Usage Of Syndrome Etiology As A Method Of Diagnosis In Erectile Dysfunction-a Preliminary Study

Objective:By drawing up a scale analysis of the syndrome etiologies of Erectile Dysfunction (ED) and by distilling the core syndrome etiologies, we explore the distribution, constituents and process of change in various syndrome etiologies, hence making a first step to putting together a reliable method for diagnose ED based on syndrome etiology.Method:Through retrospective study of historical records related to the treatment of Erectile Dysfunction (ED) in Chinese medicine, we then categorize and surmise the key characteristics of various clinical symptoms and syndromes. With this as a basis for drawing up a scale study, we then evaluate its veracity and validity. We use297clinical cases of ED, with special note of the information regarding Chinese medicine diagnostics, and then take the principal components and factor analysis to distill the core syndrome etiologies associated with ED, hence creating a diagnostic list of syndrome etiologies. At the same time, we incorporate data regarding the patients’ age, duration of pathology and past history to implement a retrospective statistical analysis regarding ED.Result:1. Scale analysis of ED’s syndrome etiology exhibits good reliability and validity, and is in accord with the requirements of scale studies in the area of clinical infectious disease.2. ED clinical symptoms and syndromes that appear most frequently include soreness and weakness in the lower back and knees, lethargy, emotional repression, frequent urination and urgent need to urinate, dampness of the scrotal sac, aversion to cold with coldness in the extremities, stickiness and cloying sensation in the mouth, bad sleep quality, yellow and cloying tongue coat, pale tongue, red tongue or dark tongue with stasis spots, sunken pulse.3. Through principal component and factor analysis, we have distilled nine core syndrome etiologies:Liver Constraint with Qi Stagnation, Blood Stasis, Kidney Yin Deficiency, Kidney Yang Deficiency, Phlegm-Damp, Heart-Spleen Paired Deficiency, Liver Constraint transforming into Fire, Qi-Yin Paired Deficiency. Damp-Heat presents mainly as humidity in the scrotal sac, frequent and urgent urination, yellow and cloying tongue coat, stickiness and cloying sensation in mouth; Kidney Yang Deficiency presents mainly as aversion to cold with coldness in the extremities, lethargy and a pale tongue with sunken pulse; Kidney Yin Deficiency presents mainly as soreness and weakness in the lower back and knees and a red tongue; Liver Constraint and Qi Stagnation presents as emotional repression; Blood Stasis presents mainly as a dark tongue or one with stasis spots; Heart-Spleen Paired Deficiency presents mainly as poor sleep quality, teethmarks on the tongue; Phlegm-Damp present mainly as obesity, stickiness and cloying sensation in mouth and teethmarks on the tongue; Qi-Yin Paired Deficiency presents mainly as excessive perspiration, soreness and weakness of lower back and knees, dry mouth and a red tongue; Liver Constraint transforming into Fire presents mainly as vexation and anger, a sticky and bitter mouth, and a yellow and cloying tongue coat.4. Retrospective statistical analysis of frequency reveals:Liver Constraint with Qi Stagnation, Kidney Yin Deficiency, Damp-Heats and Liver Constraint transforming into Fire is mostly seen in young adults with short disease duration, and this segment of people is seen in lower proportion with an increase in age. Damp-Heat is most often seen in association with people suffering from chronic prostatitis. Kidney Yang Deficiency, Phlegm-Damp, and Heart-Spleen Paired Deficiency is most often seen in the older adult population, where the disease duration is longer. Qi-Yin Paired Deficiency is mostly associated with diabetes patients of the geriatric population, with disease duration exceeding one year. Blood Stasis is seen in all age segments and disease duration segments. More than half the people surveyed have a combination of overlapping syndrome etiologies, usually two to three overlapping at the same time. Liver Constraint with Qi Stagnation, Kidney Yin Deficiency, Damp Heat and Liver Constraint transforming into Fire are often seen together; Kidney Yang Deficiency, Heart-Spleen Paired Deficiency and Phlegm-Damp are often seen together; Blood Stasis is also seen in combination with other syndrome etiologies.Conclusion:Early-stage etiology and the accompanying syndromes of ED usually present as Liver Constraint with Qi Stagnation, Kidney Yin Deficiency, Damp-Heat, Liver Constraint transforming into Fire and Blood Stasis. In such a situation, the location of pathology is in the Liver, Kidneys and Lower Jiao, while the pathology presents as a situation of Excess. With progress in the duration of the disease, the disease etiology with their accompanying syndromes will evolve into that of Kidney Yang Deficiency, Heart-Spleen Paired Deficiency, Qi-Yin Paired Deficiency, Phlegm-Damp, Blood Stasis. In such a situation, the location of the pathology is the Kidneys, Heart and Spleen, while the pathology presents mainly as Deficiency, but with an amalgamation of Excess and Deficiency. In the final stages, the presentation is that of Yin-Yang Deficiency of the Heart-Spleen-Kidneys, bounded together with Phlegm-Damp and Blood Stasis.