Take the Initiative — Prevent the Atypical Pneumonia
Li Zhizhong, School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University
Recently, in Hong Kong, the incidence of atypical pneumonia continues to rise, and outbreaks have appeared in other countries and regions. The WHO has taken sharp interest. On how to take the initiative and prevent the spread of atypical pneumonia, here are some Chinese-medicine views.
1. In the face of the virus, the person comes first
On March 14, several Hong Kong newspapers reported my Chinese-medicine views on the present influenza and atypical pneumonia. "In Guangzhou's atypical-pneumonia outbreak, those who were unaffected accounted for more than 99.9%. The fact already proves that the inner capacity of the body to prevent and resist disease is decisive." This embodies Chinese medicine's principle: where evil gathers, the qi must be empty; when the right qi is held within, evil cannot encroach. On the other side: modern medicine has not yet identified the source of this disease. Even if the virus is identified, that does not equal finding a specific preventive method — nor is there a specific drug for its treatment. So Chinese and Western medicine should work together, fully drawing on Chinese medicine's strengths in preventing and treating disease from outside qi. From the Chinese-medical view: the virus is fearsome; but the virus is also afraid of the person. So long as each individual, under Heaven-and-human in correspondence, maintains the balanced state of yin at peace, yang tightly held, disease can be prevented before it arises. To take the initiative in prevention is for each person to mind yin at peace, yang tightly held — to keep oneself in the 99.9% of those who are well.
2. Self-regulate; with the right qi, ward off the evil
To keep the body in the balanced state of yin at peace, yang tightly held is what Chinese medicine calls "the right qi flourishing." For the present atypical pneumonia, attend to self-regulation in the following areas.
1. Moderate diet — eat less of the rich-and-greasy, lest damp and heat accumulate within.
2. Care in living-and-rising — labor and rest in measure; do not overspend the right qi or overstretch the yang. Some appropriate exercise too.
3. Adapt to cold and warm — adjust clothing with the weather; keep the dwelling well-ventilated; cold and warm in measure.
4. Drink plenty — drink ample plain warm water, so the accumulated damp and heat are voided in good time. This is a key measure.
5. Regulate the two passages — for a relatively well person, keeping the stool and urine flowing every day signals roughly that the body's metabolism is sound.
3. No warming tonics; favor the cool-clear
Warming tonics like ginseng, lurong (deer-velvet antler), huangqi, danggui have good supplementing effect — but the body's deficiencies divide into yin-deficient, yang-deficient, qi-deficient, blood-deficient. By Guangzhou TCM reports on atypical pneumonia, inner heat is mostly heavy — so warming tonics are unsuitable. A few dietary methods, for reference:
1. Mung-bean and white-radish porridge — mung bean and white radish clear-and-nourish lung and stomach; the radish also opens the lung-stomach qi. Rice may be added; cook together.
2. Pear-and-rock-sugar drink — pear, rock sugar, water chestnut, reed-root, baimaogen in appropriate amounts, boiled; drink 2–3 times a day.
3. Chaihu-gegen-xingren-zhuye soup — Bupleurum 3 qian, kudzu root 8 qian, apricot kernel 3 qian, bamboo leaf 2 qian. Decoct to two bowls; for those with slight cold-discomfort only, drink one bowl morning and evening. For clear fever and aversion to cold, see a physician at once.