A theoretical basis and necessity of spleen health.
The kidneys collect essence and are the main source of reproduction, and they are the root of the body’s growth and development, and the source of the internal organs’ functional activities. The “Shanggu Tianzhen” cloud: “women seven years old, kidney gas, teeth more hair long, two seven and the day sebum to, any vein through, Tai Chong vein Sheng, menstruation to time down, so there are children, husband eight years old, kidney gas real, hair long teeth more, two eight kidney gas, the day sebum to, essence overflow diarrhea, Yin and Yang, so can have children …… eight eight days sebum exhaustion , less essence kidney failure …… and no children.” It can be seen that the kidneys are the main reason for the presence or absence of children, replenishing the kidneys is the fundamental method of treating infertility.
The spleen is the main organ of transportation and transformation, and is the source of biochemistry of qi and blood, and the spleen and kidneys have mutual roots. On the one hand, the spleen is dependent on the kidney for transportation and transformation, as stated in Fu Qingzheng’s “Female Medicine”, “Although the qi of the spleen and stomach is filled in the spleen and stomach, it is actually born within the two kidneys. Without the water in the kidneys, the gas in the stomach can not take off; without the fire in the kidneys, the gas of the spleen can not be transformed. On the other hand, the essence in the kidneys depends on the spleen and stomach to produce the essence of water and grain, i.e., the essence of the afterlife, as stated in Su Wen. In the “meridians and veins”, it is said that “food gas into the stomach, overflowing essence, upward transmission in the spleen, spleen qi dispersed essence”, Chen Xiuyuan cloud: “the person is born, all rely on the middle palace to transfer essence to the kidneys, and then the kidneys can be supplemented.” Therefore, only when the spleen and stomach are healthy, the innate essence in the kidneys can be abundant, and only then can the “essence overflow” and give birth to children.
The causes of infertility are many and complex, mostly due to kidney and spleen deficiency, while phlegm and dampness, fire, qi stagnation and blood stasis are also common causes. Ye Tianshi’s “The Secret Seeds of the Golden Elixir” says: “The disease is related to fecundity and pregnancy, the man is in the essence, the woman is in the blood, and there is no deficiency.” It is pointed out that infertility caused by acquired pathological changes. The etiology of the disease is mainly related to the kidney, spleen and liver. If the kidney is deficient and the Yin essence does not transform, there will be a deficiency of essence and blood and infertility; if the spleen is deficient in transportation and transformation, there will be a deficiency of essence and infertility; if the liver is stagnant and there is a loss of power in the drainage, there will be an imbalance of Qi and blood and infertility. We also follow this main principle in clinical practice, with the kidney as the main focus and the liver and spleen as well. Yang Hongwei, Department of Infertility, Guangzhou Liwan District Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine
If the spleen and stomach are not in good condition, the liver and kidney are not nourished; if the spleen is deficient in transport and transformation, dampness, turbidity, phlegm and stasis will be generated, which will cause the internal pathological products of infertility. On the one hand, it affects the nourishment and transportation of water and grain, on the other hand, it disrupts the balance of yin and yang, water and fire in the human body, causing other internal organs to become dysfunctional, such as earth and wood depression; women take blood as the basis and gas as the use, and the spleen is the master of blood control. Therefore, dysfunction of the spleen and stomach will cause a series of factors that cause infertility. Clinically, strengthening the spleen and regulating the function of the spleen and stomach is in fact an extremely important TCM treatment for infertility. In Li Dong Yuan’s Treatise on the Spleen and Stomach. The treatment of deficiencies in the liver, heart, lungs and kidneys can be either supplemental or diaphoretic, but the only remedies that benefit the spleen and stomach are the most important.” It also provides a basis for regulating the spleen and stomach to treat infertility caused by diseases of other internal organs.
Application of the method of strengthening the spleen
Clinically, kidney deficiency is the main cause of infertility, but spleen deficiency or deficiency of both spleen and kidney is also not uncommon. In Fu Qingzhu Women’s Medicine. Among the 10 types of infertility discussed in “Seeds”, there are descriptions of “infertility due to chest fullness without thinking about eating” and “infertility due to obesity”. In the course of treatment, special attention is paid to strengthening the spleen and tonifying the qi, with nine of the ten prescriptions using Atractylodes macrocephala and seven using ginseng.
Clinically, there are 2 types of spleen and stomach dysfunction. One is a patient identified as having spleen deficiency, manifesting as atrophy, shortness of breath, lazy speech, fatigue, poor appetite, monophasic or atypical biphasic basal body temperature, white coating with tooth marks on the fat side of the tongue, and thin and weak pulse. In this case, we must first strengthen the spleen and consider tonifying the kidneys or strengthening the spleen and tonifying the kidneys at the same time after the spleen and stomach functions return to normal. The other is the spleen and stomach disorder or spleen and stomach damage caused by drugs (a lot of kidney tonics, and kidney tonics are mostly nourishing and greasy), diet, mental, emotional and environmental factors during the treatment process. In this case, the medicine should be used according to the severity and priority of kidney deficiency and spleen deficiency. Regarding the application of the method of spleen strengthening, we have adopted a comprehensive therapy combining the flexible use of drugs, Shen Que compresses and food therapy to achieve better clinical results. It is introduced as follows.
1. Flexible use of medicine for identification of evidence
(1) The idea of strengthening the spleen should be applied to the whole process of infertility treatment. In the process of treating infertility, the importance of strengthening the spleen is emphasized. If the patient has a deficient spleen, regulate the function of the spleen and stomach first and then add kidney tonics after the spleen and stomach function is robust.
Patients with kidney deficiency without symptoms of spleen deficiency should try to choose drugs that can both tonify the kidney and strengthen the spleen, such as Huai Shan, Huang Jing and Cuscuta, and add spleen-strengthening products such as Dang Shen, Yun Ling, Bai Zhu and Chen Pi to the kidney tonics.
(2) Pay attention to dampness. Spleen is wet earth, spleen deficiency is easy to wet, wet can be both pathogenic factors, but also pathological products, and X South is known for “wet”,. According to the priority of dampness, the methods of permeating dampness, aromatizing, drying dampness, strengthening the spleen, warming the kidneys, and moving qi are used respectively, such as the patient’s thin white tongue, due to the “dampness” of Xnan, the use of medicine is still often discretionary addition of permeating dampness medicine (Mian Chen, fire charcoal mother) to wake up the stomach and strengthen the spleen; if the patient’s tongue is white and wet, aromatizing medicine (Huo Xiang, Pei Lan) is available, and the tongue is white and dry. If the patient’s tongue is white, thick and damp, Cang Shu is used, accompanied by qi moving herbs (Chuan Pu, Sha Ren, Kou Ren); if the patient’s tongue is white, thick and dry, Cang Shu is changed to Bai Shu; if the patient’s tongue is yellow, Cang Shu, Huang Bai and Coix Seed are used, if the patient’s tongue is yellow and thick, bitter cold and dry damp herbs (Huang Lian, Huang Qin, Huang Bai) are used; if the above methods If the above methods are not effective, the method of strengthening the spleen and warming the kidney can be added.
2.Shenqu compresses
Shenjue point (navel) has the effect of returning yang and fixing the dampness, transporting yang and strengthening the spleen. The skin there is the thinnest and there is no fat under the skin, and there are rich blood vessels and nerve endings, so the medicine can quickly enter the blood circulation and fully exert its medicinal effect in time. Based on the theory of traditional Chinese medicine, Chen Zhu Jian Spleen Cream takes the meaning of Huo Xiang Zheng Qi Wan and Bao He Wan, Fu Ling, Bai Zhu, Mu Xiang, Scutellaria Baicalensis, and Shan Zha to strengthen the spleen and dispel dampness. Chen Zhu Jian Spleen Cream applied to the umbilical cord has the joint effect of drugs and acupuncture points, which can improve the function of the spleen and stomach, accelerate the absorption of food and drugs, and have a speeding effect on clinical treatment.
3.Food conditioning
Dietary therapy is an important complementary therapy to drug therapy. Ancient medical practitioners fully emphasized the importance of diet therapy on the basis of affirming the predominance of drug therapy. The theory of “deficiency is tonic, medicine to get rid of, food to follow” shows that the prevention and control of disease can not rely solely on drugs, but should pay more attention to the effectiveness of food in the prevention and control of disease, and the spleen and stomach for the warehouse endowment of the officer, the day after the source of biochemistry, the stomach is the main intake, the spleen is the main transport, diet into the stomach, through the role of the spleen and stomach, into the blood, moisten the internal organs The spleen is the source of energy and blood. Therefore, while regulating the functions of the internal organs and restoring the physiological balance of the body, food therapy should pay special attention to protecting and strengthening the functions of the spleen and stomach. If the function of spleen and stomach is sound, meals can be prepared according to different requirements according to the needs of specific diseases. If you have poor appetite, bloating, dry stools, you can add a little lycopodium, one can open the stomach and eliminate stagnation, the other can resolve phlegm and laxative, so that you can coordinate the internal organs and care for the spleen and stomach. If the spleen and stomach are dysfunctional, it is necessary to regulate the spleen and stomach first. Such as food stagnation is very much first with grain buds, wheat sprouts stewed duck kidney; such as wet Sheng is with lentils, coix seeds, cloud ling stewed pig tripe; spleen qi deficiency first with ginseng, poria, Atractylodes stewed niu zhan strengthen the spleen and benefit the qi, to be restored after the function of the spleen and stomach, and then treated with the symptoms. Because the strength of the spleen and stomach function, is often the key to determine whether food therapy can work. For the weakness of the internal organs of the patient, do not emphasize “deficiency is tonic”, so as to avoid “deficiency is not tonic”, not only can not play a tonic role, but also increase the burden on the spleen and stomach, aggravate the disease or become the symptoms. We can reduce the quantity of dietary ingredients or add less qi-activating products, such as Citrus aurantium shells and Chen Pi, to avoid aggravating the burden on the spleen and stomach.
References.
[1] Fu Shan Fu Qingzhu Women’s Science. Shanghai: First Edition, Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1978