Migraine Headache and traditional Chinese medicine

Back in the year 2001 I started a site:

Migraine/Headache at http://www.lews.info/headache/".

This site aims to give a perspective of how traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) sees the problems of headache/migraine. You'll see what 'syndromes' mean to the diagnosis of proper causes, how 'symptoms' help in reaching the right conclusion, what 'channels' are responsible for a specific parts of headache, how migraine is classified in terms of TCM diagnostic methods, some of the case studies that illustrate real cases of headache/migraine, what specific herbs are for various types of headache/migraine. Further readings are provided if you're interested in some of the deep theories of TCM.

Below are the categories I started with:

Headache (general):
Headache: Causes and Mechanisms
Discussion on Endopathic/Internal Headache
Differentiative Diagnosis
Channels of Headache
Locations/Characteristics of Headache
Conclusion

Headache (Syndromes):
Hyperactivity of the Liver-yang
Deficiency of the Kidney-yin
Insufficiency of Kidney-yang
Deficiency of both Blood and Qi
Retention of Phlegm and Dampness
Blood Stasis

Headache (Symptoms):
High Blood Pressure (Hypertension) (Liver-Jue) Headache
Low Blood Pressure (Hypo-tension) Headache
Headache due to Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) or Premenstrual Tension (PMT)
Headache due to Menopause (Climacteric Syndrome)

Migraine:
Migraine (Neuro-headache)
Modern understanding of the causes of migraine
Modern interpretation of the manifestations

Treatments According to Syndromes
S1: Wind-Heat type
S2: Wind-Phlegm type
S3: Qi Stagnation due to Liver-Fire type
S4: Jueyin Inner Cold type
S5: Blood deficiency
S6: Insufficiency of Qi

Migraine differentiation in accordance with symptoms
Type 1: Mono Type (Accumulation of Cold in the Liver Channel and Qi Stagnancy)
Type 2: Blinking Dim Spots Type (Three syndromes in TCM)
Type 3: Complex Light Spots Type (Accumulation of Cold in the Liver Channel and Qi Stagnancy)
Type 4: Cluster Type (Stagnancy of the Liver-Qi and Exterior Wind)

Case Study:
Headache due to Blood Stasis
Headache due to High Blood Pressure (Hyperactivity of the Liver-Yang)
Headache due to Loss of Blood
Headache due to Low Blood Pressure Type (Deficiency of both Qi and Blood)

Migraine: Mono Type (Accumulation of Cold in the Liver channel and Qi Stagnancy)
Migraine: Bush Type (Stagnancy of the Liver-Qi)
Migraine: Complex Light Spots Type (Stagnancy of the Liver-Qi)
Migraine (Wind-Cold Type due to Insufficiency of Kidney-Yang)

Specific Herbs:
藁本，GaoBen, Gao Ben, Ligusticum Sinense (Ligusticum Sinense Oliv.)
川芎，ChuanXiong, Chuan Xiong, Chuanxiong Rhizome (Rhizoma Ligustici Chuanxiong)
白芷，BaiZhi, Bai Zhi, Dahurian Angelica Root (Radix Angelicae Dahuricae)
吴茱萸，WuZhuYu, Wu Zhu Yu, Evodia Fruit (Fructus Evodiae)
柴胡，ChaiHu, Chai Hu, Bupleurum Root (Radix Bupleuri)
细辛，Xixin, Xi Xin, Wild Genger (Herba Asari)
苍术，CangZhu, Cang Zhu, Atractylodes Rhizome (Rhizoma Atractylodis)
羌活，QiangHuo, Qiang Huo, Notopterygium Root (Rhizoma seu Radix Notopterygii)
防风，FangFeng, Fang Feng, Ledebouriella Root (Radix Ledebouriellae)

Resources:
"Zhang's Medical Comprehension", by Zhang Jing-Yue
"The Heart Law of Dan Xi", by Zhu Dan-Xi
"Medicine Narration", by Wang Ren-Yen
Manifestations of Headache, various contributors
The Causes of Migraine, various contributors
Links to other Migraine Headache sites

For more details please visit "http://www.lews.info/headache/"

Yin, Yang, Qi and their roots

The other day I was sorting my emails out and noticed this inquiry from a reader of the blog and my reply to the individual. I think it can be an interesting reading.

Message: I read with interest your website info and would like to know:

Question: The principles of yin, yang, qi - do they have their roots in Chinese (Taoist or Buddhist) beliefs?

I will be grateful if you can answer my query. Thank you.

For that I wrote the following as a brief introduction of how yin, yang and qi came around:

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Thank you so much for your interest in TCM. I've always enjoyed sharing TCM knowledge. To answer your question:

The terms 阴(yin, facing the moon), 阳(yang, facing the sun) and 气(qi, air energy movement above grains) have many implied meanings. Different fields take those terms for different definitions. At first, yang and yin meant only if a place faces the sun or not, respectively. The place that faces the sun is yang and the one not is yin. It was the fundamental understanding of nature. It's within the theory of duality of ancient Chinese philosophy. Subsequently, people have come to realize, through living, practice and observation of daily natural phenomenon, that the concept of yin and yang exists in all things. A simple example that applies to TCM can be: A fresh flush face is yang whereas a pale exhaustive face is yin.

The theory of yin and yang in TCM includes how these two components oppose each other, how they depend on each other to reach a balance, how they wax and wane and how one transforms to the other. TCM physicians use theory as such to understand the nature of diseases.

An ancient philosophical book, 周易 (Zhou Yi; Zhou: Dynasty Zhou, BC 1066 - BC 256; Yi: A word forming from the upper日(Ri, the sun, yang energy) and the lower 月(Yue, the moon, yin fluid), meaning ‘change’), considers the transformation of yin (night time, for example) and yang (day time, for example) into each other as the 'basic law in the universe'. This book dates back to the time mentioned as in Dynasty Zhou in the north-eastern part of China (Now nearby Shandong province). Buddha came to enlightenment in northern India at a time later than that. Therefore, yin and yang cannot come from Buddhism.

"Zhou Yi" is a book on the law of the universe, which is also called "Dao" (Direct Mandarin PinYin pronunciation) or "Tao" (Cantonese pronunciation, more known to the western and English world). Indeed, the idea of yin and yang can be found in the book. As a matter of fact, many TCM scholars these days consider Zhou Yi as the ultimate root of where TCM developed from, before which the book 皇帝内经 (Huang Di Nei Jing; Yellow-Emperor-Inside-Sutra; The Yellow Emperor's Canon of Internal Medicine, the most ancient TCM publication ever preserved) appeared back in 2,400 years ago...

So I'd agree to the saying the concept of yin and yang originally came from Taoism (Dao, what Zhou Yi is based on). But then again there are nowadays so many denominations of Taoism, some of which may have lost the original constituents of Dao.

As for the concept of qi in TCM, the first book that described this term is "The Yellow Emperor's Canon of Internal Medicine". The term qi, widely translated as energy, is also the unseen energy flows inside human body meridians, where acupuncture is based on.

Therefore the concept of qi neither originated from Buddhism nor Taoism.

Also mind I if correct your question, Buddhism isn't a Chinese belief, it's an understanding and practise that explains, as many believe, the finest and complete understanding of the universe. It was the teaching of Buddha, once prince Siddharta Gautama of a small country in northern India. Taoism, derived from the book Zhou Yi, author unknown. Confucius, in his later years, came across this book and pondered upon it and wrote ten chapters to explain this mysterious book of universe and proclaimed “If only I had known this book 10 years earlier, I would then have more time to understand the universe.” or something similar to that.

I hope this helps in understanding a little about the origin of yin, yang and qi. Different people, depending of their reading levels, may have different understandings. Please feel free to let me know if my views contradict with someone else's or if I have made a mistake.

Thank you so much for your interest in TCM. I deeply believe constituents of TCM such as: Qigong (The practise of Qi and energy with exercise or meditation), proper living lifestyle in tune with nature, proper diet in line with humanity, emotional peace and herbal remedy can help to achieve a peaceful world.

Thank you,

John Lew

Photoes:
1) The relationship of Yin Yang fish and eight 卦 (Gua, trigrams, as it's called in the western worlds). The eight Gua consists of different combinations of yin and yang as it changes from one to another.
2) 周易, Zhou Yi, more known as "I Ching" in the west.
3) The characters of 日(Ri, sun) and 月(Yue, moon), and how they were formed from symbolic looks of the actual bodies.
4) 皇帝内经, Huang Di Nei Jing, "The Yellow Emperor's Canon of Internal Medicine". This book is the bible of TCM. There are a few different translations in English name.
5) The character 气(Simplified version) and 氣(Original and complicated version). Three waves of air energy on top of and generated by 米(Mi, grain-based rice). It basically means the energy of the body is derived from diet of grain-based rices or cereals.
6) First sermon of Gautama Buddha at the Deer Park.