We Talk About Physics When We Talk About Chinese Medicine
Looking at Cardiovascular Health from a Chinese Medical Perspective
From a Chinese medical perspective, a sedentary lifestyle and a poor diet primarily damage the foundational energies of the Spleen organ system. The Chinese medical Spleen system involves in the body’s functions of digestion, cardiovascular circulation, fluid circulation and immunity. When the Spleen system is weakened, the body cannot regulate body fluids well and it affects the cardiovascular system, which manifests as poor circulation since body fluids enter and exit the blood vessels depends on the body’s need.
Lipids congeal in a cooler environment, a chronically slightly cooler-than-normal internal environment can cause lipids to accumulate on the internal walls of the vessels, which manifests as hypercholesterolemia. The blocked blood vessels have a narrower space inside, which increases the blood pressure.
The Chinese medical Liver system is directly affected by emotions. Stress is a major factor that causes the body’s energy to ascend because when people are stressed the body directs more blood into the brain so that the brain can function in situations of crisis. This guides the pressure into the head and manifests as headache. The CM Liver organ system signifies the upward movements within the body. Stress tightens up the body tissues and rushes the blood upwards to cope with crisis.
In addition, smoking damages the healthy fluids of the lungs and compromises the lung’s functions to distribute the mechanical heat generated by the heart into the lower compartment of the body. In a healthy body, heat is constantly distributed to the lower compartment so that the more distal body parts can maintain an even temperature as the most proximal parts. If the functions of the organ systems are damaged, they will not be able to coordinate with each other and heat will ascend and accumulate in the upper compartment.
Please leave me a comment below if you have any questions regarding the Chinese medical concepts mentioned in this article.