II. of 5 fields
Chinese medicine
Esoteric Labs answers questions in Chinese medicine in the tradition's own order: a pattern before a treatment principle, a treatment principle before a formula or a point prescription. A symptom is answered through the patterns that commonly produce it, distinguished by tongue, pulse, thirst, sleep, digestion, and timing, so that the person can recognise their own.
What it draws on
The Huangdi Neijing, Suwen and Lingshu; the Nanjing; Zhang Zhongjing's Shanghan Lun and Jingui Yaolue; the Shennong Bencao Jing and Li Shizhen's Bencao Gangmu; the Zhenjiu Dacheng; the Mai Jing; Sun Simiao; Li Dongyuan and the Jin-Yuan masters; the warm-disease school. The modern layer is the college textbook synthesis, Bensky's materia medica and formulas, Deadman's acupuncture manual, and Wiseman's terminology. Herbs come with nature, flavour, channels, actions, and the classical dose range in grams; formulas with their source and the logic of chief, deputy, assistant, and envoy.
Questions it answers
- What patterns cause insomnia with waking at 3 a.m., and how are they told apart?
- What is in Gui Zhi Tang, and what does each ingredient do?
- Which acupuncture points are used for Liver qi stagnation?
- What does a wiry pulse mean?
- Is Huang Qi safe with blood pressure medication?
- What foods does Chinese medicine recommend for Spleen qi deficiency?
Across the traditions
The Bencao is also herbalism; the stems and branches and the five movements and six qi tie to astrology; constitutional typing has its counterpart in Ayurveda's doshas.
Reference
- Dan Shen (Salvia root): dose, uses, and drug interactions
- The eighteen incompatibilities and nineteen antagonisms
- Gua sha: the clinical use beyond skincare
- Huang Qi (Astragalus root): dose, uses, and cautions
- Liver qi stagnation: signs, causes, diet, and formulas
- Spleen qi deficiency: signs, diet, herbs, and formulas
- Tongue diagnosis: how Chinese medicine reads the tongue
- Wiry pulse: what it means in Chinese medicine
- Xiao Yao San: ingredients, dose, uses, and side effects
Questions answered
- Acupuncture points for insomnia, chosen by pattern
- TCM AI: what an AI can and cannot do in Chinese medicine
- TCM diet for dampness: foods that clear it and foods that make it