Symptoms 13, infants and children

Below is a brief description of the major infants’and children’s symptoms, with links to entries that provide more detail.

The kidney governs essence; it governs the bones and engenders marrow. The development of the body and the brain in infancy is closely related to the kidney.

Retarded closure of the fontanel gates (囟门迟闭 xìn mén chí bì): Delayed closure of the spaces between the bones of the head in infants. It is attributed to insufficiency of kidney essence. Considered as a disease, it is referred to as ununited skull.

Retarded development (发育迟缓 fā yù chí huǎn): Delay in growth and development of functions in infants. It results from insufficiency of kidney essence. See five slownesses.