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Jarmey, C. & Bouratinos, I., 2008: 'A Practical Guide to Acu-points'.
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https://theory.yinyanghouse.com/theory/chinese/tcm_diagnosis_meanings#qideficiency
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Qi Deficiency is a diagnostic pattern in Traditional Chinese Medicine, thought to be primarily caused by an excess of stress hormones1.

Most scientific studies concur qi deficiency is induced by abnormal levels of biomarkers within tissue fluid, such as abnormal levels of metabolites and lactic acid, which in turn can cause forms of pathophysiology. A healthy qi is attributed to having healthy tissue fluid, therefore to treat qi deficiency one should look towards maintaining healthy levels of nutrients which are compliant to a healthy balance of biomarkers in tissue fluid2.

Angina is a common disorder where heart muscles suffer reduced blood flow, causing acute chest pains. Qi deficiency syndrome has been linked to many angina cases due to their respective symptoms being similar to each other. For example Qi deficiency sufferers can often be diagnosed from examination of their tongue and pulse, and angina sufferers often have shortness of breath, a weak pulse and a markedly thinner tongue. But despite these similarities it must be noted that these physical symptoms do not always correspond to similar cellular and molecular symptoms3.

Because of this, it has been suggested that qi deficiency syndrome should move towards more quantitative methods in the future to improve diagnosis accuracy. However this poses some problems for Qi deficiency syndrome as it has traditionally been described as a holistic concept, leading to some suggesting that there may be no definitive way to measure it4. In Western medicine, the emergence of advanced technologies has allowed scientists to study biological molecules in more detail and gain a better understanding of the relationships that exist between cells and their pathophysiologies. For traditional Chinese medicine, this has allowed researchers to reach more conclusive definitions for what qi deficiency is, as previous definitions have consisted of many variations due to the complexity of symptoms and ambiguous diagnostic methods5.

So far there are number of parameters which have been identified as potential predictors for the syndrome, which include but are not limited to; cholesterol, low density lipoprotein concentration, platelet distribution width, mean corpuscular haemoglobin,and carbon dioxide concentration. These can all be collected from a blood sample6.

Platelet distribution width in Western medicine is used to determine the status of thrombocytosis through differential diagnosis. In relation to qi deficiency, thrombocytosis could be an underlying cause because it affects the functionality of blood. Abnormal mean corpuscular haemoglobin levels can often cause shortness of breath and lethargy, and has an association with cardiovascular disease. Abnormal carbon dioxide concentrations in the blood affect the oxygen diffusion reactions occurring in the lungs, causing breathlessness and a rapid breath rate.These symptoms are also synonymous with qi deficiency syndrome. High cholesterol levels have long been attributed to being a high risk factor for developing coronary heart disease. Cholesterol is hydrophobic so it can only travel in the blood when bound to low density lipoproteins which are hydrophilic. Levels of both these parameters have been similar in sufferers of qi deficiency and cardiovascular disease7.

Accuracy rates for qi deficiency syndrome using the above parameters currently stands at 84.5%, which is promising, however it is not accurate enough to be considered for clinical use. Therefore more research is needed in this area before this can become a reality8.

Thrombocytopenia is a condition where there is a decreased quantity or reduced function of blood platelets, often leading to bleeding. In traditional Chinese medicine, sufferers of thrombocytopenia are described as being qi deficient or suffering from a failure of qi to control blood. Traditional treatment aims to remove heat from the blood, promote blood circulation and remove toxins from the blood. Patients with thrombocytopenia who have been treated with qi-supplementing and yin-nourishing therapy have reported improvements of their condition afterwards. Biomedically, this equates to an increased platelet count and reduced bleeding risk9.

Footnotes

  1. https://draxe.com/qi-deficiency/
  2. Yao W, Yang H, Ding G. Mechanisms of Qi-blood circulation and Qi deficiency syndrome in view of blood and interstitial fluid circulation. Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine. 2013;33(4):538-544.
  3. Zhao H, Chen J, Hou N, Zhang P, Wang Y, Han J et al. Discovery of Diagnosis Pattern of Coronary Heart Disease with Qi Deficiency Syndrome by theT-Test-Based Adaboost Algorithm. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2011;2011:1-7.
  4. Zhao H, Chen J, Hou N, Zhang P, Wang Y, Han J et al. Discovery of Diagnosis Pattern of Coronary Heart Disease with Qi Deficiency Syndrome by theT-Test-Based Adaboost Algorithm. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2011;2011:1-7.
  5. Shi Q, Zhao H, Chen J, Li Y, Li Z, Wang J et al. Study on Qi Deficiency Syndrome Identification Modes of Coronary Heart Disease Based on Metabolomic Biomarkers. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2014;2014:1-15.
  6. Zhao H, Chen J, Hou N, Zhang P, Wang Y, Han J et al. Discovery of Diagnosis Pattern of Coronary Heart Disease with Qi Deficiency Syndrome by theT-Test-Based Adaboost Algorithm. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2011;2011:1-7.
  7. Zhao H, Chen J, Hou N, Zhang P, Wang Y, Han J et al. Discovery of Diagnosis Pattern of Coronary Heart Disease with Qi Deficiency Syndrome by theT-Test-Based Adaboost Algorithm. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2011;2011:1-7.
  8. Zhao H, Chen J, Hou N, Zhang P, Wang Y, Han J et al. Discovery of Diagnosis Pattern of Coronary Heart Disease with Qi Deficiency Syndrome by theT-Test-Based Adaboost Algorithm. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2011;2011:1-7.
  9. Zhou Y, Wei K, He L, Sun X, Shao K, Fang B et al. Multi-central Clinical Research into Treating 80 Cases of Chronic Thrombocytopenia with Qi-supplementing and Yin-nourishing Therapy and Western Medicine. Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine. 2011;31(4):277-281.