1. Research on the Essence of Blood Stasis

1. Research on the Essence of Blood Stasis

Research on the essence of blood stasis has become quite in-depth in recent times. Currently, it is believed that the blood stasis syndrome in TCM generally involves the following three pathological changes: ① Local congestion and ischemia caused by circulatory disorders. ② Congestion and hemorrhage in skin, mucous membranes, and internal organs. ③ Tissue hyperplasia, degeneration, nodules, and tumors. Experimental studies on these three processes have shown that the pathological changes associated with blood stasis occur in the following aspects: ① Microcirculatory disorders: including slow and stagnant blood flow, aggregation of blood cells (even forming sludge-like masses), deformation and exudation of capillaries. ② Hemorheological abnormalities: blood can exist in four states—thick, viscous, coagulated, and aggregated. Thick refers to increased blood concentration and compositional changes; viscous refers to increased blood viscosity; coagulated refers to accelerated blood clotting; aggregated refers to increased cell aggregation. ③ Hemodynamic abnormalities: blood stasis often accompanies hemodynamic abnormalities, which are usually caused by heart failure. When cardiac function declines, hemodynamic changes inevitably occur, and at the same time, blood stasis is also found. In addition, chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis, thromboangiitis obliterans, psoriasis, and other conditions all affect local hemodynamics, making blood stasis common in these areas as well.