CHAPTER 8

INQUIRY

问诊

Upon completion of this chapter, you are required to:

Master the words that form the TCM terms associated with this chapter.
Understand the meaning of new TCM terms formed by these words.
Make new TCM terms in English with these words.
Describe the types of cold, heat and pain and their mechanism.
Explain the mechanism of the special symptoms and tell their commonly observed disease.
State common causes for pathological conditions of urine* and urination*, and stool and defecation*.

Inquiry is one of the four diagnostic examinations, a way of gaining information for diagnosis by asking patients about general information*, chief complaint*, history of present illness*, past medical history*, social history*, and family history*. In TCM, present symptoms and signs* are extremely important because they determine the syndrome. Asking about present symptoms and signs involves asking if the patient has cold, heat, sweating, and pain, asking the patient if there is any abnormality in sleep, diet intake, taste, urine and urination, stool and defecation, and abnormality of the five sense organs and reproductive system*.

However, in this chapter, we are only going to discuss inquiry about cold and heat, pain, and some other common conditions. For more information, you may check the following websites:

http://en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/traditional_chinese_medicine
http://www.shen-nong.com/eng/exam/exam_diagnostic_questioning.html
http://www.yinyanghouse.com/theory/chinese/questioning_diagnosis (a dead link)