2 Interior Syndrome

(2) Interior Syndrome

Here, the disease has penetrated deeply into the zang-fu organs. Interior syndromes can be categorized as cold, heat, deficiency, or excess, arising either from "external pathogens entering the interior" or from "the zang-fu organs themselves generating pathology." Cold interior syndrome presents with cold limbs and aversion to cold, abdominal cold pain, loose stools and watery diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, deep and slow pulse, and white, slippery tongue coating; heat interior syndrome shows high fever with profuse sweating, intense thirst and desire for drinks, flushed face and red eyes, short and scanty urination, and in severe cases, confusion and delirium, along with deep, rapid pulse and yellow, thick tongue coating; excess interior syndrome manifests as hard, dry stools, abdominal distension and fullness, abdominal pain with tenderness to palpation, delirium and mania, deep, solid pulse, and thick, yellow tongue coating; deficiency interior syndrome is characterized by shortness of breath, lethargy, loss of appetite, fatigue, diarrhea, and impotence, along with deep, weak pulse and plump, tender tongue.