New Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 1995 Vol. 27, #9, pg. 39

Type II Diabetes is the insulin dependent diabetes.  The characteristic signs and symptoms are thirst, hunger, copious urine and sugar in the urine.  In Chinese Medicine this disease belongs to the category of Xiao Ke Bing.  For the last year we have seen 38 cases of Qi and Yin Deficiency Type II Diabetes that was diagnosed according to yin and yang theory and treated with a modified Jin Gui Shen Qi Wan with good results.

I.  Clinical Data

Of the 38 cases of Type II Diabetes seen 23 were male and 15 were female.  There were 8 patients between the ages of 40-50 years old, 14 between 51-60 years old and 16 between 61-68 years old.  The shortest disease course was 3 months and the longest 6 months.  Out of 38 cases17 were accompanied with high blood pressure, 8 with coronary heart disease, 7 with retinopathy and 13 with neuropathy.

Clinical signs and symptoms included dizziness, palpitations, lassitude, slow speech, spontaneous sweating, night sweating, weak low back and knees; or dry mouth and thirst; rapid hungering; frequent urination or copious urination, a yellow complexion, wasting, five center heat; or a white complexion with obesity, and a sticky mouth with no thirst.  Tongue body may be dark red with stasis papules or may be pale and flabby.  Tongue coat may be thin yellow or thin white and dry.  Pulse is thin and rapid or thin and weak.

II. Treatment Method

The root formula was Jin Gui Shen Qi Wan modified: shu fu zi 9g, rou gui 5g, sheng di, shan yu rou, and dan shen each 15g, huai shan yao, and sheng long gu each 30g, mu dan pi and huang qi each 20g, fu ling, ze xie and wu bei zi each 12g.

The root formula was then modified according to the pattern.  For dry heat with dry mouth and rapid hungering tian hua fen 50g, sheng shi gao 60g, and reduced shu fu zi to 5g and rou gui to 3g; for fear of cold, dull spirit and clear and long urination sang piao xiao, xian ling pi, ba ji tian each 15 g, shu fu zi up to 15g, rou gui up to 10g; for high blood pressure ge gen 20g, chong wei zi 15g, huang mi 10g, simultaneously use bing pian on the heart auricular point, alternating treatment between both ears, changing once every 3 days; for coronary heart disease sheng mu li 30g, chi shao 20g, guan gua lou and chuan xiong each 15g; for retinopathy tu si zi, or gou qi zi each 15g, qing xiang zi 12g, shui zhi 9g; for peripheral neuropathy si gua luo, ji xue teng and ren dong teng each 15g, wei ling xian 30g.

The patients took one packet of herbs each day, dividing the decocted liquid into two parts, taking one in the morning and one in the evening on an empty stomach.  This was done for 2-3 treatment courses, with thirty days equaling one treatment course.

III.  Treatment Outcome

Eight cases completely recovered, 16 cases showed clear improvement, 12 cases showed some effect and two cases had no effect.

IV.  Case Study

A 63 year old retired teacher was seen on September 10^th 1993.  The patient has had diabetes for 12 years managed with D860, You Jiang Tang, Da Mei Kang and Xiao Ke Wan.  The patient was overweight, with poor spirit, facial edema and slow speech.  He said he experiences dizziness, dry eyes, dry mouth, bitter taste, thirst, chest oppression, shortness of breath, low back and knee weakness, sweating, heart palpitations with exertion and lower leg numbness that was worse on rainy days.  His urination was frequent small amounts and yellow.  Bowel movements sloppy and twice a day.  Appetite was normal.  Tongue was dark red, coat was thin yellow and slightly greasy, pulse was thin and wiry.  This pattern belongs to qi and yin deficiency, with damp turbid obstruction.  Treatment was to warm yang, augment the qi, enrich the yin, move blood, transform damp and free the luo.  The formula; shu fu zi 5g, rou gui 3g, sheng di, dan shen, ji xue teng, gou qi zi and shan yu rou each 15g, huang qi 20g, dan pi and wu wei zi each 10g, fu ling and ze xie each 12g, wei ling xian, huai shan yao, sheng long gu and tian hua fen each 30g.  The patient took one pack a day for three treatment courses and the disease was eliminated.

V.  Discussion

Type II Diabetes is one type of metabolic disease.  Primary symptoms are copious thirst, increased appetite and increased urination.  The mechanism responsible is kidney qi(yang) deficiency.  This is failure of qi transformation leading to poor fluid metabolism and insufficiency of kidney yin.  Fire rises consuming the fluids and the food.  It is also possible to see the whole body mechanism decline when the qi and yin are both deficient leading to the three primary signs accompanied with dizziness and lack of strength, sluggish limbs, palpitations, shortness of breath, spontaneous sweating and night sweats.  If blood stasis obstructs the luo you will see circulation disorders where the tongue is dark purple with stasis papules and  the limbs are numb or achy and painful.