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Diseases 9, infants and children

疾病9，小儿 〔疾病9，小兒〕jí bìng 9, xiǎo ér

Five slownesses (五迟 wǔ chí): Five kinds of retardation in the development of infants: slowness to stand; slowness to talk; slowness to grow hair; slowness to teethe; and slowness to speak. They are all signs of insufficiency of kidney essence.

Fetal feebleness (胎弱 tāi ruò): Also called fetal timidity (胎怯 tāi qiè). Any condition of qì or blood vacuity in the infant from the time of birth. It is characterized by thin weak skin, lack of hair, physical cold and cold limbs, yellow facial complexion and emaciation, and limp aching lumbus.

Five limpnesses (五软 wǔ ruǎn): Five conditions of softness or of body parts indicating poor development in infants: softness of the skull, limpness of the neck, limpness of the hands and feet, limpness of the flesh, and limpness of the mouth.

Ununited skull (解颅 jiě lú): Failure of the bone of the head to join together in infants at the normal time. The bones of the skull harden at around the age of sixth months. The anterior fontanel closes at the age of 6–18 months, whereas the posterior fontanel closes at the age of 2–3 months. Delay in these developments is traditionally called ununited skull. It is attributable to insufficiency of kidney essence.

Whooping cough (百日咳 bǎi rì ké): Also called pertussis in biomedicine. A children’s disease readily identifiable by the characteristic whoop of the cough. The whooping sound is similar to the sound made by a hen after laying an egg, hence the alternate name hen cough (鸡咳 jī ké). Whooping cough is attributed to contraction of a seasonal evil, which causes phlegm turbidity to obstruct the airways and inhibit lung qì. If the cough continues, it can damage the network vessels of the lung and give rise to expectoration of blood.

Umbilical wind (脐风 qí fēng): Lockjaw in neonates. Umbilical wind manifests in clenched jaw, arched-back rigidity, pursed lips, and a peculiar grimace. In severe cases, the facial complexion is green-blue, and there is hasty breathing. It is attributable to unhygienic treatment in delivery or premature shedding of the umbilical cord. This disease has been almost eliminated by modern delivery methods.

Fright wind (惊风 jīng fēng): A disease of infants and children, characterized by convulsions and loss of consciousness.

Acute fright wind: An externally contracted febrile disease in infants and children marked by clenched jaw and convulsions of the limbs. It is attributed to extreme heat engendering wind resulting from external contraction of warm evil. The disease starts with vigorous heat effusion with vexation and agitation, red face and limbs. When the warm evil causes phlegm congestion and qì stagnation, there is oppression in the chest and hasty breathing. As heat engenders wind, clenched jaw, the first sign of fright wind appears. If the condition worsens, convulsions of the limbs, rigidity of the neck and nape, and arched-back rigidity appear.

Chronic fright wind: A disease in infants characterized by intermittent mild convulsions associated with pale-yellow facial complexion or a mixed blue-green and white facial complexion. In most cases, heat effusion is absent. It is caused by liver exuberance and spleen vacuity.

Chronic spleen wind (慢脾风 màn pí fēng): A disease that occurs in young children when severe vomiting or diarrhea weakens right qì. It manifests in closed eyes, shaking head, dark green-blue face and lips, sweating brow, clouded spirit, hypersomnia often with exposure of the eyeballs, reversal cold of the limbs, and wriggling of the extremities.

Child visiting hostility (小儿客忤 xiǎo ér kè wǔ): A condition marked by crying, fright, and bluing of the face in infants and young children being exposed to unfamiliar surroundings or circumstances. The condition often involves contention between wind and phlegm and affects the stomach’s function of intake and the spleen’s function of movement and transformation, which may give rise to vomiting, abdominal pain, and epilepsy-like foaming at the mouth and convulsions.

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