How Can We Know If the War Inside Our Body Is Over or Not?
Do not let hidden pathogens develop in your body
The molecular structure of the COVID virus is very similar to that of the flu virus. Even if they attack different parts of the body and have different clinical presentations, they both cause cold-like symptoms at the initial stage, such as fever, chills, fatigue, body ache, sore throat, but without runny nose and stuffy nose as a cold does. Here I will use COVID as an example to illustrate the concept of “hidden pathogens.”
The typical post-COVID symptoms include fatigue, difficulty falling asleep, waking up early, night sweats, anxiety, depression, emotional disturbances, arrhythmias, breathing difficulties, cough, chest stuffiness and pain, pulmonary fibrosis, acute kidney damages, reduced estimated glomerular filtration rate, stomachache, diarrhea, reproductive dysfunctions, changes in menstrual patterns, brain fog, forgetfulness, headaches, dizziness, tinnitus, pain in the ears, sore throat, loss of sense of smell and taste, skin rashes, hair loss, joint pain, PTSD, and so on.
People who experience such symptoms because even though the COVID viruses may not be causing devastating symptoms that require hospitalization, the viral pathogens are continuously and chronically affecting multiple systems of our body. Sometimes the patient can even be asymptomatic, but a close examination will reveal that the pathogens are still present.
Wherever there is weakness, the pathogens will go there and attack that area. Chinese medicine groups symptoms differently than Western biomedicine system. From a CM perspective, folks who have their Spleen system affected tend to suffer from fatigue, stomachache, diarrhea, brain fog, body aches; for those who have their Heart and Pericardium systems affected tend to develop difficulty falling asleep, anxiety, arrhythmias, chest stuffiness and pain. For people who experience night sweats, kidney damages, reproductive dysfunctions, reduced estimated glomerular filtration rate, forgetfulness, pain in the ears, tinnitus (low-pitched) and hair loss, their Kidney system is being attacked. Changes in menstrual patterns, anxiety, depression, emotional disturbances, infertility, tinnitus (high-pitched), vortex headaches, dizziness, sore throat, PTSD are symptoms of the Liver system. Lung system pathologies manifest as pulmonary fibrosis, shortness of breath, breathing difficulties, cough, coarse voice, phlegm, throat discomfort (sore throat, or a sensation of something is stuck in the throat), loss of sense of smell and taste, chest fullness and pain, skin rashes, and joint pain.
These symptoms are not debilitating, therefore are often undertreated, mistreated, or left untreated. In fact, there is a concept called “hidden pathogens,” in the Warm Disease School of Chinese medicine, which means even if there is no obvious symptom, or the person is asymptomatic, the pathogens (viruses, bacteria, fungi) may be still in the body, only in a hibernating state. Symptoms recur when there is a change in the environment, temperature, seasons, activities, habits, lifestyles, mental and physical states, life events, etc.
When our immunity is sound and balanced, the pathogens will be detected by our immune cells and eliminated quickly, and we only experience mild symptoms or no symptoms at all; when our immunity is too activated and going wild, the immune cells create too much toxic substance that cannot be expelled timely, then it can develop into a cytokine storm, which is a life-threatening condition and can lead to death if left untreated or inappropriately treated.
“Hidden pathogens” is a condition that happens when our immunity has been chronically compromised. Our immune system is not strong enough to wipe out all of the pathogens at once, and there are some lingering enemies who wait for the right opportunities to bounce back and beat us when we are at our weakest.
There are well-developed, matured CM methods to clear hidden pathogens, but the patient also needs to form healthier habits in order to chase those sneaky, vicious spies out of the body’s system. For entertainment purposes, I depict treating hidden pathogens as an intricate detective game that the practitioner and the patient participate as partners. The enemy of course is the pathogens. The body gives the practitioner symptoms as clues how to capture the cunning enemy, and the practitioner has to accurately decipher the clues and lay out plans, and the patient’s body knows once the plan works.