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Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) refers to diabetes as Wasting-Thirst syndrome. The root of Wasting-Thirst is said to be a deficiency of Yin in the body and the presence of a Heat pathogen affecting the Lungs, Stomach, and Kidneys. When Yin is deficient, Heat from deficiency is produced; likewise, when Heat is present, it "burns up" Yin. It is common for people diagnosed with diabetes to have a constitutional Yin Deficiency, but the deficiency may develop over time as well. Frequent causes are a diet that includes too many spicy and drying foods, insufficient rest, overwork, and sexual over indulgence. Deficiency of Yin and the presence of the Heat Pathogen lead to the symptoms of diabetes.
Traditional Chinese Medicine Categories of Diabetes
The most common manifestations of diabetes are excessive thirst, hunger, and urination, associated, respectively, with the upper, middle, and lower aspects of the body (known as the Triple Burners in TCM), so the disorder is commonly categorized as Upper Burner, Middle Burner, and Lower Burner Wasting-Thirst Patterns of Disharmony.
Upper Burner: Known as Heat in the Lungs, the primary symptom of this pattern is excessive thirst. The pulse is usually rapid and may be thin; the tongue is red and dry, possibly with a thin yellow coat.
Middle Burner: Related to Stomach Fire, the primary symptom of this pattern is excessive hunger. The pulse usually is forceful and rapid; the tongue is red with a yellow coat.
Lower Burner: Related to Kidney Yin Deficiency, the primary symptom of this pattern is excessive urination. The pulse is usually rapid and thin; the tongue is red with little coating.
Yin Deficiency and Heat can consume Qi and Fluids in the body and even lead to a "thickening" of Blood. Hence, Patterns of Disharmony such as Qi Deficiency, leading to symptoms of fatigue, and Blood Stasis, leading to circulatory disorders, may accompany these Patterns of Disharmony.
Patients who have been given a conventional diagnosis of diabetes, but who do not fall into these patterns, are diagnosed in TCM according to their particular signs and symptoms and are treated accordingly.