2 Interior Syndrome

(2) Interior Syndrome

The disease location is deeper, affecting the zang-fu organs. Interior syndromes can be categorized as cold, heat, deficiency, or excess, either caused by "external pathogenic factors entering the interior" or "the zang-fu organs themselves generating the syndrome." Cold interior syndrome presents with cold limbs and aversion to cold, cold abdominal pain, loose stools and watery diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, deep and slow pulse, and white, slippery coating; heat interior syndrome presents with high fever and sweating, intense thirst, flushed face and red eyes, short and scanty urination, and in severe cases, confusion and delirium, deep and rapid pulse, and red tongue with yellow coating; excess interior syndrome presents with hard, dry stools, fullness and distension of the abdomen, refusal to press on the abdomen, delirium and mania, deep and strong pulse, and thick yellow coating; deficiency interior syndrome presents with shortness of breath, lethargy, loss of appetite and fatigue, diarrhea and nocturnal emission, deep and weak pulse, and swollen, tender tongue.