Professor Wu Bingcai's Academic Experience Of Treating Miscellaneous Diseases In Internal Injury As Dampness Pathogen And The Clinical Research

Dampness diseases are triggered by dampness or disorder of internal organs that result in the damp pathogen being remained in the body and damp stasis. Diseases caused by dampness and its related illness can be found in all faculties of TCM clinical section, including departments of internal medicine, surgery, gynaecology, paediatrics and etc.Hence, the treatment of dampness diseases has great significance. The knowledge of dampness disease in traditional Chinese medicine origins from "Prescriptions of Fifty-two Diseases","Internal Classic","Classic of Difficult Issues","Treatise on Cold Damange Diseases", and"Synopsis of Prescriptions of the Golden Chamber", was developed in Jinyuan Dynasty, improved in Ming, Qing and Minguo Dynasty, and matured in modern times. Although ancient people have a thorough discussion about damp diseases, it is not yet fully developed. All in all, the elaboration of dampness diseases in "Internal Classic" is explicit yet focuses more on theory and therapy discussion. Zhongjing pioneered in treating dampness diseases, yet his therapy focuses more on cold-dampness disease. ZHU Danxi studied dampness and hotness of the six factors in nature with a focus more on hotness diseases and less on dampness diseases. Since from Qing Dynasty, with development in the school of seasonal febrile disease, there was more comprehensive understanding about dampness diseases and therapy of hotness and dampness diseases was supplied. Yet overall speaking, the study is more sophisticated in Southern China than in Northern China. Currently, uniform knowledge of dampness disease treatment based on syndrome differentiation has yet to be established and it's difficult to learn and master.Professor Wu Bingcai advocates Zhongjing Theory and has rich clinical experience featuring treatments of miscellaneous diseases. He is skilled in four diagnosis, attaching great importance to detailed interrogation and pulse diagnosis. Fond of classical prescriptions but with flexible adaptions, Pro. Wu catches the main contradiction of the complex diseases and thus achieves high clinical curative effect. During the long periods of clinical experience, Pro. Wu has acquired a unique understanding about illness triggered by dampness pathogen, which was based on previous knowledge of damp diseases. This paper begins with an introduction of Pro. Wu Bingcai's academic origins and his main academic features, and then summarizes his diagnosis and treatment experience of damp diseases, covering the characteristics, diagnosis and syndrome differentiation of dampness diseases. The paper combines ancient and modern documents to explain and elaborate on the theory, especially theories of the widespread of complications caused by dampness diseases, damp pathogen being apt to attach to the spleen, susceptiblility to spleen yang and symptom diagnosis. Prof. Wu emphasizes that the key points of diagnosing dampness disease, namely perspiration without relieving the heat and hot in the body but cold in feet, are all based on his experience. He especially mentions the diagnosis method of checking inthorough perspiration is to start checking from the feet and upward, demonstating his rich clinical experience.As the damp disease is too widespread, this essay does not summarize the category of dampness diseases. However, this essay will cover aspects which are Prof. WU Bingcai's specialty, including coughing, impairment of qi flow in the throat, dizziness, abdominal fullness and distention, adverse rising of gastric qi, aurigo, difficulty in micturition, sore limbs and body. It also records its diagnosing and treatment experience and prescription characteristics. The relation of spleen and stomach as well as the difference of spleen and stomach illness fully demonstrates the inheritance of TCM valuable experience.This paper also introduces the18drug pairs commonly used by Pro. Wu Bingcai for the treatment of dampness diseases, basically covering his habit of adaption. The paper then gives an analysis of12typical cases of dampness diseases, beneficial for an in-depth understanding of Professor Wu Bingcai's typical prescriptions.This paper finally points out that treating bradycadia as dampness pathogen is an importanl clinical pathway, helpful to enrich the disease treatments. Combining TCM theory and his clinical experience, Professor Wu Bingcai puts forward the academic views of "Treating bradycadia as dampness pathogen" and" slow pulse indicating dampness diseases", on which we should further study.