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Heat is an External Cause of Disease, that becomes internalised. It can occur on its own, or when one of the other syndromes (eg Wind, Cold, Damp etc) turns into Heat in the interior of the body, often combining with an pre-existing Yin deficiency if there is one.
With global warming and our propensity to sit on hot beaches, or to get tanned before we sit on warm beaches, this syndrome is becoming more common.
As with Summer-Heat, one of the main ways the body has of clearing this syndrome is by purging.
Suppression of this natural process is potentially dangerous from the point of view of Chinese medicine, and it needs careful treatment.
Holiday-makers returning from hot places who report that their offensive and urgent diarrhoea was successfully suppressed by Imodium (the brand name for Loperamide HCl and Simethicone) tend to worry practitioners of Chinese medicine.
This is not that we don't want them to get better, but that the Heat that their bodies were purging, if suppressed, doesn't just disappear. It goes somewhere else, sometimes into the Blood, meaning they get a rash, or into their Stomach, making them much hungrier and thirstier, indefinitely, probably with resultant weight-gain.
Or it goes and disturbs their Shen (roughly translatable as their personality), making them prone to signs of mental 'inflammation'. This causes a whole range of problems including instability, few of which are attributed to the original hot beach.
Purging in this context does not mean that suggested by Wikipedia where purging is now often associated with Binge-eating and Bulaemia on the one hand and with eliminating political opposition or socially 'undesirable' elements on the other.
In the context of Chinese medicine, it means encouraging the body to eliminate unwanted matter, almost always by evacuating the bowels.
What is the benefit of purging? Purges clears out the offensive material taking heat with it. Your diarrhoea's offensive smell comes from its heat. If you like, your body is doing its best to evacuate this, but not quite succeeding.
Purging, done right, assists it to do the job better.
In effect, it means using methods in Chinese medicine/acupuncture that have a laxative effect. Various Chinese herbs have been found to do this but, as with everything in Chinese herbal medicine, they are seldom given alone, because additional herbs are included to balance the primary herbs' effects.
For instance a primary herb's effect might be to clear the excess warmth, but at least one other herb would be added to tonify Qi and probably another to balance the moisture levels in the body, because in their absence a strong laxative effect can be weakening and drying.
Of course, with purging you'll need to take in fluids and balance your sugar-salt balance, as Western medicine now appreciates.
(Here is of the famous Roman aqueduct in Segovia, Spain. Well worth a visit! - Segovia has more to offer than just an aqueduct. There's a huge palace not far away and an old town and Disney-like castle you should not miss. Aqueducts brought water to the town from the nearby hills.)
The body has its own ways of clearing Heat and some of these are used by bulaemics, for instance vomiting. Diarrhoea - the hot smelly urgent kind - is another: the body knows how to do this!
Bleeding is another. Some children and teenagers (and others) get nose-bleeds for no obvious reason, though on questioning they may later admit to having felt for example recent dryness (a mild sign of Heat from lack of moisture) in their noses.
Some women get vaginal blood-spots or small haemorrhages at unexpected times of the month. Whilst these can be due to a variety of causes, if the blood is fresh and red, then one possible cause is Heat.
Unless they become frequent and heavy, they pose no great problem.
Of course if they do become frequent, persistent or heavy, the cause should be diagnosed and treated. Chinese medicine and acupuncture have an honourable reputation here.
Any prolonged or repeated exposure to hot conditions can produce this syndrome. For example, it can occur from
So, although technically an external cause of disease, this syndrome can be internalised or emerge from internal factors.
For a fuller understanding, read up on Internal or External.
Bakers often get this, perhaps because they work in warm kitchens and are always peering into hot ovens. I might expect people who work in fish-and-chip shops, or who make pizzas or kebabs, or work with meat turning over hot coals or fires to suffer too.
I expect people who often receive hot stone treatments might also be affected.
Although not specifically listed above, Heat does also affect the Mind, making people more impulsive, more prone to angry outbursts, more restless and often a bit manic. This is particularly noticeable in children, whose small bodies are not sufficiently Yin to absorb Heat comfortably but whose Yang nature makes them quickly volatile when over-stimulated.
When someone is already Yin-deficient, as mentioned above, it can be hard to clear Heat. They have the worst of both worlds, being, like small children, unable to balance Yang effectively. Sometimes they are also somewhat Yang deficient and often feel cold, which inclines them to seek warmth but this makes their Heat symptoms (eg rash or skin condition) worse.
Usually, your body tells you what to do!
Can you do anything to reduce your susceptibility? This page contains plenty of suggestions for what to do. Here are more.
Read about the other external causes of disease:
Summer-Heat
Click to get back from this page on Heat to External Causes of Disease
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Qi Stagnation - Signs of Stress
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Western Astrology and Chinese Medicine
Published 1986 and, amazingly, still selling. Western Astrology and Chinese Medicine was apparently used back then by at least one acupuncture college to help students understand Chinese medicine! See Reviews.
Seven Reviews so far for Yuck Phlegm. (Despite the lurid cover, it explains the five main types of phlegm and what works best for each type. I hope it's easy to read and will be much more useful than all the websites on the subject.)
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