Disease

Any sick condition of the body of part of it; either an instance of such a condition (alsocalled illness) or any specific kind of morbidity, as identified by specific signs orspecific causes or pathomechanisms common to all individuals affected by it. Wind stroke, forexample, is a disease defined by the sudden loss of use of the limbs (hemiplegia), inabilityto speak, and inability to recognize people. The notion of a disease entity is distinct from that of pattern. A specific disease entity may be characterized by different patterns that reflect different pathomechanisms or variations in the disease that aredetermined by the patient’s individual state of health. Measles, for example, may take theform of a favorable or unfavorable pattern. The distinction between disease and symptom is blurred, and many items, such as headache or impotence are considered as both.

Chinese medical diseases are not systematically categorized and named accordingly. Conditions are largely identified by the disease evils or internal imbalances causing them.

See the following entries:

• Diseases 1, general
• Diseases 2, head and neck
• Diseases 3, body and limbs
• Diseases 4, chest
• Diseases 5, abdomen
• Diseases 6, two yīn (anus and genitals)
• Diseases 7, urinary
• Diseases 8, men and women
• Diseases 9, infants and children
• Diseases 10, external medicine