Pathomechanisms
describe the dynamic process through which disease develops and
transforms in the body. While pattern diagnosis provides the
practitioner with a snapshot picture of the current state of illness, it
is a thorough understanding of pathomechanisms that allows one to
predict and prevent the progression of disease. A comprehensive
knowledge of the pathomechanisms involved in a given case allows
treatment to be more holistic, preventative, and effective. In modern
China, pathomechanisms have become a major focus of Chinese medical
literature and education. Up to now, relatively little of this material
has been transmitted to the West, and consequently many practitioners
have failed to go beyond pattern diagnosis to examine the underlying
disease process that produces the patterns. Thus, pathomechanisms are
often described as a "missing link" in a Westerner's Chinese medical
education. Paradigm's new series of texts devoted to pathomechanisms
attempts to bridge this gap so that practitioners may advance their
knowledge and reap the rewards of greater clinical success.
Pathomechanisms
of the Lung discusses repletion conditions of the lung, including
impaired diffusion of the lung, impaired depurative downbearing of the
lung, and impaired diffusion and downbearing of the lung. The second
section presents vacuity conditions, including vacuity of lung qi, lung
yang, lung yin, and lung blood. Each pathomechanism is described in
detail with references to its historical development, then further
differentiated by the specific etiological factors. Each subsection
discusses the origins and development of ideas relevant to this
pathology, then gives the various symptoms, treatment strategies, and
specific formulas, often with modifications to address the particular
symptoms more directly. It is here that the author offers a review of
relevant literature, spanning the entire range of traditional medical
literature beginning with the early classics. For each text, he gives
the specific quotations and then paraphrases and explains it. This
provides the reader a sense of the historical evolution as well as the
various clinical perspectives on each pathomechanism. At the conclusion
of each section, the author summarizes the information in a useful table
that differentiates again by etiology and then lists specific symptoms
in each case. The appendices include a section on modern research, a
Chinese-English bibliography in alphabetical order (with both classical
texts and journal articles on modern research) and a Chinese
bibliography organized by stroke number.