Subsequent to critical review of the data produced by the four examinations, a number of relevant facts emerge. As an example, we will present a hypothetical case. A male age 38 presents with a main complaint of an unproductive cough for over 20 years. The four examinations reveal a quiet, taxing cough with little force; copius, thin clear phlegm; a low voice, frequent spontaneous sweating; susceptibility to the common cold; a pale tongue body with thin white fur; and a vacuous pulse (characterized as floating, large, and forceless). Based on these, the practitioner must establish a Chinese disease diagnosis or isolate the key symptom and identify a pattern.

The Chinese disease diagnosis is a matter of rudimentary classification. Chinese disease categories are not the same as biomedical diseases: Chinese diseases are descriptions of pathology unique to Chinese medical theory. In our hypothetical case, the condition does not warrant a formal, classical disease diagnosis. Instead, the key symptom, cough, is isolated a a disease category. Within any textbook of Chinese medicine, cough will appear as a general classification. This serves as our Chinese disease diagnosis.

Of more importance to the Chinese practitioner is the identification of patterns of disharmony. In many ways, identifying a pattern or patterns is the lynchpin of any successful treatment. There are a number of systems used to describe patterns, including:

• six-channel pattern identification
• eight principle pattern identification
• disease cause pattern identification
• qi, blood, and body fluid pattern identification
• twelve channels and networks pattern identification
• defense qi, construction, and blood pattern identification
• triple burner pattern identification
• vicera and bowel pattern identification

Here we will restrict our discussion to viscera and bowel pattern identification, a key system in modern Chinese practice.

In conjunction with all of the information assembled on the hypothetical client–which may include a history of previous illness, a family history, and a personal history–we have an exhaustive clinical picture. It is noted that the client suffered from two serious case of pneumonia in his late teens. Pneumonia might be basically classified in Chinese medicine as a wind-heat invasion. This appears in the diagnostic procedure at the bingyin or Chinese disease cause. In the case of client XX, the historical disorder was treated with antibiotics and, from a biomedical point of view, he recovered. From the standpoint of Chinese medicine (where long-term, chronic disorders are stressed) the client was left with a serious deficit of Lung qi (vital force) which was aggravated by extenuating circumstances. His vacuous Lung qi resulted in an impairment of the Lung’s functions of diffusing and downbearing manifested as the counterflow qi disharmony of his cough. Adding insult to injury, our client indulged in smoking for eight and a half years. He also chooses not to exercise or implement good dietary habits. The years of intemperant living have taken their toll, leaving XX with barely enough Lung qi to speak at times, particularly during coughing spells.

The treatment principles are treating the root and the tip and simultaneous supplementation and attack. In this case, the root is the vacuity of Lung qi and the tip is the chief complaint, an unproductive cough for twenty years. Having experienced severe symptoms for several months, the client desires relief from the constant hacking cough. Nonetheless, an approach with naively tries to suppress the symptoms neatly misses the overriding problem of fundamental Lung qi vacuity. As soothing and welcome as the temporary relief of a Chinese syrup, as an example, might be, it will do little to address the underlying concerns. It is therefore decided to both treat the root and the tip through simultaneous supplementation (nourishing and boosting) of XX’s Lung qi and attack of the problematic symptom of cough.

The treatment method for simple Lung qi vacuity pattern (actually relatively rare as a singular presentation) is to supplement and boost the lung qi. The appropriate formula is subsequently selected.