Inspiration for Treatment of SARS with Doctrine of Five Evolutive Phases and Six Climatic Factors Based on Syndrome Differentiation of TCM / 中华中医药杂志

ABSTRACT

Doctrine of five evolutive phases and six climatic factors is a knowledge that the ancients used to discuss seasonal rules of natural changes and its effects on diseases. SARS broke out in 2003 revealed the effects of five evolutive phases and six climatic factors on diseases. According to Plain Questions (SuWen), the theory of “Incubative pathogen transformed into pestilent evils in three years time” can definitely foresee the happening of “Metal pestilence (Jin Yi)” ——the extensive prevalence of pulmonary epidemic disease between 2002 and 2003. The accuracy of the forecast was unthinkable. The doctrine accurately estimated the climax and subsidising time of SARS and whether the disease would recrudesce in the next half year or not in 2003. It shows that the doctrine had been summarized by practical observation for thousands of years and can provide important reference to ensure the occuring and subsidising time of pestilent diseases. The doctrine can also provide reference for the analysis of pathogenesis and syndromes of SARS and its therapeutic principles. From the law of the doctrine , the “dry” and “heat” evils engendered by the failure of firmness and softness in assisting each other in GengChen year were incubative pathogens. So the syndrome of internal lung heat and dryness could be seen at the very beginning, and the invasion was urgent. Disorder of ascending and descending in Guiwei year and the “cold” and “damp” evils induced by “several cold rains” resulted in the seasonal qi. Stimulation of the incubative pathogen by pestilent seasonal qi, stagnation of dry and heat evils inside the body, exuberance of cold and damp evils outside, as well as the interaction of incubative pathogen and seasonal qi resulted in the characters of pathogenesis and syndrome of SARS with manifestation of interior dryness and external dampness as well as interior heat and external cold. It is also considered that if one was affected by exopathogens suddenly presented by extreme fatigue, mostly it was incubative dryness incurred the impairment of the lung. So the extreme fatigue occurring in the early stage of SARS is an important index of impairment of the lung induced by incubative dryness. The occurring of SARS is helpful in learning the signs of incubative drynessin the lung meridian of Hand Taiyin. Predecessors hadn't systemicly discussed the therapeutic principle for incubative dryness. So how to deal the contradiction between moistening dryness and resolving dampness was the key problem. Finally, sporadic cases of SARS occurring in 2004 were analyzed by the doctrine of five evolutive phases and six climatic factors. It was pointed out that the infective power and biological characteristics of SARS virus can change with seasons. So the doctrine of five evolutive phases and six climatic factors must be combined according to specific time and places when carrying out the work plan for the prevention and treatment of SARS and other epidemic diseases.