There are two types of Contributing Factors that affect the body: Various factors that can help the body by improving the functioning of tissues and organs and the effect of Heat Energy from which the goals of preventing disease and illness, delaying senescence, healing disease and illness, and increasing longevity can be achieved, are known as Contributing Factors favorable in medical treatment and health maintenance. Conversely, various factors that will harm the body and lead to the malfunctioning of tissues and organs and severe depletion of Heat Energy, resulting in Symptoms and Signs, stamina decline, and even life endangerment, are known as Contributing Factors detrimental to health.

Thus it can be seen that for Contributing Factors to influence Effects, it must be through the Cause. If one ignores the functioning of the body or individual constitutional differences (the Cause) and merely addresses the efficacy of Contributing Factors favorable in medical treatment and health maintenance or the impact of Contributing Factors detrimental to health, one would commit the fallacy of abandoning the Cause, addressing Contributing Factors, and asserting that Contributing Factors would cure Effects or Contributing Factors create Effects. In other words, in medical treatment, one must not abandon the Cause and merely address Contributing Factors. That is, one must not ignore the functioning of the body (the Cause) and assert that Contributing Factors favorable in medical treatment and health maintenance such as diet and medicine, Antui, acupuncture, and surgery can heal disease and illness; i.e., that Contributing Factors cure Effects. Or, in diagnosis, one must not abandon the Cause and merely address Contributing Factors. That is, one must not ignore individual constitutional differences (the Cause) and assert that Contributing Factors detrimental to health such as bacteria, viruses, wind-cold, and emotions can cause disease and illness; i.e., that Contributing Factors create Effects.

The purpose of Yuan Shi Dian (YSD) medicine is to apply Contributing Factors favorable in medical treatment and health maintenance to everyday life and avoid Contributing Factors detrimental to health. However, the role of Contributing Factors is not absolute. For example, although exercise will deplete Heat Energy, an appropriate measure of exercise can assist the absorption of food to convert to Heat Energy. Another example is that although Antui and Heat Sources can improve the functioning of tissues and organs and ameliorate Heat Energy Deficiency, if they are excessive, they will have the opposite effect of causing Tishang and depleting Heat Energy. So Contributing Factors must be applied within the body’s tolerance level to achieve the goals of improving the body constitution and the healing of disease and illness.

(1)   Contributing Factors Favorable in Medical Treatment and Health Maintenance:

Contributing Factors favorable in medical treatment and health maintenance can be further subdivided into Contributing Factors favorable in medical treatment (such as proper Antui of Yuan Shi Tong Dian or the tender points of the Affected Area), and Contributing Factors favorable in health maintenance (such as the beneficial use of Heat Sources, appropriate exercise, adequate rest, and a good state of mind). These various beneficial Contributing Factors must be implemented conscientiously in everyday life. Only then can Tishang and Heat Energy Deficiency be ameliorated, so that if there is no disease and illness, aging can be countered, longevity increased, and disease and illness prevented. If there is disease and illness, healing can be accelerated so patients with severe disease and illness can turn from peril to safety.

(2)   Contributing Factors Detrimental to Health:

Contributing Factors detrimental to health include misconceptions, lack of exercise, stress, anger, staying up late, fatigue, exogenous cold, heatstroke, foods and medicines that are too cold, contaminated or have deteriorated, improper medical examination and surgery, trauma, burns, environmental pollution, chemical venom, poison gases (such as chemical emissions, gas, biogas, natural gas), poisonous organisms (such as poisonous snakes, poisonous spiders, wasps, centipedes, poisonous scorpions, poisonous mosquitoes and other poisonous insects, and poisonous plants), and various types of bacteria, viruses, and the like.

The aforementioned Contributing Factors detrimental to health can directly lead to Tishang or cause Heat Energy to become even more deficient and affect Tishang, thus further create Symptoms and Signs. Therefore, they must be avoided as much as possible.

If harm has been created, what must be considered in the more critical cases such as injury caused by burns, food poisoning, chemical venom, poison gases, poisonous organisms, and special types of bacteria, viruses etc., a large amount of Heat Energy will be depleted and lead to the decline of stamina. Serious cases can be life-threatening. To treat these types of disease and illness, one must, through observation of the Symptoms and Signs, make beneficial use of External and Internal Heat Sources and coordinate with Antui of Yuan Shi Tong Dian and even the tender points of the Affected Area to enhance the amelioration of Tishang and Heat Energy Deficiency to quickly heal the disease and illness and turn peril to safety for patients.

However, Western medicine treats from the Effects. From examinations by medical instruments, cool and cold medicine are used to stop the burning, detox or kill the bacteria and viruses, and control the Symptoms and Signs. There is no realization that such diagnosis and treatment are not beneficial for the disease and illness and would even aggravate the Symptoms and Signs. The reason is obviously related to the cool and cold nature of the medicine. However, the key is that Western medicine targets results from medical instruments as objects of diagnosis and treatment. For example, with influenza, Western medicine is mainly dealing with the virus. But because the virus is not the Cause of disease and illness, if the virus is detected, there may not be Symptoms and Signs. If the virus is treated by vaccination, the Symptoms and Signs may also not be resolved; it is even beyond the scope of medical treatment. Besides, the virus is a Contributing Factor that will disappear as time elapses, so they only need to be avoided. Hence to require people to be vaccinated to produce antibodies against the virus is a major misunderstanding in medicine.

In fact, whether it is for resolving or preventing influenza, it is only necessary through observation to find the tender points at the Yuan Shi Dian locations to Antui and combine with External and Internal Heat Sources to achieve the goal of treating pre-existing disease and illness or treating them before their onset. With this understanding, one would not go astray and treat viruses detected by instruments as the primary object of diagnosis and treatment. By analogy, inferences can be drawn for other Contributing Factors detrimental to health and should be viewed the same way.