The Foundation of Life -- Qi and Blood

From A Classical Chinese Medicine Perspective

Chinese medicine is a branch of the ancient Daoist practice, which has a tradition of using metaphysical terms to describe physical mechanisms of the body and the world. Just as abstract and confusing as the concept of “the Qi,” the concept of “the Blood” * is also more than the physical red substance that runs in our vessels.

First and foremost, it is important to consider different forms of energies in the body are transferable from and into each other. Just as the creeks merge into rivers, pour into the ocean, evaporate into the sky and form the clouds, then then become precipitation to form creeks and rivers. This is how Chinese medicine understand the different vital forces of the body — Qi and Blood.

The Blood in Chinese medicine system includes the physical blood in a Western medical understanding, but it is beyond the realm of physical blood. The CM Blood can be understood as the physical aspect of Qi — the vital forces that keep us alive. The term “Blood deficiency” can be interpreted as a lack of nutrients or diseased blood cells in Western medical terms.

*Terms in capitalization represent the concepts in Chinese medicine.

The concept of “the Blood” is not completely different between Chinese and Western medicine. CM believes that the three Yin organ systems — the Liver, the Spleen and the Kidney, establish the physical foundation of a human being, and the Blood is one of the most important aspects of our physical form.

Blood circulation is governed by the Heart and the Lung. While coagulation and hemostasis (the process of stopping bleeding) depend on the Liver. The liver secretes more thrombopoietin, a substance that stimulates production of platelets, when an individual has been chronically stressed, depressed, angry, worried, or sad. The body does not distinguish emotional traumas from physical ones and mimics the healing process by generating scar tissues even if there are no physical injuries. People who chronically suffer from Liver Qi stagnation tend to have elevated levels of thrombopoietin — a hormone that stimulates the production of platelets.

By employing tongue and pulse diagnoses, even early signs of Blood stasis (state of hypercoagulation) can be detected while lab results may indicate “normal.” For patients with chronic depression or anxiety issues, spreading the Liver Qi would be the first step, followed by Qi and Blood moving method. The last stage is to treat the Kidney organ system (regulating the hormones) because the kidneys secret erythropoietin (the substance that stimulates the generation of red blood cells) and the testicles and ovaries secret testosterone.