How Does TCM Fight Viruses?



TCM is peculiar in its fight against viruses. Regardless of the type of the virus, TCM first assesses symptoms of invasion of these viruses into the body, such as dizziness, thirst, fever,etc. and determines attributes of the disease (Yin and Yang, Cold and Heat, etc.) based on the symptoms, then treat the symptoms according to these attributes. So when the viruses die the disease would heal. Therefore, from the TCM perspective, there is no need to worry about updated variant of future viruses. Whenever a new virus appears, we can alwaystreat it using the same principle.

TCM treatment is usually achieved by changing internal environment (adjusting Yin, Yang and Five Elements). Therefore, eventually it is the body’s self-healing power that cures adisease. During the past few decades, Western Medicine has been studying various antibiotics to fight cold viruses. But viruses would also adapt to fight against these new antibiotics. In the end, no drugs will be left to use. This is a war that will never end.

Typhoid fever is like an unexpected catastrophe. You can’t predict when it will happen to an individual. We can only try to keep warm, enhance human immunity, and not let chill invade the body. If chill had already invaded, it must be handled properly. There’s no need to take antibiotics each time, or the chill will become source of all diseases.
When prescription of the TaiYang Disease is used to treat a cold, the speed could be very fast. I once knew a friend who was a pharmacist who was very interested in TCM and even got an American TCM license. I asked him: “Do you take Western medicine or Chinese medicine when catching a cold?” He looked at me surprisingly: “How can TCM treat cold?”

Nowadays many doctors of TCM still take Western medicine to treat a cold, the reason is they do not understand the basic TCM classic – “Treatise on Febrile Diseases”.

A male J, about 35 years old, Chinese. One day he had a fever with sore body and cough. The fever still persisted after taking Western medicine, and coughing became even more severe. After three days of torment, he came to see me. After giving him a dose of “Daqing Dragon Soup”, the fever was completely gone within about 30 minutes, so was the feeling of dull pain in his lungs.



This article is based on the content of “Deciphering TCM” by Tongmei Pan; the original book was written in Chinese.