In Western medicine illnesses are often only identified when there is a measurable physiological change to the body; an increased white blood cell count, a growth of new tissue, a deficiency of iron etc. But illnesses often start long before this, with subjective feelings of discomfort or unease that are far more difficulty to quantify.

In one school of Chinese medicine practice we use a model called the ‘Four Levels’ of an illness. They are 1) Wei [Defensive Qi] 2) Qi [Nutritive Qi] 3) Xue [Blood] and 4) Yin.

The first two Levels of this system are ‘Qi’ levels. In this context Qi means alterations to the normal functioning of the body that are incorporeal_, i.e. they haven’t affected the structures of the body yet. The last two Levels deal with physical substances, Blood and Yin. These changes _are corporeal and measurable.

Chinese medicine is often said to treat illnesses before they begin. What we actually do is endeavour to treat them while they’re still at the Wei / Qi stage. How do you diagnose something that hasn’t manifested physically yet? We use our same tools of questioning, palpation, tongue and pulse diagnosis. We pay attention not just to symptoms but also ‘signs’, which are quirks of a person’s presentation that aren’t necessarily debilitating or bothersome but do give us good information about their overall health. Things like a preference for hot or cold drinks, what time they tend to fall asleep and wake up, their subjective body temperature and so on. This all helps us gather information about a person and build a ‘pattern diagnosis’ which allows us to begin treatment.