Disease is the outcome of the struggle between body resistance and pathogenic factors. Therefore, in the treatment of a disease certain factors and conditions should be considered, that is, time (seasonal and climatic conditions), place (geographical location and environment), and personal characteristics (living customs, age, sex, and body constitution). In the clinical application of medicinal herbs these factors are also very important. This is an important therapeutic principle guiding clinical practice in traditional Chinese medicine. Examples follow:
In summer, the surface pores on the body are open or loose, while in winter they are closed and tight. If the body is affected by the same exogenous pathogenic wind and cold both in summer and winter then pungent drugs having a warming property of relieving exterior syndromes should not be administrated in summer, but should be used in large dosage in winter. Because summer is humid, the pathogenic factors which cause diseases in this season always mix with damp. Therefore, medicinal herbs used for summer diseases should be combines with herbs having properties of dissolving or removing damp.
The weather in mountainous regions and on plateaus is dry and cold, medicinal herbs having cold, cool, bitter, or dry properties should not be prescribed in large doses. White the climate in low-lying country is warm and humid, so drugs having cool and damp dissolving properties can also be used in large dosages.
Children have a body constitution of young and tender yang, for which qi and blood are not yet abundant, and a flourishing vitality. The vitality of aged people, however, is declining and qi and blood are insufficient. Therefore both children and elderly patients should not be prescribed drugs having strong properties, nor be given large dosages.
Obese patients are liable to have diseases caused by internal pathogenic damp, so drugs with cool, moist properties must not be given. Most this patients are suffering from illness due to pathogenic fire, thus medicinal herbs with warm dry properties are not suitable.
The same disease, but with different sexes, different physiological characteristics, and different body constitutions should be treated accordingly.
Chinese medical theory, as a product of traditional Chinese culture, reflects an extraordinary sensitivity toward Nature. Throughout the world, traditional Chinese medicine is praised for its holistic attitude in the understanding and curing of disease. With a 2,000-year written tradition, Chinese medical culture has accumulated an impressive body of theoretical and practical experience.
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