Exploration of the Theory on Etiology and Pathogenesis of Altitude Sickness in Traditional Chinese Medicine:Concurrent Discussion on "Oxygen" as the Seventh Pathogenic Factors
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Exploration of the Theory on Etiology and Pathogenesis of Altitude Sickness in Traditional Chinese Medicine:Concurrent Discussion on "Oxygen" as the Seventh Pathogenic Factors
Journal of Traditional Chinese MedicineVol. 66, Issue 24, Pages: 2509-2516(2025)
DU Song,ZHANG Huamin,HUANG Luqi.Exploration of the Theory on Etiology and Pathogenesis of Altitude Sickness in Traditional Chinese Medicine:Concurrent Discussion on "Oxygen" as the Seventh Pathogenic Factors[J].Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine,2025,66(24):2509-2516.
DU Song,ZHANG Huamin,HUANG Luqi.Exploration of the Theory on Etiology and Pathogenesis of Altitude Sickness in Traditional Chinese Medicine:Concurrent Discussion on "Oxygen" as the Seventh Pathogenic Factors[J].Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine,2025,66(24):2509-2516.DOI: 10.13288/j.11-2166/r.2025.24.001.
Exploration of the Theory on Etiology and Pathogenesis of Altitude Sickness in Traditional Chinese Medicine:Concurrent Discussion on "Oxygen" as the Seventh Pathogenic Factors
Based on the "hypoxia" characteristic of the high-altitude environment and its clinical manifestations, combined with the classic theories of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), this paper holds that "hypoxia" is the main etiology of altitude sickness, which can be called the "oxygen" pathogen, a special exogenous pathogenic factor under high-altitude environment. The "oxygen" pathogen in high-altitude areas has four characteristics in terms of nature and pathogenicity. Firstly, its nature is similar to wind but not wind, and it is the "primary cause of all diseases" in high-altitude areas; secondly, it is prone to be accompanied by wind to attack
yang
positions first, consuming
qi
and damaging essence; thirdly, it disturbs
qi
and blood and is prone to transformation; fourthly, it easily invades collate-rals, and blood stasis is a common manifestation. The core pathogenesis of altitude sickness is "being affected by the oxygen pathogen and deficiency of pectoral
qi
(
zong qi
)". At the initial stage, there is insufficient clear
qi
and weakness of pectoral
qi
; subsequently, breathing deepens and accelerates compensatorily, leading to excessive consumption of pectoral
qi
. These two factors together result in pectoral
qi
deficiency. Different from other external contraction, this disease presents with a mixture of deficiency and excess,
as well as concurrent disorders of
qi
and blood from the onset, and this characteristic runs through the entire course of the disease. The evolution of its pathogenesis is greatly affected by the high-altitude environment and constitutional endowment, and it is prone to evolve in different directions such as cold transformation or dryness transformation. The
zang
-
fu
organs involved mainly include the lung, heart, spleen, kidney, stomach, and brain.
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