Diabetes

Diabetes is a multifaceted disease, understood divergently yet complementarily through the lenses of Western medicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Western medicine identifies it as a chronic metabolic ailment wherein elevated blood glucose levels cause systemic damage, including to eyes, kidneys, and circulatory systems (American Diabetes Association, Diabetes Care, 2014). It is bifurcated into Type 1, implicating insufficient insulin production, and Type 2, highlighting the body's compromised glucose regulation (Skyler et al., Journal of the American Medical Association, 2001). Contrasting this, TCM describes diabetes as Xiaoke, often attributing it to Stomach Yin Deficiency—a state where the stomach, responsible for generating bodily fluids, becomes imbalanced, leading to dryness and heat (Chen & Chen, "Chinese Medical Herbology and Pharmacology," 2004). Despite the divergence in taxonomies and diagnostic criteria, both medical paradigms recognize diabetes' complexity and the need for a multipronged therapeutic approach.