Chapter 667: The Problem is the Kidney

Chapter 667: Chapter 667: The Problem is the Kidney

The next patient came in.

It was a woman in her thirties, accompanying a man who appeared to be in his seventies.

The old man walked with a shuffle, and his eyes were unfocused, as if seeing was a great effort.

"Have a seat."

Li Xu said gently, gesturing for the man to sit.

"What’s bothering you?"

Li Xu asked.

The woman said anxiously, "Doctor, my dad started complaining of dizziness a while ago. His eyes water whenever he’s in the wind, his vision has gotten much worse, and everything looks blurry to him.

We went to an ophthalmologist, who diagnosed him with age-related cataracts and recommended surgery.

He had the surgery and got an artificial lens replacement, but not long after he came home, the dizziness returned!

And at night, his vision is still dim and he can’t see clearly."

"The doctor then said he had a vitamin deficiency and prescribed a lot of nerve-nourishing medication. He took a whole bunch of mecobalamin and B-vitamins, but it didn’t help at all.

That’s why we came to see a traditional Chinese medicine doctor. Is there anything you can do?"

"Come, let me take your pulse."

Li Xu had the man rest his arm on the Pulse Pillow, then placed three fingers on his wrist to read his pulse.

After a moment, he withdrew his hand and said slowly, "The pulse is thready and rapid... A thready pulse indicates yin deficiency, while a rapid pulse indicates hyperactive fire. From the pulse reading, this is a classic case of yin deficiency with ascendant yang, where deficient fire flares upward."

As he spoke, Li Xu asked the old man, "Sir, do you often feel soreness in your lower back and weakness in your legs? Do you experience tinnitus sometimes?"

"Yes, yes." The old man nodded repeatedly, as if he had found someone who truly understood. "My lower back... it’s always sore and heavy. My legs have no strength, and I have to rest after just a few steps. And sometimes my ears ring like cicadas."

"Doctor, what’s wrong with my dad?" the woman asked urgently.

"Your father’s dizziness and eye problems don’t actually stem from his eyes. The root of the problem lies lower—in his liver and kidneys."

Li Xu pointed to the old man’s waist and offered an analogy. "It’s like an oil lamp. The eyes are the flame, and the liver and kidneys are the oil. If there isn’t enough oil below, if the oil is running dry, can the flame on top still burn brightly?

Naturally, the lamp will grow dim and start to flicker."

Li Xu’s oil lamp analogy was simple and easy to understand.

The old man found the analogy deeply relatable. Who from his generation hadn’t used a kerosene lamp in their youth?

Li Xu’s explanation was so vivid and intuitive that he understood immediately.

"Doctor, does that mean my dad’s surgery was for nothing?"

The woman felt a pang of regret for the money spent and the suffering her father had endured.

"The surgery was like trimming the wick," Li Xu explained. "By trimming the wick and removing the cataract that was blocking the light, it did get brighter for a moment. That treated the symptom. But if you don’t add more oil, the flame will dim again soon because there isn’t enough fuel. If you don’t find the cause of the illness, treating only the symptoms will never cure the root problem."

"The root cause of this illness is a lack of oil. To treat the root, you must add more oil. Only with enough oil can the flame burn brightly and for a long time. For the eyes, the liver and kidneys are that oil. The liver opens into the eyes, and the kidneys store essence. Essence and blood share the same source. When the liver and kidneys are deficient, and the body weakens with age, essence and blood cannot rise to nourish the eyes. That is the fundamental reason for blurry vision and dizziness."

In the waiting room, Yoshida listened and nodded repeatedly, his eyes filled with admiration.

Li Xu’s explanation was truly brilliant, making a complex theory simple. He had used the most basic common sense to clearly explain the intricacies of Chinese medicine.

This was the caliber of a Great Physician—someone who could not only cure diseases but also impart wisdom.

Even the perpetually arrogant Professor Mitsuyama gave a slight nod. Although he had only a partial understanding of Chinese medical theory, he understood the logic.

"The organ that manages the body’s ’lamp oil’ is the kidney."

Li Xu continued to explain to the family, "The kidney governs water, and it receives and stores the essence from all the other organs."

In the theoretical framework of Traditional Chinese Medicine,

the concept of the ’kidney’ is far broader and more profound than the ’kidney’ in modern medicine.

The kidney in modern medicine is primarily responsible for urination, detoxification, and regulating water and electrolyte balance.

The Kidney in Chinese medicine, however, has primary physiological functions that include storing essence, governing water, grasping Qi, governing the bones, producing marrow, and connecting to the brain.

The Kidney stores congenital essence and governs reproduction, making it the origin of human life. Thus, it is called the "foundation of the prenatal constitution."

Kidney essence is meant to be stored, not depleted, so the Kidney is also called the "foundation of storage."

Kidney essence transforms into Kidney Qi, which is divided into yin and yang.

Kidney yin is the foundation of all yin fluids in the body, serving to nourish and moisten all the organs and tissues.

Kidney yang is the root of all Yang Qi in the body, serving to propel and warm all the organs and tissues.

Therefore, the Kidney is also known as the "root of yin and yang for all five viscera."

In Chinese medicine, there are two crucial "foundations."

One is the "Kidney," the foundation of the prenatal constitution; the other is the "Spleen and Stomach," the foundation of the postnatal constitution.

The saying, "With stomach qi, there is life; without stomach qi, there is death," emphasizes the importance of postnatal nutrition. Similarly, the saying, "A hundred diseases arise from insufficient kidney qi," highlights the importance of the prenatal foundation.

"In the elderly, the *tiangui* has been exhausted, so liver and kidney deficiency is a common condition."

Li Xu looked at the old man and said, "The Kidney governs the bones, and the lower back is the ’abode of the Kidney.’ When Kidney Qi is deficient and weak, it cannot nourish the bones and the lower back, which is why your lower back and legs are sore and weak. The Kidney also governs bodily fluids. When Kidney Qi is not consolidated, its transformation function is impaired, leading to frequent and urgent urination at night."

"Furthermore, the liver and kidney share the same source; essence and blood generate each other. Insufficient kidney essence leads to deficient liver blood. And when liver blood is insufficient, it cannot rise to nourish the head and eyes, which causes dizziness, blurred vision, and declining eyesight."

"So, the root cause of all these symptoms, in the final analysis, is liver and kidney deficiency, leading to insufficient essence and blood."

"The treatment principle is also very simple: greatly tonify the liver and kidneys, and enrich the essence to brighten the eyes."

With that, Li Xu began to write a prescription on his computer.

"Dried Rehmannia Glutinosa, Cornelian Cherry, Mountain Yam, Goji Berries, Chrysanthemum, Danggui, white peony..."

This was a modification of the famous formula, "Qi Ju Di Huang Wan."

"This prescription is specifically designed to ’add oil to the lamp.’"

Li Xu handed the prescription to the woman. "Take this consistently for a month. Not only will his vision brighten, but his back and legs will also feel stronger, and he’ll get up fewer times at night."

"Thank you, Dr. Li."

The woman took the prescription and thanked him profusely. The anxiety on her face had mostly dissipated.

Li Xu’s analogy about the "lamp oil" had been so direct and simple that she immediately understood the crux of her father’s illness.

It was much easier to understand than the jargon from specialists at big hospitals, like "insufficient blood supply to the retina" or "nerve conduction disorder," and it gave her confidence in the treatment.

In reality, patients and their families are often very reasonable.

They don’t come to the hospital to listen to indecipherable jargon or cold, technical terms.

They just want to know what’s wrong with them, why it’s happening, how the doctor plans to treat it, and if they can be cured.

As long as a doctor can explain these key points clearly, even in general terms, the patient will feel much more at ease, and their compliance with treatment will increase significantly.

This is especially true for doctors of Chinese medicine. They should never deliberately mystify things or complicate simple principles.

Helping patients understand and believe in the treatment—that is the level of mastery every practitioner of Chinese medicine should strive for.

Doctors who are quick to say things like, "You wouldn’t understand even if I told you," or, "It’s one of the mysteries of Chinese medicine," or even fob off patients by calling it "metaphysics," usually have no real skill. They might only have a half-baked understanding themselves and are just trying to fool people.