Part II

DIAGNOSTICS OF TCM

中医诊断学

Diagnosis (pl. diagnoses) in medicine refers to determining the nature* of a diseased condition and identifying a disease pattern by careful investigation of its symptoms*, signs* and history. Traditional Chinese Medical (TCM) diagnostics is the branch of TCM dealing with the procedure* and practice of examining patients, determining diseases and differentiating syndromes* of disease signs and symptoms. It includes diagnostic methods* and syndrome differentiation (also called pattern identification). A doctor has to be able to assess the abnormal by knowing the normal*, judge the inside from observation of the outside*, and recognize the whole through observation of the parts*. Furthermore, a doctor should always keep in mind the correlation of all four examinations*, analyzing clinical data as a whole*, and determining both diseases and patterns*.