An Analysis of Professor Dong Sheng’s Thought on Treating Chronic Kidney Disease with Both Cold and Warm Therapies

Abstract

The combined cold and warm prescription method was proposed in the “Nei Jing” as the concept of “harmonizing cold and heat”, emphasizing the need to consider both yin and yang when treating complex diseases. This idea has been known to medical practitioners since then. In “Shang Han Lun”, Zhang Zhongjing created prescriptions such as Ban Xia Xie Xin Tang and Wugai Pill, which have the effect of balancing cold and heat. In subsequent developments, Li Dongyuan and Wu Jutong, among others, improved methods such as “sour opening and bitter suppression” and “ascending yang and purging fire”, expanding the application scope. Chronic kidney disease often involves both cold and heat syndromes, such as kidney yang deficiency combined with damp-heat and blood stasis. The combined cold and warm prescription method can achieve a balance of both the symptoms and the root cause. In addition, it can enhance efficacy and reduce toxicity, avoiding the damage to yang qi caused by using cold drugs alone or the aggravation of heat by using warm drugs. In modern combined treatment with traditional Chinese and Western medicine, the combined cold and warm prescription method has been found to be widely applicable to urinary tract infections, chronic nephritis, and renal failure.