Human health is not just illness and health. It has three states: the healthy state, the pathological state, and the sub-health state. The sub-health state refers to the body and mind being somewhere between illness and health. At this time, although there is no obvious health problem being diagnosed with multiple medical tests, various discomforts and symptoms already appear, physically and psychologically. Research from the World Health Organization shows that 60% of people are current in a sub-health state. With the improvement of people’s quality of life, we are paying more and more attention to sub-health issues.
The sub-health state usually manifests in two situations: one is the appearance of various symptoms and discomfort, but after various biochemical and instrument examinations of modern medicine, there is no positive discovery. For example, many patients in our clinic report symptoms such as achiness, fatigue, reduced appetite, poor sleep, upsetness, and irritability. Still, they often have no positive results with laboratory and device tests.
The second consideration of being sub-healthy is that the patient has no clinical symptoms but the results of modern medical laboratories and devices are close to the borderline or even above normal. For example, in type 2 diabetes, the patient may not show any symptoms, but the fasting blood sugar or glucose tolerance test finds abnormalities, and the patient is in a sub-health state.
Another example of being subhealthy is the recovery period of many chronic diseases, such as chronic nephritis. After active treatment, the patient’s clinical symptoms have disappeared, but the urine routine may have mild abnormalities. It can be considered that the patient is in a sub-healthy state at this time. Anxiety and depression are considered sub-healthy as well.
The Four Diagnoses
Chinese medicine offers a distinct advantage for diagnosing and treating sub-healthy people.
The most famous tool is known as The Four Diagnoses:
- Observation: Tongue diagnosis, facial diagnosis, etc
- Smell: Odor of body and secretions
- Ask Questions: History of complaints
- Pulse Examination: Major diagnosis of Chinese medicine. The pulse on the left hand shows the energetic balance of the Heart, Liver, and Kidney; the right side is Lung, Spleen, and Male / Female organs.
Through Observation, Smell, Q&A, and Pulse Checking, a clear diagnosis of Chinese medicine can usually be obtained, and it can be identified as a certain type. This diagnosis makes Chinese medicine available to correct the imbalance on the energetic level before it changes to the physical level. Therefore, we are able to treat the early signs of illness when a clear diagnosis has not been established.
Chinese medicine is based on the meridian theory. There are 12 meridians in our body, named after organs, such as the Heart meridian, the Lung meridian, the Stomach meridian, and others. Meridians are the pathways of body life energy. Free flow of energy refers to a good kind of health. The blockage of energy indicates symptoms of what may eventually become an illness. Meridian blockage and sub-health are inseparable.
People in a sub-health state, regardless of clinical symptoms, usually have pathological signs appearing in the tongue, face, and pulse. Therefore, the practitioners can find the underlying health problems and provide prompt treatment to prevent further illness. Being sub-healthy can become a health condition, or it can also fall into an illness condition.
Physicians of past generations have accumulated rich experience in the use of tongue diagnosis, pulse diagnosis, and facial complexion diagnosis. For these precious experiences, we should actively carry forward and apply them to identify their sub-health conditions. Lately, new TCM diagnosis methods, such as ear acupuncture diagnosis, palm print diagnosis, and second metacarpal side micro-diagnosis systems have been developed, which have greatly enriched the content of TCM diagnosis. They have also provided a variety of methods for TCM diagnosis in sub-health conditions.
In a research study, a total of 400 people were surveyed, of which 245 displayed sub-health symptoms. According to the survey, the symptoms included weakness of the waist and knees, chills, cold limbs, body heat, fatigue, spontaneous perspiration, night sweats, poor appetite, insomnia, forgetfulness, frequent colds, and others.
It was found that the main types of sub-health include deficiency syndromes in the Chinese medicine category, which mainly manifested as liver, kidney, spleen, and heart deficiencies. Many symptoms also affect the reproductive or endocrine system, autonomic nervous system, and metabolic systems.
Traditional Chinese medicine can clearly differentiate the symptoms and signs of sub-health states. Chinese herbal prescriptions, acupuncture, massage, cupping, and other therapies often achieve very good results.
There are a large number of pre-clinical patients with type 2 diabetes, so it is very meaningful to treat this group of people as early as possible. Typically, they exhibit spleen deficiency, phlegm-dampness, or dampness-heat. They should be given preventive treatment for strengthening the spleen and removing phlegm, heat, and dampness, preventing the occurrence of diabetes.
Another example is the recovery period of viral myocarditis. The clinical symptoms have disappeared, and the electrocardiogram is basically normal, but through the diagnosis of Chinese medicine, it is found that the tongue coating is yellow and greasy. It is believed that the patient is in a sub-healthy state at this time. He still has dampness, heat, and phlegm; if he does not pay attention, myocarditis is may easily relapse. At this time, active treatment should be carried out. Until we know that the sub-healthy state is corrected, the treatment cannot be terminated.