The lung governs qi and respiration, while the kidney governs the reception of qi. So the disorders of respiration are usually due to the pathological changes of the lung and kidney. The following is a brief description of the abnormal changes in respiration.

Rapid and weak respiration:
Generally speaking, the disease with acute onset and rapid breath and high voice pertains to heat syndrome and sthenia syndrome; the disease with long duration, weak breath and shortness of breath in movement pertains to asthenia syndrome and cold syndrome.

Dyspnea and bronchial wheezing:
Dyspnea refers to difficulty in breath, shortness and rapidity in breath, or even opening the mouth, raising the shoulders and flapping the nose wings in breathing as well as inability to lie flat. Dyspnea is either of asthenia or sthenia nature. Sthenia-dyspnea is marked by rapidity, deep breath and quick exhalation, usually due to sthenia pathogenic factors in the lung and inhibited flow of qi; asthenia-dyspnea is marked by slow and weak breath, less inhalation and more exhalation, discontinued breath, dyspnea in movement and preference for deep breath, usually caused by asthenia-impairment of the lung and kidney as well as insufficient reception of qi.

Bronchial wheezing is marked by rapid breath like dyspnea, stridor in the throat, repeated relapse and difficulty in cure, usually caused by internal retention of phlegm complicated by exogenous pathogenic factors attacks which stirs up the latent retention of fluid; or by excessive intake of sour, salty, uncooked and cold food. Clinically dyspnea is not necessarily to occur together with wheezing. Simultaneous appearance of dyspnea and wheezing is called asthma.

Shortness of breath and weak breath:
Shortness of breath means that the breath is not continuous like dyspnea and that the patient raises the shoulders when breathing. Usually there is no sputum. Such a morbid condition is usually seen in various diseases of asthenia or sthenia nature. The asthenia syndrome is marked by shortness of breath and low voice, usually accompanied by dispiritedness, lassitude and spontaneous sweating due to weakness and chronic disease which consumes primordial qi and thoracic qi; sthenia syndrome is marked by shortness of breath and hoarseness of voice accompanied by chest oppression, cough and dyspnea due to stagnation of phlegm and retention of fluid as well as inhibited flow of qi.

Weak breath is marked by feeble and short breath and low voice. It is not discontinuous like the manifestation in shortness of breath. Weak breath is usually due to insufficiency of visceral qi, especially asthenia of lung and kidney qi. Besides, this condition is accompanied by sighs due to chest oppression and depression resulting from emotional upsets and depression of liver qi.