and bathe regularly, you will be better. Regarding the treatment of dampness, the Nei Jing puts forward a more complete treatment principle, which has become a guideline for the treatment of dampness in later generations. To summarize, there are bitter-warm and dry dampness, light percolation and dampness, sparing wind and winning dampness, and clearing heat and dispelling dampness. Dampness in the body will get sick, we need to use medicine to drain it out. Chinese medicine has advantages in this regard. For example, the use of Chen Pi, Feng Feng, Huo Xiang, etc. are dampness medicine, so that the body breath flow, Qi, wind, sun, dampness will be gone. Clearing heat and resolving dampness together, usually bitter and cold medicines, such as Huang Lian and Scutellaria. Dampness is diuretic, you can properly eat some watermelon, bitter melon, Chinese herbs can be used poria, zedoary, etc.. But it is more important to protect the spleen and stomach. Dampness is heavy, we should try to do less things, relaxed mood, good rest, do not stay up late, avoid strain. Eat a little lighter, do not eat too much greasy, sweet and cold food, especially cold food, dinner should be even lighter. Do not use air conditioning when sleeping. If the weather is too wet, you can eat some chili peppers to help dispel dampness. When the spleen and stomach are lightly burdened, dampness is less likely to harm people. Chinese doctors can also use herbs to strengthen the spleen and stomach, but it is more important to take care of the spleen and stomach in daily life than to take medicine, as the so-called “three parts treatment and seven parts nourishment”, we should pay attention to.
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