» 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