Key points for TCM diagnosis:
Clinically the disease is characterized by principal deficiency and secondary excess and the differentiation should focus on whether principal deficiency or secondary excess is dominant. If it is a case of secondary excess, a further differentiation is needed as to identify the location of the disease as whether it is at qifen, yingfen or xuefen, the severity and urgency of the case and the involved organ; if it is a case of principal deficiency, a further differentiation should be made to identify the location of the disease and the dominant aspect as whether it is qi deficiency, yang deficiency or yin deficiency. Then corresponding principles should be established according to whether principal deficiency or secondary excess is dominant. As most of the cases are caused by deficiency of liver yin and kidney yin and the attack of pathogenic heat, nourishing yin, subduing fire, clearing away heat and toxic substance are the common therapeutic principles.