Tcm Syndrome Essence Of Research Ideas Discussed

As the core of treatment by differentiation of syndromes (TDS), treating principle and prescription, syndrome has been considered as breakthrough of modernization of TCM research for many years. The research of syndrome essence is the subject of uttermost importance. People have tried to probe the essence and objective indexes of syndrome beyond the definition of modern diseases. Essence of syndrome could be interpreted and measured objectively if some special constituents were discovered. So, it is possible to integrate Traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine. Since 1950s, there has been vigorous research on syndrome essence in TCM circle, including those from clinic research to animal experiment, from seeking special indexes of a single syndrome of TCM to studying impersonal index of combination between one disease (by Western definition) and its related syndrome of TCM.We found there were many problems in the research of intension and the essence of TCM syndrome concepts through summarization and statistics of literature data. In the research of intension of concepts, there are problems as obscurities in definition, and confusion between syndromes and their symptoms. In the research of syndrome essence, there were three problems: Firstly, after some special indexes were excluded, new special indexes with meaning of theoretical guidance and clinical value have not been obtained. With statistical analyses of the research data of the syndrome essence of qi deficiency in the spleen, lung, and heart respectively, we found the three syndromes had common changes in the immune system, endocrine system, free radicals metabolism, blood rheology, microelement, heart function and so on. Secondly, hundreds of animal models of syndrome were built, which though played a certain role in syndrome essence research, few of them really reflected essence of syndrome and was applied to clinic and scientific research. Finally, there were unilateralism in research thoughts. People mostly employed the reducible and analytical linear methods to discuss syndrome essence. The methods dissever a whole to some parts has many limitations.Basing on the above analysis, the research of syndrome essence must be carried out under the guidance of theories of TCM, and with profound understanding of the development of syndrome theory and proper grasping of the intension and quality of syndrome conception.We studied syndrome theory by borrowing genetic method of natural science field. Wethought the syndrome was a theoretical model in understanding diseases of TCM. It was composed by ancient physicians on the basis of numerous practices, personal experiences, observations of expressed life phenomena, departmental relationships from holism, and discursion from various pathological and physiological phenomena. Its essence was a comprehensive and dynamic pathological model from the aspect of malfunction of the whole body. The syndrome, which was a thinking model had profound thinking and culture foundation. Based on the ancient anatomic knowledge, it was the integration of the various pathological and physiological phenomena, at the same time, was influenced inevitably by ancient social science, technology and culture. It was influenced by the value conception in regarding principle and despising implement, the whole thinking way of qi which was the basic components of myriads of lives, the cognitive character of combination of subjectivity and objectivity, the cognitive thinking of symbolization, stereotyped thinking model. So the concepts and theories of TCM syndrome had not only biological foundation but also holism, integration of subjectivity and objectivity, dynamic time-phase, modeling and subtlety.Comparing history, culture, philosophy and social background of Traditional Chinese medicine and western medicine, there are different thinking ways between them. Because western medicine is established on the anatomy of the human body, pathological changes of structure, illustration of mechanism of diseases from parts, microcosmic and static angle...