Diagnosis and Treatment Based on an Overall Analysis of Signs and Symptoms

The four methods of diagnosis of TCM, which are observation, listening, smelling, inquiring, pulse feeling and palpation, allow us to determine relevant information, signs, and symptoms. The analyzing of these findings is called “Bian Zheng”. Determining the corresponding therapeutic method according the conclusion of the data received is called “Shi Zhi.”

TCM physicians do not focus on the actual disease itself but rather the symptoms of the disease. Same symptoms are usually treated in similar ways. Some types of the cold are caused by wind and cold, which calls for strong sudorific drugs pungent in taste and warm in property, whereas some colds are caused by wind and heat and should be treated with mild diaphoretics that are pungent in taste and cool in property. This method is referred to as treating the same diseases with different methods. Sometimes different diseases have similar syndromes and are treated similarly. This is called treating different diseases with the same method.

Colleges of medicine and scientific research institutes are recognizing the essence of “Zheng”, or the syndrome. They believe that “Zheng” is an extensive manifestation of the disorderly relations within the human body. Further development of this method would contribute to the advancement of modern natural sciences.