Treatment of Hematuria and Proteinuria of IgA Nephropathy from Li Dongyuan’s ‘yin fire’ Theory

Abstract

Li Dongyuan’s ‘yin fire’ theory holds that yin fire is an endogenous fire pathogen caused by deficiency of spleen and stomach and damage of primordial qi. IgA nephropathy is mainly manifested by recurrent hematuria and proteinuria, and its clinical characteristics of ‘correlation between pharynx and kidney’ are consistent with the pathogenesis of yin fire rushing upward. In the clinical practice, Fan Ping found that some IgAN patients belong to the syndrome of ‘spleen and stomach deficiency and yin fire rising’, and the treatment from ‘tonifying spleen and rising yang, dispersing fire and hemostasis’ can achieve good results. Based on this, the pathogenesis hypothesis of ‘spleen and stomach deficiency-yin fire rushing up-kidney collateral burning’ is proposed, and the treatment rule of ‘tonifying spleen and ascending yang, dispersing fire and stopping bleeding’ is established, which provides a new idea for the differentiation and treatment of hematuria and proteinuria in IgA nephropathy.