By: Wu Yi-ling
Pages: 467
Book Type: Hard Cover
ISBN: 978-7-117-10415-9
Year Published: 2008

Collateral disease theory emerged along with the establishment of the Yellow Emperor’s Inner Classic, as early as the Qin and Han dynasties. Throughout the development of TCM, the main channel system has been clearly emphasized, where the study of collateral disease has been inexplicably neglected. Unlike the 12 regular meridians, the collateral vessels do not have a specific running course, so our understanding of their pathology is much less clear. This leaves us with the key task of establishing a complete theoretical system.

The collateral system refer to a network of vessels which act to  maintain vital activities and stabilize the internal environment. These vessels diverge from the main pathways of the channel system to enmesh the entire body, thus distributing qi and blood to all of the tissues and viscera.

Although there is some correlation between blood stasis patterns and conditions involving impairment of the collaterals, the pathogenesis of these conditions are distinctly different. With that, new research is being conducted on the treatment of heart disease, stoke, cancer, and diabetes from the viewpoint of collateral disease theory.

For the first time in the history of Chinese Traditional Medicine, here is a  book  that fully elaborates the physiology, pathology and treatment of collateral disease. This text can certainly benefit t the practitioners who wish to deepen their understanding of intractable diseases.

About the Author:

Wu Yi Ling

Dr. Jiang has been working with clinical studies, teaching and research in acupuncture related field for over 17 years and he is a highly respected physician by the community.

Professor Wu Yi-ling is a distinguished scholar of traditional Chinese medicine and doctoral supervisor at Hebei Medical University. He also acts as professor of integrative medicine at Hebei Medical University, chief physician and president of the Hebei Integrative Chinese-Western Medical Research Institute, and president of the Hebei Yiling Hospital affiliated to Hebei Medical University.

Dr. Wu has been engaged in the study of collateral disease theory and application for over 20 years. As the leader of the scientific research program for the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine (SATCM), he initiated the first systematic study on collateral disease theory and its exploratory development.

He was the first to put forward the theoretical framework of collateral disease theory—the 3-D network system—and his continuing work aims to study collateral vessel theory from the unified view of time, space, and function. Remarkable achievements have been achieved due to his ongoing efforts in the study and treatment of diseases such as endothelial dysfunction of vascular lesions, atherosclerosis, vasospasm, acute myocardial infarction, cerebral infarction, and diabetic microangiopathy with collateral-unblocking drugs.