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Chinese patterns
Heart Misted by Cold Phlegm
Diagnoses

definition and etiology

» conventional diagnoses: mental illness; hysteria; manic and depressive psychoses; apoplexy; stroke sequelae; epilepsy; speech or mental retardation in children; aphasia

» note: also known as Phlegm Obstructing the Heart Orifices

» etiology: constitutional in children; adults: usually combination of excessive consumption of greasy, cold and/or raw foods and severe emotional problems such as chronic anxiety (Maciocia, p. 211)

signs and symptoms

signs and symptoms:

mental confusion

• muttering to oneself

• introverted manner

• staring at walls

• lethargic stupor

• impairment or sudden loss of consciousness

• coma

• aphasia

• drooling

gurgling sound of phlegm in the throat

• vomiting

» pulse: slippery, often slow

» tongue: thick white, greasy coating; midline crack reaching tip with prickles in it. Tongue body swollen. (Maciocia, p. 211)

course and prognosis

» principle of treatment: open Heart and channels to allow suppressed emotions to flow; resolve Phlegm to clear Heart and Sense Orifices (Ross, 1985, p. 133-4); tonify Heart Qi; tonify Spleen Qi; restore consciousness, if unconscious

differential diagnosis

footnotes