One Hundred Questions on Zhuxia

One Hundred Questions on Zhuxia is a popular traditional Chinese medicine guide that introduces knowledge on the prevention and treatment of zhuxia in a question-and-answer format. Zhuxia, also written zhuxia, is a disease name in traditional Chinese medicine referring to a series of symptoms that appear after the onset of summer—listlessness and fatigue, low-grade fever, poor appetite, weight loss, irritability and excessive sweating, and loose stools. It is most common in the long summer plum-rain season and is considered a mild form of summerheat disease. TCM holds that its pathogenesis is mostly summerheat-dampness obstructing the spleen and stomach, or summerheat consuming healthy qi and impairing the spleen's transportive function; patients often have an underlying constitution of weak spleen and stomach and insufficient qi and yin, and symptoms usually resolve on their own after autumn arrives. The book poses and answers questions one by one on the clinical manifestations, pathogenesis, treatment principles and methods, and prescription and medication for zhuxia. Besides conventional oral Chinese medicine, it introduces acupuncture, tuina, umbilical therapy, acupoint application, and external treatment and regulation methods such as medicinal diets, food therapy, and medicinal teas. It devotes considerable space to pediatric zhuxia, a clinical focus, and differentiates it from other common childhood diseases; it also offers concrete approaches to managing the condition in special groups such as the elderly, pregnant women, and postpartum women. The book is grounded mainly in TCM discourse while also drawing on Western medicine, strives for plain and concise language, and presents simple, easy-to-apply methods. It can serve as a daily reference for general readers and as a supplementary text for medical workers diagnosing and treating zhuxia.