Dear parents, hello everyone. Today, we will continue discussing children’s external pathogens.
The first stage of a cold should be handled properly. Previously, we discussed wind-cold (feng han) where the cold pathogen invades the body, causing symptoms like chills, clear nasal discharge, sneezing, and mild cough. This is known as wind-cold cold (feng han ganmao). However, there is another type called wind-heat cold (feng re ganmao), which is often confused with the former. The confusion arises when wind-cold progresses to the second stage, known as external cold with internal heat (wai han li re), where the cold pathogen penetrates deeper into the body, encountering resistance, leading to heat symptoms. This condition is often mistakenly referred to as wind-heat cold, but it is not strictly the true wind-heat cold.
What is wind-heat cold?
True wind-heat cold occurs due to insufficient body fluids, which leads to sluggish meridian circulation.
To explain, think of the body’s meridian pathways as rivers, where small boats are responsible for transporting soldiers to the defense system, such as the nasal passages, to prevent external pathogens from invading. If exposed to cold, these rivers freeze, and the boats cannot move, preventing the defense troops from reaching their designated positions, allowing external pathogens to invade, which is called wind-cold cold. In contrast, wind-heat cold occurs when excessive sweating leads to a deficiency of body fluids, causing the rivers to dry up, and the boats become stranded, unable to transport the defense troops, resulting in external pathogen invasion, hence termed wind-heat cold.
What causes wind-heat cold?
1
External Factors
Firstly, changes in external climate. For example, during winter, if it suddenly becomes warm after a cold spell, people may sweat profusely as their bodies adapt to the cold. Excessive sweating leads to insufficient body fluids, resulting in fewer carriers in the meridians, causing the rivers to dry up, and the boats become stranded, preventing the soldiers from reaching their designated positions, allowing external pathogens to invade. This is the impact of external changes. Similar situations can occur in summer with sudden heat or in spring with excessive sweating. In autumn, a sudden transition from cold to hot can also lead to excessive sweating. Some individuals sweat excessively, leading to a deficiency of body fluids, which is the first reason.
2
Internal Factors
What are the internal factors? For instance, individuals who frequently consume spicy foods or hot meats, such as beef and lamb, may develop internal heat. Such individuals are prone to fluid deficiency, especially children who often eat a lot of meat, leading to internal heat, particularly in the upper body, which can deplete body fluids and hinder meridian circulation.
Secondly, individuals with a yin deficiency constitution are also particularly susceptible. This constitution may be hereditary or due to frequent consumption of hot foods. Those with a yin deficiency often have a red tongue, red lips, and a rapid pulse, which we describe as a red tongue with thin coating and a fine, rapid pulse. The tongue coating may be very thin or even absent. They often feel hot, with warm palms and soles, and sweat at night. This is known as a yin deficiency constitution. Individuals with this constitution are particularly hot inside; as stated in the Huangdi Neijing, yin deficiency generates internal heat, leading to false heat, similar to an engine running without lubrication, causing it to overheat, which depletes body fluids.
Additionally, individuals who are easily angered, known as ‘five emotions transforming into fire’, can also contribute to this condition. Extreme emotions, such as frequent anger or excessive worry about financial matters, can lead to liver fire, which gradually depletes body fluids. This situation is more common in adults but is increasingly observed in children due to parental pressure regarding academic performance and extracurricular activities, leading to stress. Such stressed children may develop liver fire, which depletes body fluids.
In summary, these situations can lead to excessive sweating and fluid deficiency.
Is drinking water helpful for fluid deficiency?
Not necessarily. Drinking too much water may not enable the body to properly convert it into internal fluids; whether it can be converted is a question. Therefore, individuals in such situations often find that drinking water does not effectively convert into body fluids. While drinking water may provide temporary relief, those with conversion issues may not benefit from drinking large amounts of water, as it could lead to waste accumulation in the body, resulting in dampness and further fluid deficiency.
This is akin to a flood outside that breaks the water pipes; while there is water everywhere, when you turn on the tap, clean water is unavailable. In such cases, disaster relief requires bottled water because the floodwater cannot be converted into drinkable water. I hope this analogy clarifies the point.
Thus, when there is insufficient internal fluid, the inability to transport soldiers to the front lines results in external pathogen invasion, often caused by various forms of heat, both internal and external. Therefore, we refer to this external pathogen invasion as wind-heat cold. This type of wind-heat cold often leads to swollen tonsils, which raises the question of why some children experience tonsil swelling without the wind-cold stage. The answer is that insufficient internal fluids and internal heat lead to significant depletion of body fluids, preventing the defense troops from reaching their designated positions, similar to the principle of wind-cold cold, where insufficient defense troops result in external pathogen invasion.
What symptoms are associated with wind-heat cold, and how can we identify them? We will discuss this next time. Today, I aimed to clarify the underlying principles for everyone. Understanding these principles allows you to address the situation promptly and even develop your own methods. Without understanding the principles, learning a few remedies may leave you confused when circumstances change. Therefore, I emphasize the importance of understanding the principles of TCM knowledge. Once you grasp the principles, you can better understand how to apply remedies.
Next time, we will discuss the symptoms of wind-heat cold. See you then, and thank you all.
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Voice | Luo Dalun
Editor | Qian Meng
Image Material | Baotu Network, authorized
