TCM- Miscellaneous Causes of Disease-Part 2 (Test 6)

Excessive Physical Work (and lack of exercise):
Excessive physical work most often impacts the Spleen and the Liver. Excessive use of one part of the body will also cause stagnation of Qi in that particular part.
Lack of exercise is also a cause of disease. Regular exercise is essential for a proper circulation of Qi. Lack of exercise will lead to stagnation of Qi and , in some cases, Dampness. In particular, exercise such as Yoga or Tai Ji Quan aimed at developing Qi rather than just the muscles, are very beneficial and should be recommended to patients suffering from deficiency of Qi who do not have enough energy to undertake Western-type exercise.

Excessive Sexual Activity:
By 'excessive sexual activity' is meant actual ejaculation for mend and orgasm for women. Sexual activities not culminating in orgasm are not though to be depleting to the Kidney Essence.
One can, however define sexual activity as 'excessive' it if results in marked fatigue, and even more so if it causes certain other specific symptoms, such as dizziness, blurred vision, a lower back ache, weak knees and frequent urination. The important thing to realize is that sexual activity should be adjusted according to age, physical condition, and even the seasons.
Sexual activity should be reduced if there is a deficiency of Qi or Blood, and particularly a deficiency of the Kidneys.
Many sexual problems, such as impotence or premature ejaculation often require a decrease in sexual activity first, for there to be successful treatment.
Chinese medicine also considers the circumstances in which sexual activity takes place. For example, having sexual intercourse in a state of drunkenness is considered extremely harmful to any resulting fetus. Catching a cold after sexual intercourse can severely weaken KH Yang. As the energy of the Kidneys is temporarily weakened after intercourse, it is important not to be exposed to any cold at this time.

Differences Between Men's and Women's Sexuality:
There are some important differences between men and women's genital physiology from TCM perspective. It could be said that men's sexual energy is more directly related to the Kidney-Essence, whereas women's sexual energy is more directly related to Blood. The Red Field in men contains the Room of Essence, whereas in women it contains the Uterus. It follows that ejaculation is a more direct loss of Kidney-Essence than orgasms for women (even though there is some loss of Essence in women also) as there is not menstrual blood loss during orgasms for women.
Insufficient Sex as a cause: Sexual desire depends on the Minister Fire, and a healthy sexual appetite indicates that this Fire is abundant. When sexual desire builds up, the Minister Fire blazes up and Yang increase. The orgasm is a release of this accumulated Yang energy and it is a beneficial discharge of Yang Qi and it promotes the free flow of Qi. When sexual desire builds up, the Minister Fire is stirred; this affects the Mind and the organs, specifically the Heart and Pericardium. The Heart is connected to the Uterus via the Uterus Vessel and the orgasmic contractions of the uterus discharge the accumulated Yang energy of the Minister Fire.
When sexual desire is present but does not have an outlet in sexual activity and orgasm, the Minister Fire can accumulate and give rise to both Blood Heat and to stagnation of Qi in the Lower Warmer. This accumulated Heat will stir the Minister Fire further and harass the Mind, while the stagnation of Qi in the lower warmer can give rise to GYN problems such as dysmenorrhea.
Sexual Desire:
Sexual desire itself is also related to the Kidney energy. A healthy sexual desire reflects a good and strong kidney energy. It the Kidneys are weak, and if, in particular the Kidney yang is deficient, there may be a lack of sexual desire or inability to enjoy sex and reach an orgasm. On the other hand, if Kidney Yin is severely deficient leading to rising of Empty-Fire, there may be an excessive sexual desire with inability to be ever satisfied. The person may also have vivid sexual dreams resulting in nocturnal emissions in men and orgasms in women. For this reason, lack of sexual desire can be stimulated by strengthening Kidney yang and the Gate of Vitality, and excessive sexual desire can be dampened by nourishing Kidney-Yin.
Beneficial Effects of Sexual Activity:
Finally, it should be stressed that what has been said so far only concerns the relation between excessive sexual activity and the Kidney energy, and that many other factors are included in determining a happy sex life Although Chinese Medicine is mostly concerned with excessive sexual activity as a cause of disease, an unhappy sexual life with inability to reach orgasm or lacking in warmth and affection is also an important and frequent cause of disease. This often causes deep unhappiness or anxiety that become causes of disease in themselves.

Diet:
Insufficient Eating:
Malnutrition is an obvious cause of disease. In its broad sense, malnutrition exists not only in poor third world countries, but also in rich industrialized countries where it is present in certain less obvious forms. People amy suffer from a more mild form of malnutrition by adhering rigidly to very strict 'diets', the number and variety of which is becoming mind-boggling. Some of those who adhere to such strict diets may unwittingly lack essential nutrients in their diet.
Cold Foods:
Excessive consumption of what Chinese medicine considers to be cold-energy foods and raw foods may weaken the Spleen, in particular the Spleen Yang, However, from the Chinese point of view , the spleen likes dryness and warmth in food and dislikes excess of fluids and cold: an excessive consumption of the above foods will be very difficult to digest and may weaken Spleen-Yang causing diarrhea, chilliness, cold mucus, abdominal pain and distention. This, particularly those who have a tendency to Spleen deficiency should not consume raw and cold foods in excess.
Sweet Foods and Sugar:
Excessive consumption of sweet foods and sugar, also extremely common in our society, clocks the Spleen function of transformation and transportation and gives rise to Dampness, with such symptoms as upper respiratory catarrh, abdominal distention and fullness, mucus in the stools and vaginal discharges.
Hot foods:
Excessive consumption of hot energy and spicy foods gives rise to heat symptoms, especially of the Stomach and Liver, such as a bitter taste, a burning sensation in the epigastrium and thirst.

Trauma:
Physical traumas cause local stagnation of Qi or Blood in the area. A slight trauma causes stagnation of Qi and a severe one causes stasis of Blood. In either case, it gives rise to pain, bruising and swelling. Although trauma may seem only a transient cause of disease, in practice, the effect of trauma can linger for a long time manifesting with local stagnation of Qi and/or Blood in the area affected.
Old traumas can also become a concurrent cause of disease together with a later one. For example, a trauma to a knee may seem to have cleared up completely, but when the person later in life contracts Painful Obstruction Syndrome cause by exposure to cold and damp condition, the exterior pathogenic factor often will settle in that knee.