Consumption

Consumption

The syndrome of tuberculosis manifests as hemoptysis, cough with phlegm, spermatorrhea, diarrhea, tidal fever, night sweats, emaciation, fatigue, dreams of intercourse with ghosts or dreams of deceased relatives, a tendency to criticize others, persistent resentment, relief in the morning but aggravation in the afternoon, fever, irritability, dry mouth and nose, flushed face and red lips, bone-steaming lung-wasting, sore throat and loss of voice; if diarrhea persists, the condition is incurable. The root cause lies in damage from excessive indulgence in alcohol and sexual activity, as well as blood loss, leading to stagnation of blood and accumulation of internal heat, which then gives rise to tuberculosis worms that erode the essence and blood of the internal organs, resulting in various bizarre symptoms. After the patient dies, the worm qi can infect family members, a phenomenon known as "transmission of the corpse" or "corpse mansion," because the symptoms resemble those of the deceased. To identify the presence of these worms, one may palpate a mass in the abdomen or small tubercles on both sides of the back of the head. Alternatively, one can fumigate the back of the hand with frankincense, cover the palm with a cloth, and wait until hair about an inch long grows on the hand; white-yellow hair indicates treatability, reddish hair suggests moderate difficulty, while bluish-black hair signifies a fatal case. If no hair grows after fumigation, it is not a case of tuberculosis worms. Another method involves burning genuine benzoin incense and inhaling the smoke: if one does not cough, it is not transmission of the corpse; however, if coughing occurs upon inhalation, it confirms the presence of transmission of the corpse. The morphology of tuberculosis worms varies—some resemble dung beetles, others red silk horse tails, some look like toads, snails, or rats, some have faces but no bodies, others have bodies but no heads, and still others transform essence and blood into primordial qi. When the infection spreads to three individuals, the worms become so strange and elusive that they are virtually untreatable. Therefore, when using medication to eliminate the worms, patients should be kept unaware, lest the worms become alert and the treatment becomes ineffective.

How do tuberculosis worms come into being? Just as wood must first rot before insects can breed within it, so too must the human body first develop stagnant blood and internal heat before tuberculosis worms emerge. These worms are transformed from the wind-wood energy; since the liver governs wind and also stores blood, any stagnation of blood in the liver is akin to wood rotting first. Consequently, the liver's wind energy becomes trapped and overheated (1), transforming the stagnant blood into worms. Once transformed into worms, treatment should focus on eliminating them, preferably with Tianlinggai Powder. However, Tianlinggai is difficult to obtain and not always suitable; tiger skull bones or Jinchan Pills can serve as substitutes. I personally use a mixture of dried lacquer, bright realgar, Sichuan pepper, neem bark, white-necked earthworms, cimicifuga, and curcuma rhizomes ground into powder, taken with plain water at the fifth watch of the night. If the worms do not vomit, they will be expelled; the primary goal is to kill the worms, but especially the dried lacquer and curcuma rhizomes, which also address blood stasis, since tuberculosis worms arise from blood stagnation. Killing the worms treats the symptom, while removing blood stasis addresses the root cause. Many texts only mention killing the worms without explaining their origin, which is why their treatments often fail. I emphasize here that tuberculosis worms originate from blood stagnation, and treating blood stasis is therefore addressing the root cause. The "Dialectical Records" (2) employs the "Moving Corpse Eliminating Monster Decoction" to treat tuberculosis worms transmitted through corpses, with the main focus on removing blood stasis, hence its effectiveness.

Tuberculosis worms arise from blood stagnation. Once formed, they devour the body's essence and blood, gradually depleting vital energy. If we merely kill the worms without addressing the underlying deficiency, the illness will never truly heal. The Yuehua Pill is designed to tonify deficiency while simultaneously eliminating blood stasis and killing the worms, making it a comprehensive therapeutic approach. Regular consumption of monkfish meat is also beneficial, or one can prepare pills using eel bones, turtle shell, ophiopogon, cornelian cherry, bupleurum, angelica, indigo, and peach kernel, taken with ginseng decoction—a technique that combines tonification and elimination.

Moreover, any accumulation of damp-heat and phlegm can give rise to worms, just like infantile malnutrition-related parasites. In such cases, Jinchan Pills are effective, unlike the more elusive and difficult-to-treat blood-derived worms.

After eliminating the worms, the next step is to nourish the deficiency. Eighty to ninety percent of patients suffer from yin deficiency, for which Qiongyu Paste is recommended, with additional ingredients such as phellodendron, ophiopogon, and placenta being even better. Twenty to thirty percent of patients have yang deficiency, for whom Liu Junzi Tang is prescribed.

[Notes] (1) Yu'e Zhengshan: refers to the combination of internal heat and liver wind. (2) Dialectical Records: compiled by Chen Shiduo during the Qing Dynasty. It consists of fourteen volumes, plus one volume titled "Detailed Explanation of Pulse Diagnosis."

[Commentary] Tuberculosis is a contagious chronic wasting disease, also known as pulmonary tuberculosis, similar to what Western medicine calls pulmonary tuberculosis. This article provides an extremely detailed description of the clinical manifestations of this disease and proposes the use of Yuehua Pills, Qiongyu Paste, as well as pills made from eel bones, turtle shells, ophiopogon, lotus seeds, bupleurum, angelica, indigo, and peach kernels for treatment, all of which have proven effective in clinical practice. The statement in the article, "Once tuberculosis worms are formed, they devour the body's essence and blood, gradually depleting vital energy. If we merely kill the worms without addressing the underlying deficiency, the illness will never truly heal," underscores the importance of reinforcing vital energy and tonifying deficiency, which is the key to treating this disease in traditional Chinese medicine. At the same time, the author explicitly states that this condition is caused by tuberculosis worms, although this is only a hypothesis, it does indicate a further understanding of the etiology of the disease. However, due to historical limitations, the author's understanding of the disease's causes is still far from modern medical knowledge. As for the methods described for identifying tuberculosis worms—such as fumigating the back of the hand with frankincense, covering the palm with a cloth, and waiting until hair grows about an inch long—these are all lacking practical evidence.