Joint & Cartilage

In Western medicine, arthritis is understood as an autoimmune condition involving the inflammation or degeneration of one or more joints, often studied through immunopathology (Firestein et al., "Kelley and Firestein's Textbook of Rheumatology," 2017). Conversely, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) offers a different etiological perspective, emphasizing patterns of disharmony. One prevalent pattern in arthritis cases is the deficiency of kidney yang, which, in TCM theory, is associated with warmth and governs bones, joints, and ligaments (Liu et al., Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 2015). The kidney yang deficiency is considered a crucial factor affecting the skeletal system, often leading to symptoms akin to those in arthritis (Xu et al., Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2013). Both paradigms, while divergent, contribute to the multi-dimensional understanding of arthritis.