Syndrome Differentiation And Treatment For Obesity

(1) The patient has the history of excessive intake of food, and less activities, polyphagia with preference to sweet and fatty foods.

(2) The patient suffers from obese limbs, with the upper arm and ghiteofemoral region being obvious. Besides, fat accumulates in abdomen, breasts and shoulders. The weight of body is 20 % or more above the normal value.
(3) Lab examination Plasm insulin basal level is higher than normal value. Glucose tolerance often decreases while blood sugar tends to increase. Total blood lipid, cholesterol, triglyceride and free fatty acid are all above normal values.

Syndrome differentiation and treatment
Obesity is often divided into four syndromes of phlegm and dampness due to asthenic spleen, stomach heat and obstruction of dampness, asthenia of both the spleen and kidney, and internal heat due to yin deficiency according to the causes of the disease and the manifestations in syndrome differentiation. The commonly-seen symptoms of phlegm and dampness due to asthenic spleen include extremely fat body, lassitude, heaviness in the head and body with sleepiness, fullness of abdomen, edema of lower limbs, pale and enlarged tongue with thin and greasy fur, deep and slippery pulse; the commonly encountered symptoms of stomach heat and obstruction of dampness include extremely fat body, laziness, dry mouth, foul breath, red tongue with greasy and yellowish fur, slippery and rapid pulse; the commonly-seen symptoms of yang deficiency of the spleen and kidney include puffiness, cold body and limbs, pale and enlarged tongue with pale and slippery fur, deep and slow pulse; the commonly-encountered symptoms of internal heat due to yin deficiency include obesity, dizziness with blurred vision, pain, soreness and weakness of lumbus, dysphoria with feverish chest, palms and soles, low fever, red tongue and thready and rapid pulse.

The pathogenesis of obesity is due to weakened body resistance and excess of pathogenic factors. Therefore, the main therapeutic principles are strengthening the spleen yang to promote transportation and transformation, removing food retention to promote digestion, resolving phlegm and eliminating dampness by diuresis. Acupuncture and moxibustion, tuina, diet control, physicl exercise, etc.
may be jointly applied to treat the disease.