Air pollution increases the risk of diabetes

Dr KK Aggarwal

National President IMA
Air pollution has been dominating headlines in the past few days and has been at an all-time high in Delhi. The air quality in Delhi continues to remain in the severe category, with no respite.
 
There is increasing evidence for the role of environment in pathogenesis in many diseases with air pollution emerging as the largest environmental health risk globally. Exposure to the toxic air can affect the lungs, blood, vascular system, brain and the heart leading to significant adverse health effects and associated high overall morbidity and mortality.
 
Environmental pollution, with traffic associated pollutants, gaseous, nitrogen dioxide, especially high particulate matter PM 2.5 exposure, has been linked with risk of incident diabetes. Several studies have shown a positive association between long-term exposure to air pollution and increased risk of type 2 diabetes. Individuals who have prediabetes are especially vulnerable to the effects of air pollution.
 
According to the WHO, the air content of PM2.5 should be less than 10 μg/m3 but in India the levels are always more than 60 μg/m3 as 60 μg/m3 concentration has been accepted as normal in India. That means that an Indian is already six times more exposed to PM2.5. However, recently, extremely high levels of PM2.5, crossing 400, have been recorded. The risk of future diabetes associated with exposure to 10 μg/cu mm increase of PM2.5 ranges between 10 and 27% (Endocrine. 2016 Jan;51(1):32-7).
 
Any particulate matter of less than 2.5 µm in size can get absorbed from respiratory system, enter into the blood. The exact mechanisms as to how air pollution causes diabetes Air pollutants are hypothesized to exert their effects via impaired endothelial function, elevated systemic inflammation, mitochondrial dysfunction, and oxidative stress, all of which are hallmarks of type 2 diabetes (Trends Endocrinol Metab. 2015 Jul;26(7):384-94). Increased oxidative stress leads to insulin resistance, β-cell dysfunction, impaired glucose tolerance, and, ultimately, type 2 diabetes.
 
India has the second highest number of people living with diabetes 69.2 million with a prevalence of 8.7%. China has the highest number of people living with diabetes with 109 million cases of diabetes in the year 2015 and a prevalence of 10.6%.
 
This scenario calls for high priority action to minimize the air pollution to contain the rising incidence of type 2 diabetes in the country.
 
The responsibility towards this end lies with each one of us as it does with the government.

Survey on Diabetic Patients in the Country

Source: Survey on Diabetic Patients in the Country

Dr. Hahnemann: Significant Dates of his life.

1755,  10 April – Birth

1775 went to Leipzig University

1777 Spring – to Vienna

1777 October – to Hermannstadt

1779 Spring – leaves Hermanstadt for Erlangen University

1779 August – MD Erlangen

1782 Dec – Marries Johanna Kuchler

1783 Henrietta born

1786 Frederick born

1788 Wilhelmina born

1789-1804 Unhappy wandering in Saxony

1790 his mother dies; First proving with Cinchona

1791 Caroline born

1795 Frederika born

1798 Ernst born

1803 Eleonore born

1804 settles in Torgau for 7 years

1805 Charlotte born

1806 Louisa born

1811 Spring – moves to Leipzig

1820 loses legal battle in Leipzig to dispense his own drugs

1821 June – moves to Coethen

1830 30th March – Johanna dies in Coethen

1834 8th October – Melanie arrives in Coethn

1835 18th January – 2nd marriage

1835 7th June – leaves Coethen for Paris

1835 21st June – arrives in Paris

1842 Feb – composes the final 6th Organon

1843 2nd July – Death
 “Dr. Hahnemann had a brilliant mind and developed a method in which there is no limit to the human life to save. Late Dr.Hahnemann was a man of superior intellectual nerve and a mean of vast saving for human life. I bow myself in awe of his ability and the great humanitarian work, which he created.”: Mahatma Gandhi 
Happy World Homoeopathy day!

Talking about- HOW TO TACKLE DEPRESSION

HINDUSTAN TIMES:

World Health Day: Dismiss depression at your own peril

 Updated: Apr 07, 2017 15:15 IST

By Aayushi Pratap, Hindustan Times
“It started nearly a year ago. I would shut myself in the room and cry for hours together. I felt this strange urge to bang my head against the wall. Inflicting physical pain on myself was a way to get relief from the emotional pain.” This is how 26-year old Aarushi (name changed), a resident of Khar, who moved to Mumbai in 2014 for work, describes her recurrent episodes of depression.
“When I would start to feel better, there was revulsion, guilt and self-blame. In my struggle to find solace I have tried cutting my wrist at least thrice,” she adds.
Her parents, who live miles away in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, says she would cry frequently while speaking to them on the phone, but to them she only sounded homesick.
“She cried every day, but we blamed it on the long work hours and the fast life of Mumbai,” says her father, Paresh Shah (45), who admits he misunderstood his daughter’s emotional agony.
After nearly a year of this “abnormal living”, as Shah terms it, she sought help from a local physician, who directed her to a psychiatrist.
Shah is fortunate to have found a willing ear and medical treatment but many others, like 23-year old student Arjun Bharadwaj, who committed suicide earlier this week, aren’t as lucky. Arjun jumped off the 19th floor of a five-star hotel in Bandra while apparently intoxicated, after live-streaming a video of himself, which he termed a “suicide tutorial”, on Facebook.

He left several notes for friends and family, including one addressed to his mother that read: “Mom, this has happened because you never took my health problems seriously.”
Depression and anxiety-related disorders are most common of all mental health disorders, and affect women more than men, said doctors.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), more than five crore Indians – 4.5% of the population – suffers from depression while more than three crore – 3% of the population – suffers from anxiety disorders.

Mental health disorders are classified into two types. The first type includes major psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorders, which are largely genetic. The second category includes more common disorders such as depression and anxiety-related ones, says Dr Nimesh Desai, director of the Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences (IHBAS) in New Delhi.
“Unlike major psychiatric disorders, common mental disorders involve across both genetic and environmental factors. Depression caused by genetic factors does not vary much across cultures and socio-economic classes.
However, depression can also be triggered by socio-cultural and economic factors, such as the loss of a loved one, and stress at work and in relationships,” he said.
Stress of urban living

International studies have shown that depression is one-and-a-half times more prevalent in urban areas than rural areas, said Dr Desai. “The day-to-day stress of life, time pressure, work pressure, inter-personal relationships and pent-up frustrations all increase a person’s odds of having an episode of depression,” he said. Dr Dr Nilesh Shah, head of the psychiatry department at Lokmaniya Tilak Municipal General Hospital, Sion, said, “While some external causes are associated with depression, we still don’t understand the exact cause of it.”
Few psychiatrists

Mumbai, with a population of 20 million people, has just 300 psychiatrists, according to data from the Bombay Psychiatry Association. This translates to one psychiatrist for roughly every 6.5 lakh people.
“It is clear that we do not have enough psychiatrists, cognitive therapists and counsellors, according to international standards,” said Dr Vihang Vahia, a psychia

TALKING ABOUT DEPRESSION

New Delhi: World Health Day 2017 will be celebrated on April 7. Each year, the World Health Organisation (WHO) selects a theme highlighting a particular priority area of public health. The theme for this year’s global health awareness day is ‘Depression: Let’s Talk’. According to WHO, India has the highest suicide rate among 10 South-East Asian countries and depression is one of the leading causes for this. Globally, it is the biggest cause of ill health and disability, says WHO. In South-East Asia region, a massive 86 million people are affected by depression. 
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On World Health Day 2017, here are some facts about India you need to know.
 

World Health Day 2017

In the age group of 15-29 years, the suicide rate per 1 lakh people is as high as 35.5.

 

 
World Health Day 2017 will be celebrated on April 7.

1 out of 4 children, in the age group of 13-15 years, suffer from depression

 

 
World Health Day 2017 theme is ‘Depression: Let’s Talk’

 

About one-fifth students in India have reported low levels of parental engagement 

 

 
World Health Day: According to WHO, depression is the biggest cause of ill health and disability globally

 

Though depression affects all people across all demographic groups, it is more common among teens, adolescents, youth, women after childbirth (postpartum depression) and those above 60.

 
World Health Day 2017: 86 million people suffer from depression In South-East Asia region.
In the last decade, cases of depression have surged by nearly 20 percent. According to WHO, depression is “persistent sadness and a loss of interest in activities that people normally enjoy, accompanied by an inability to carry out daily activities for two weeks or more.”
On World Health Day 2017, here are some suggestions from WHO to overcome depression:

Government needs to increase investment for people with mental health disorder. 

Introduce improved support system and scale up programmes with mental health disorders 

Better funding for research to facilitate better services 

Trained human resources for better mental healthcare.
(With inputs from WHO report)

Source: NDTV, written by: Ipsita sarkar, 7April,2017

http://m.ndtv.com/india-news/world-health-day-2017-theme-depression-lets-talk-1678339

AURUM – as a remedy

AURUM, the metal gold, which was pronounced as an inactive metal till now by the modern physicians, they have even excised it out of all their materia medicas, and deprived us of its mighty curative powers.
“It is incapable of Solution in our gastric juice, hence it must be quiet powerless and useless.”
This was their theoretical conclusion, in the medical art, as it is well known, such theoretical dicta have always availed more than convincing proof. Because they do not question on experience, the only possible guide in the medical art which is found on experience alone ; because it was easy to make mere assertions, therefore they usually preferred bold dicta, theoretical empty assumptions and arbitrary maxims to the solid truth.

Dr. Hahnemann in introduction to AURUM in his book MATERIA MEDICA PURA, quoted at least 17 eminent physicians of that time who deemed gold to be powerless and useless.

J.F.GMELIN (Appar. Med. Min., I,  P. 444) says: ” As gold is not destructible, nor resolvable into vapour, and hence incapable of union with juices of the human body,Therefore it cannot possess curative virtues.”
But they were proved wrong when the homoeopathic employment of gold as a remedy for numerous diseases, was proved by Dr. Hahnemann.

Dr. Burnett says: “For years I have tried to fix the date at which gold was first used as an anti syphilitic, but I must confess that I have been unable to do so. It is pretty sure that Hahnemann thus used it, as it is so evidently homoeopathic to some cases of this disease,  but it did not originate with this great man. ”

We are delightful to have gold as a remedy with great medical virtues,but have we ever explored how Dr. Hahnemann came to think of making a medicine out an quite inactive, not resolvable, non destructible (by gastric juice) metal?
The answer to this lies in his book “materia medica pura” chapter AURUM, where he tell us the physicians of his time so unanimously proclaimed the inertness of metallic gold, that he was led to use murate.Subsequently, he found that Arabian physicians has been in the habit of using the metal itself in fine powder and had praised its remedial virtues in those vert affection for which he had found the muriate beneficial. From the symptoms produced, he found that the drug was perfectly homoeopathic to the maladies for Which the Arabians had given it, and guided by the same principle of similarity, he found it in the 1st and 2nd triturations- curative in several other important affections and further he accepts and says that the assertions Of Arabians are not without foundation.

In PURA he praises 4 Arabian physicians :
1. JABIR IBN HAYYAN (GEBER) – 8th century
2. SARAFYUN/IBN E SARABI (SERAPION, THE YOUNGER) – 1550
3. IBN E SINA (AVICENNA) – on commencement of 11th century
4. ABULKASIM/ Abu al-Qasim Khalaf ibn al-Abbas Al-Zahrawi (ALBUCASIS) – 12th century.

HISTORY:
Western language scholars have generally defined Islamic Medicine as composed of two distinct and dichotomous traditions: Pre-islamic Galenic medicine and Prophetic medicine.
All of these scholars got influenced form The Prophet s.a.w.w in some way.
JABIR IBN E HAYYAN is one of the first name recognized in Islamic alchemy,  he was a pupil of IMAM JAFAR AL SADIQ A.S., the 6th Imam(who had his lineage linked to Prophet Mohammad s.a.w.w) , who is reported to have numerous treatises on alchemy and medicine (etc).

SARAFYUN he wrote an book The book of simple medicaments,  originally in Arabic.”simple” means non-compound: a practical medicine most often consisted of a mix of two or more “simples”. The work was written for physicians and apothecaries. In the book’s early part, Serapion the Younger classifies substances according to their medicinal properties, and discourses on their actions.The remainder and largest part of the book is a compendium of information on individual medicaments quoted from Dioscorides, Galen, and numerous named medieval Arabic writers on medicaments, with relatively brief supporting remarks by himself.Nothing about Serapion the Younger’s biography is on record anywhere.

ABULKASIM wrote a book Libro servitoris de prep. Med. is generally recognized as being the leading Muslim surgeon of the Middle Ages, and the Father of Modern Surgery.  Although advances in surgery are what Albucasis is most known for, and the invention of many different surgical instruments is attributed to him, his skill and expertise in the art of medicine didn’t stop there.  Albucasis was the first physician to describe an ectopic pregnancy, which was a fatal condition in his day, and he correctly identified the hereditary nature of hemophilia. Albucasis’ crowning achievement, his magnum opus, was a 30 volume encyclopedia of medicine and surgery called Kitab al-Tasrif, or The Method of Medicine, which he completed in the year 1000 CE.  It was translated into Latin in the twelfth century by Gerard of Cremona.  In the first two treatises of the Al-Tasrif, which were known in Latin as the Liber Theoricae, or Theoretical Treatise,Albucasis classified and described some 325 different diseases and discussed their symptomatology and treatment.  Book 28 of this 30 volume medical encyclopedia discussed the science of pharmacy, and was known in Latin as Liber Servitoris.

IBN E SINA who was influenced by AL BIRUNI, AL KINDI, AL FARABI, ABU SAHL ISA IBN E YAHYA AL MASIHI,  got all his lineage of knowledge from Prophetic Medicnes.
Al biruni- was influenced by HAZRAT MOHAMMAD S.A.W.W.,
Al Kindi – was a student of jabir Ibn e hayyan (who was students of IMAM JAFAR AL SADIQ A.S., the 6th imam, who is in lineage with Prophet Mohammad s.a.w.w.)
Al farabi – he was a student of Al kindi.
Al masihi was taught by Abu Mansur Hasan ibn Nuh qumri who was a Persian , living in khorasan.A little is known about his life and career. IMAM REZA A.S.,The 8th imam, was in khorasan that time.
Abu Mansur might have been one of the observers of Imam’s routine and procession and could have been a great student under Imam’s supervision!However, i’m unable to browse the archives!
In Prophetic medicine,  there are many traditions which prohibits eating and use of utensils made from GOLD,  probably because he knew the poisonous effects of gold caused by prolong eating in utensils made of gold(as today we see cases of diseases caused by prolong eating and using utensils made from aluminum)1,2   ; as observed by Goodman el at.2004, Tsoli et al.2005, Pan et al.2007.

Homoeopathy  is a system of medicine, which is based on law of similars. So, in homoeopathy, the thing which causes a disease, can cure the same disease, under certain circumstances ( Eg. when given in minute doses, triturated, successed properly etc.)

The Imams of the Ahl al-Bayt (People of the house of Prophet s.a.w.w.) , peace be upon them, were as concerned with treating the body as they were treating the soul.They were the physicians of the soul and the body, and people consulted them for their physical and spiritual illness.
Zarr b. Hubaysh said that Amir al-Mu’minin related four statements on medicine, which, had they been uttered by Galen and Hippocrates, a hundred piece of paper would have been decorated with their words.
Campbell said- The European medical system is Arabian not only in origin but also in its structure.The Arabs are the intellectual fore bearers of Europeans.
Dr. Hahnemann mentioned nearly 30 Authors(1698-1730) who praised Gold as a valuable remedy in various diseases.  Eg- Melancholy,  Weak Heart, Foul breathe, Falling out of hairs, Weak eyes, palpitations of heart, Difficult breathing etc.
DICCORIDES AND AVICENNA(IBN E SINA) employed gold as a medicine in metallic state.
(Dr.Hahnemann mentioned Avicenna and his use of gold as a medicine in his preface to aurum in materia medica pura)
PARACELSUS used it with sublimate as a universal panacea and called this calcinatio et solutio “solis”.

PATHOGENESIS OF GOLD:

DR.HUGHES AND DR. BURNETT BOTH SAYS:
The pathogenesis of gold, our what gold does when taken in living body of healthy , was first given by Dr.Hahnemann, in proving of aurum in 4th volume of his Reine Arzeneimettellehre (1825) and again given with additions in his “Chronische Krankneiten (1835)”.

Dr. Taylor, F.R.S. of Guy’s Con Poisons in relation to medical jurisprudence and medicine, 3rd edition, London, 1875 , P-493), SAYS: “nothing is known of the effects of gold in human subject”

Would this eminent man and learned author be very much surprised to learn that, just Fifty Years before the date of his book, one DR. SAMUEL HAHNEMANN and 10 other man carefully tried the effect of large doses of gold upon their own bodies.
I Would say Dr. Taylor has nothing known if the writings of Dr. Hahnemann.
And Dr.Hahnemann says in preface to aurum, materia medica pura: “They were all wrong , and so are all the modern physicians.Gold had great, peculiar medicinal powers.”

Therefore, for the medical students I always recommend to read history of medicine; those who do not read history are tend to suffer from repetition of mistakes.

I would like to end with Dr Hahnemann words:

Dr.Hahnemann says- “Das Gold hay grosse,unersetzliche arzneikraefte”
( Gold has great remedial virtues, the place which no other drug can supply).

Reference :
1.Helen Suh Maclntosh, Professor at Harvard University; Is Aluminum cookware bad for you? – http://www.treehugger.com/culture/ask-treehugger-is-aluminum-cookware-bad-for-you.html
2.Health risk of cooking in Aluminum, http://www.livestrong.com/article/475155-health-risk-of-cooking-in-aluminum/
3.Alaaldin M. Alkilany,Cathrine J Murphy, Toxicity and cellular uptake of Gold nanoparticles: what we have learned so far
4.Avicenna,  Canon Of Medicine, Book -1, A Medical history Of Persian and The Eastern Caliphate.
5. http://www.greekmedicine.net/whos_who/Albucasis.html
6.Samuel Hahnemann, Materia medica Pura, vol.1
7.Richard Hughes, A manual of Pharmacodynamics, Aurum
8.James C. Burnett, Gold as a remedy in Disease
9.Andrew J. Newman , Islamic Medical Wisdom (The Tibb Al -A’imma)
10.Mohammad Raza Kashifi,Tareekh Farhank wa tamdan islami

Written by:
Dr. Abbas Kazim
Email: Abbasdelhi@live.com
Bakson homeopathic medical college and hospital

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READ FOR FREE: NOBEL LAUREATES’ 2016- RESEARCH

​Honoring the 2016 Nobel laureates with free access to selections of their research

The Nobel Prize in Physics 2016

David J. Thouless, F. Duncan M. Haldane and J. Michael Kosterlitz

“for theoretical discoveries of topological phase transitions and topological phases of matter”
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2016

Jean-Pierre Sauvage, Sir J. Fraser Stoddart and Bernard L. Feringa

“for the design and synthesis of molecular machines”
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2016

Yoshinori Ohsumi

“for his discoveries of mechanisms for autophagy”
The Nobel Prize in Literature 2016

Bob Dylan

“for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition”
The Nobel Peace Prize 2016

Juan Manuel Santos

“for his resolute efforts to bring the country’s more than 50-year-long civil war to an end”

The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2016

Oliver Hart and Bengt Holmström

“for their contributions to contract theory”

DOWNLOAD THEIR ARTICLES HERE:

https://www.elsevier.com/connect/honoring-the-2016-nobel-laureates-with-free-access-to-selections-of-their-research?sf39211169=1

FREE ACCESS (till 31 Oct 2016) to Research Articles from Elsevier’s oncology journals :

​

Elsevier’s nursing & oncology journals are offering free access to research for #BreastCancerAwareness Month! Explore risk factors, prevention strategies & treatment options:

https://www.elsevier.com/connect/story/health-and-medicine/free-access-to-research-for-breastcancerawareness-month-2016?sf38668045=1

TONGUE , what it reveals?

Excerpt From Adventures in Chinese Medicine: Your Tongue Is A Map Of Your Organs.

-Jennifer debowsky

In Chinese medicine, the tongue provides a map of the organs. As you can see on the diagram to the right, different parts of the tongue correlate to different organs.

Liver and Gallbladder are represented by the sides of the tongue so, if the tongue is red in that particular area, it represents heat in the Liver and Gallbladder.

Therefore, pathological changes in a certain portion of your tongue can indicate pathological changes in the corresponding organ. However, the TCM view of organs is not identical to the Western view and you might misunderstand the meaning of the changes unless you are trained in tongue diagnosis.

For example, in TCM, the tip of the tongue represents the heart in an emotional sense. Practically, this means that when your tongue has a very red tip (heart in the emotional sense) it’s quite likely to be your Shen (spirit/emotions) that is disturbed.

Your tongue is pretty amazing when you think about the vast amount of information it offers. I hope you now have a greater appreciation of how important your tongue is 
and how valuable a tool it can be in uncovering what imbalances exist, both physically and emotionally.

Source: http://tcm007.com/excerpt-from-adventures-in-chinese-medicine-your-tongue-is-a-map-of-your-organs/

Introduction:

The tongue has many relationships and connections in the body, both to the meridians and the internal organs. It is therefore very useful and important during inspection for confirming TCM diagnosis. It can present strong visual indicators of a person’s overall harmony or disharmony.

The tongue has a special relationship with the Heart, in that the Heart opens to the tongue. The tongue is said to be an “offshoot” of the Heart, or “flowers” into the Heart.

The normal tongue in Traditional Chinese Medicine has a light red or pinkish body with a thin white coating.

Connections

Channels/Meridians Reaching the Tongue

• Heart Channel (Hand Shaoyin)
  – The Luo connecting channel connects to the root of the tongue.
• Spleen Channel (Foot Taiyin)
  – An internal branch of the primary channel spreads over the lover surface of the tongue.
  – The tongue is penetrated by the Spleen Divergent channel
• Kidney Channel (Foot Shaoyin)
  – An internal branch of the primary channel terminates at the base of the tongue.
• Bladder Channel (Foot Taiyang)
  – A branch of the muscle/sinew channel binds to the root of the tongue.
• San Jiao Channel (Hand Shaoyang) 
  – A branch of the San Jiao muscle channel links with the root of the tongue.

Tongue areas as they correspond to internal organs in Chinese Medicine

Tongue Diagnosis Method and Cautions

• Lighting
  Sunlight will give the most accurate color of the tongue body and coat. If sunlight is not available, use a second light source such as a small flashlight to compare the tongue color to the original light source.
• Position
  The tongue should be extended in a relaxed manner, and should not be held out for an extended duration.
• Food and Drink
  Food and drink, such as coffee, green tea, and candy may alter the color of the tongue coating.
• Brushed Tongue
  Some patients may brush their tongue to help freshen their breath or as an Ayurvedic practice. Ask the patient not to brush their tongue, at least the day of their TCM tongue diagnosis.
• Seasons of the Year 
  In Summer, there may be more Dampness present in the tongue coating, leaving it slightly thicker and light yellow.
  In Fall or Autumn, the tongue may be thinner with a coating that is more dry.
  In Winter, there may also be more moist or damp presenting in the tongue.
  In Spring, the tongue should be normal.
• Time of Day
  The coating of the tongue usually becomes thinner as the day progresses, while the color of the tongue body becomes more red and shiny.
• Patient’s Age 
  In the elderly, Qi and Blood Deficiency is more common, so the tongue may present with dryness and cracks.
  Infants tend to have white thick coating that is easily removed, peeled tongues are also common.
  Overweight patients usually have more Damp and/or Phlegm and therefore their tongues may be larger and lighter in color.
  Thin patients tend towards redder tongues.

Tongue Body Color

Indicates the state of Blood, Yin organs, and Ying (Nutritive) Qi.

Normal Tongue Body

• Pink or light red in color

Bluish Purple or Reddish Purple Tongue Body

• Purple can indicate both Heat and Cold conditions.
• A reddish purple tongue indicates Heat and Blood Stagnation.
• A dark reddish purple tongue that is dry usually indicates depleted fluids due to Excess Heat
• A light purple, bluish purple, or greenish purple tongue body color can indicate Cold and Blood Stagnation.

Red Tongue Body

• A red tongue body is darker than the normal red, which is pinkish in color. It indicates either Deficient or Excess Heat.
• A red tongue body with a thick yellow coat or swollen buds indicates Excess Heat
• A red tongue body with a bright shiny coat, little coat, or no coating indicates Deficient Heat.

Red Tip

• Heat in the Heart Zang

Scarlet Tongue Body

• A scarlet tongue that is also peeled or shiny indicates Yin Deficiency, usually of the Heart and/or Lung depending on the area of swelling.

Dark Red Tongue Body

• The red is darker and more crimson in color. This tongue body can indicate internal injury such as trauma (De Da), invasion of external evil in the Ying (Nutritive) and Xue (blood) levels, or it can indicate Blood Stagnation.
• If there are red spots with a thin coat, this usually indicates damage to the Ying or Xue level.
• If the tongue body also has cracks and there is little or no tongue coat, this usually indicates Deficient Heat due to internal injury.

Pale Tongue Body

• Indicates the quality of Blood, reflecting Blood and/or Qi Deficiency or Cold.
• If the tongue body is also moist, tender, and swollen, this can indicate Yang Cold.
• A pale thin tongue body usually indicates Qi and Blood Deficiency.

Green Tongue Body

• A green tongue body usually indicates Excess Yin Cold or the presence of a strong Excess evil with weak Zheng Qi. The Yang is not properly moving Blood and Fluids and there is Stagnation in the body.
• Internal Wind may also present with a green tongue body.

Tongue Body Shape

The body shape reflects the state of Blood and Ying (Nutritive) Qi, and indicates Excess or Deficiency. Constitution can also affect the shape of the tongue body.

Stiff

• A stiff or rigid tongue is difficult to move (protrude, retract, side to side). This may cause speech abnormalities such as slurring or mumbled speech. A stiff tongue is an indication of Excess, and often one of Internal Wind.
• If a stiff tongue is accompanied by a bluish purple tongue body, this usually indicates potential or impending Wind-Stroke.
• If a stiff tongue is accompanied by a bright red tongue body, this usually indicates heat in the Heart and Pericardium disturbing the Shen (Spirit).
• If a stiff tongue is accompanied by a thick sticky tongue coating, this usually indicates “Phlegm Misting the Heart”.

Flaccid

• The flaccid tongue is the opposite of the stiff tongue. It is weak and lacks strength. It usually indicates Deficiency. When heat has consumed and damaged body fluids, they can not rise to nourish the tongue. This can indicate Yin Deficiency, Qi Deficiency and/or Blood Deficiency.
• A flaccid tongue that is also pale usually indicates Qi and Blood Deficiency.
• A flaccid tongue that is also dark red, dry, and has cracks usually indicates extreme heat injuring fluids.
• A flaccid tongue body with a scarlet tongue body usually indicates Exhaustion of Yin.

Swollen

• This is a very large tongue body and can indicate both Excess and Deficiency.
• A swollen tongue that is also pale can indicate Qi Deficiency
• A swollen tongue that is also bright red and painful can indicate Heart and Spleen Heat. This could also be due to excess alcohol consumption.

Big or Enlarged Tongue

• An enlarged tongue can indicate Phlegm, Damp, or Water Stagnation.
• An enlarged tongue with a pale body and a moist coat may indicate Spleen and Kidney Yang Deficiency
• An enlarged tongue with a red body and a greasy yellow coat may indicate Spleen and Stomach Damp-Heat.

Half the Tongue Is Swollen

• A half swollen tongue may indicate general weakness of the Channels.

Hammer Shaped

• This is where the front half or third of the tongue is enlarged at the sides.
• A hammer shaped tongue usually indicates Spleen, Stomach, and Kidney Deficiency
• This tongue is almost always indicative of a serious condition, and may indicate mental illness.

Local Swelling on One Side

• Localized swelling of tongue with a normal tongue body color indicates Qi Deficiency
• Localized swelling of tongue with a red tongue body color indicates Qi and/or Blood Stagnation

Swollen Sides

• A tongue with swelling in Liver and Gallbladder area usually indicates Rising Liver Yang or Liver Fire.

Swollen Between the Tip and the Central Surface

• This area corresponds to the Lung area and usually presents with a normal or pale tongue body.
• This tongue is usually found in patients with chronic Lung and Spleen Deficiency, which tends toward Damp and Phlegm accumulation.

Swollen Edges

• This tongue may indicate Spleen Qi or yang Deficiency.
• If Spleen Yang is Deficient, the edges will also be wet.

Swollen Tip

• When the very tip of the tongue is swollen, it usually indicates Heart problems.
• If the tongue is also deep red, this may indicate Heart Fire.
• If the tongue is normal in color or pale, this may indicate Heart Qi Deficiency.

Short and Contracted

• When the patient can not show the entire tongue, it usually indicates a more severe disease.
• If the tongue is also moist and pale, this indicates stagnation of Cold (bluish/purple) in the meridians or Spleen Yang Deficiency.
• If a contracted tongue also has a sticky tongue coating, this may indicate Turbid-Phlegm blocking the channels.
• If the tongue is also deep red and dry, excessive heat has consumed Body Fluids and stirred up internal Wind.
• A short, swollen, tender, and pale tongue usually indicates Qi and Blood Deficiency.
• A short or small frenum may be inherited and is normal.

Long

• There is difficulty in retracting the tongue.
• This indicates interior Excess Heat, Heart Fire, or Phlegm-Fire Misting the Heart.
• There may be numbness which is associated with

Front Swollen

• Swelling towards the front one-third of the tongue may indicate Phlegm retention in the Lungs.

Thin

• This can indicate that Qi and Blood are deficient and not able to properly nourish and moisturize the tongue. The tongue body will also usually be pale in color with Qi and Blood Deficiency.
• A thin tongue that is also dark red and dry may indicate Yin Deficient Fire.

Tongue Body Features

Rough or Tender Texture

• A tender tongue that appears smooth, delicate, and is possibly swollen indicates deficiency.
• A rough tongue that appears wrinkled and rough indicates Excess.

Red Spots

• Red spots may indicate Heat Toxins in the Blood or Heat Toxins attacking the Heart.
• Red spots can indicate the presence of Damp-Heat in the Xue Level, where the internal organs are accumulating toxins.
• Red spots on the Tip (Lung/Heart area) is usually not severe and may present in the beginning stages of illness.
• Red spots on the entire tongue may indicate a more severe illness.
• Red spots on the sides of the tongue (Liver/Gallbladder area) may also indicate a more severe illness.
• Red spots on the back of the tongue (Kidney area) may indicate the advanced stage or chronic nature of an illness.

White Spots

• White spots are usually due to Spleen and Stomach Qi Deficiency together with excess heat accumulating in the body. In this case, the tongue may also have sores and pus.

Black Spots

• Black spots usually indicate Qi and Blood Stagnation or heat in the Blood.

Ulcerated Tongue Body

• in progress…

Numb Tongue Body

• in progress…

Loose Tongue Body

• in progress…

Deviated Tongue Body

• This is where the tongue tends toward one side of the mouth
• This is due to Wind, either from exterior Pathogenic Wind or internal Wind-Damp patterns.

Moving, Lolling, Wagging, Playful Tongue Body

• This usually indicates heat in the Heart and Spleen channels stirring up internal Wind.
• In children, this may indicate developmental problems.

Rolled Tongue Body

• in progress…

Teeth Marks on Tongue Body (Scalloped)

• If the tongue body has normal color, this usually indicates Spleen Qi Deficiency
• If there are teeth marks together with a swollen tongue, this may indicate Spleen Yang and/or Qi Deficiency.
• If the tongue is also pale and moist, it is more likely Spleen Yang Deficiency or a Cold-Damp pattern.

Quivering or Trembling Tongue Body

• Trembling of the tongue that can not be controlled may be due to external febrile disease or excess heat consuming Yin. The excess heat stirs up Internal Wind. The tongue body will be a deep red color and the pulse will be rapid.
• If the tongue body is pale and trembling, this usually indicates a chronic condition of Qi and Blood Deficiency, where the tongue is not being nourished.
• Side effects of some western medications (pharmaceuticals) may cause trembling of the tongue.

Sore Covered Tongue Body

• in progress…

Tongue Body Moisture

Reveals the state of Yin and Fluids in the body.

Dry Tongue Body

• in progress…

Slightly Dry Tongue Body

• in progress…

Wet Tongue Body

• in progress…

Tongue Coating

Indicates the state of the Yang organs, especially the Stomach.

White Tongue Coat

• A thin white tongue coating is normal.
• A thin white tongue coating can also indicate external Cold patterns when the appropriate clinical symptoms are present.
• With a moist and pale tongue, a thicker white coating can indicate Damp-Cold.
• A dry white coating can indicate Cold turning to Heat and starting to dry body fluids.

White Like Powder Tongue Coat

• A white and thick tongue coating like powder indicates turbidity and external pathogenic heat. This coating will usually change to yellow after a short time if the patient is not treated.
• If the tongue body is dark red, interior toxins may be present.

White Like Snow Tongue Coat

• This may indicate exhaustion of Spleen yang with Damp-Cold in the Middle Jiao

Yellow Tongue Coat

• A slightly yellow coating indicates Wind-Heat or Wind-Cold turning to Wind-Heat
• A yellow tongue coat indicates an interior heat pattern. The deeper the color of yellow, the more severe heat. A burnt yellow indicates further accumulation of heat in the body.
• If the coating is yellow and moist and the tongue body is swollen and tender, this indicates interior Damp-Heat or Yang Deficiency. In the case of Yang Deficiency, the tongue is showing false heat signs, as the Yin has forced the Yang to the surface of the body.

Dirty Yellow Tongue Coat

• This tongue coating may indicate Stomach and Intestinal Damp-Heat

Simultaneous White and Yellow Tongue Coating

• Can indicate a Shaoyang pattern
• Can indicate a simultaneous Heat and Cold pattern, or a Cold pattern turning to Heat
• Can indicate a simultaneous Interior and Exterior pattern

Gray Tongue Coat

• This tongue coating usually indicates an internal pattern of either Heat or Damp-Cold.
• A dry gray coating can indicate internal Excess Heat scorching Body Fluids or Yin Deficient Fire.
• A wet or moist gray coating usually indicates Cold-Damp Stagnation or Damp-Phlegm retention.

Black Tongue Coat

• Similar to the Gray coating above, but more severe.
• The black coating usually develops from gray or a burnt yellow coating.
• A dry black coating (usually with cracks) may indicate excessive Heat burning body fluids.
• A moist black coating and a pale tongue body may indicate Yang Deficiency, Internal Excess Cold, with or without the presence of Dampness.
• Both Gray and Black tongue coating can indicate extreme Cold (wet tongue) or extreme Heat (dry tongue).
• Western drugs such as antibiotics can also cause a black tongue coating.

Half Yellow, Half White (Longitudinally)

• This coating may indicate Heat in the Liver and Gallbladder

Yellow Root With A White Tip

• This may indicate that exterior Pathogenic Heat is penetrating more deeply into the interior of the body.

Black in the Center, White and Slippery on the Sides

• This may indicate Spleen Yang Deficiency with interior Damp-Cold

Tongue Coat Thickness

Thin Coating

• Normal
• In disease, it indicates the disease is either external or an internal disease that is not severe.
• If the tongue coating changes from thick to thin, this indicates pathogens are moving to the exterior of the body and the disease is waning.

Thick Coating

• A thick coating usually indicates more of an internal disease that is more severe.
• It may also indicate that exterior pathogenic factors have penetrated more deeply into the body.
• A thick tongue coating may also indicate retention of food.
• If the tongue coating changes from thin to thick, this indicates pathogens are penetrating deeper into the interior of the body.

Peeled, Mirrored, Shiny, No Coating

• With a mirrored tongue, there is no coating on the tongue. In less severe cases, there may be a partial coating on the tongue.
• If the body of the tongue is also red, it usually indicates that Stomach Qi and Yin is severely damaged.
• If the tongue body is also light in color, this may indicate that Qi and Blood of the Spleen and Stomach is damaged and Deficient.
• If the tongue body is also red or dark, Stomach and Kidney Yin is damaged (body fluids dried up) due to heat.

Tongue Body Cracks

Short Horizontal Cracks

• in progress…

Long Horizontal Cracks

• in progress…

Transverse Cracks On the Sides of the Tongue

• in progress…

Transverse Cracks Behind Tip

• in progress…

Transverse Cracks

• in progress…

Very Deep Ventral Cracks With Other Smaller Cracks

• in progress…

Cracks Like Ice Floes

• in progress…

Vertical Cracks in the Center

• in progress…

Irregular Cracks

• in progress…

Tongue Coat Root

Tongue Coat Has Root

• The normal tongue coating has Root, which means that is “rooted” or attached to the surface of the tongue body. It can not be easily scraped off or removed.

Tongue Coat Has No Root

• A coating without root rests on the surface of the tongue, but can easily be removed or scraped off.
• A coating without root usually indicates impairment of Spleen, Stomach, and Kidneys.