Epigastric Pain Syndromes Ancient And Modern Literature Research And Academic Origins

Gastralgia is a familiar disease characterized by stomachache or bellyache, mostly along with distention and fullness, acid regurgitation, and poor appetite etc. At the early stage of this disease, it is usually caused by depressed emotion, liver qi invading stomach, unbalanced diet, and spleen qi and stomach qi damaged by overstrain. And it will become a lingering disease because of qi depression transforming into fire, saliva accumulating and transforming into phlegm, static blood injuring collaterals, yin fluid damaged, or yang qi injured.The typical clinical manifestations of gastralgia are mentioned in Chinese ancient literatures. And there are a great many related records in ancient books of traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). With abundant medical experience, rich theories of TCM on gastralgia were accumulated, including etiology, pathogenesis, syndrome differentiation, treatment, preventive measures, nursing, healing, and so on. So it is worth to dig and collate the literatures and to inherit and develop the theories.This study is basically a study of philology. Based on the data of gastralgia in past dynasties collected, further analysis on these materials is made. The academic characters in each stage from pre-qin to the Republic of China Period are expatiated to reveal the origin and development of the learning on gastralgia. Clinical experience in diagnosing and treating gastralgia by modern physicians of TCM is also summarized to reflect their academic thinking. It provides some references for clinic and will be help to exploit the study and treatment of gastralgia.This paper is composed of four parts: study on the headstream of the disease name, the points of view of ancient physicians, the clinical experience of modern physicians, and discussion on related questions. In the first part, the origin and evolvement of the disease name was combed, which clarifies the venation of name evolving from a name for symptom to a name for disease and distinguishes gastralgia from related and similar diseases.In the second and third parts, with a dynastic history of medicine development unfolded, the characters of medicine and the theories about gastralgia in each stage were summarized, whose emphasis is the study on gastralgia, involving disease name, cause and pathogenesis, diagnosis, treatment, characteristic medicine, preventing, nursing, and so on. And the experience and measures of syndrome differentiation and treatment from modern physicians were systemically summarized.In the fourth part, gastralgia related questions were discussed, especially in some thoughts of syndrome differentiation and some prescriptions rarely used by the doctors of today, so as to exploit the thoughts of treatment based on syndrome differentiation.