Editing Traditional Chinese medicine (section)

====Six Excesses====
The Six Excesses ({{zh|labels=no|c=六淫|p=liù yín}},<ref name="Wiseman 1996" /> sometimes also translated as "Pathogenic Factors",<ref name="1U3dN">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WbThUt45ZXgC&q=tcm+six&pg=PA159|title=Foundations for integrative musculoskeletal medicine: an east-west approach|author=Marcus & Kuchera|publisher=North Atlantic Books|year=2004|access-date=22 March 2011|isbn=978-1-55643-540-9|archive-date=31 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210131201452/https://books.google.com/books?id=WbThUt45ZXgC&q=tcm+six&pg=PA159|url-status=live}} p. 159</ref> or "Six Pernicious Influences";<ref name="Ross 1984" /> with the alternative term of {{zh|c=六邪|labels=no|p=liù xié}}, – "Six Evils" or "Six Devils")<ref name="Ross 1984" /> are allegorical terms used to describe disharmony patterns displaying certain typical symptoms.<ref name="Ergil 2009" /> These symptoms resemble the effects of six climatic factors.<ref name="Ross 1984" /> In the allegory, these symptoms can occur because one or more of those climatic factors (called {{zh|c=六气|labels=no|p=liù qì}}, "the six qi")<ref name="Deng 1999" /> were able to invade the body surface and to proceed to the interior.<ref name="Ergil 2009" /> This is sometimes used to draw causal relationships (i.e., prior exposure to wind/cold/etc. is identified as the cause of a disease),<ref name="Deng 1999" /> while other authors explicitly deny a direct cause-effect relationship between weather conditions and disease,<ref name="Ergil 2009" /><ref name="Ross 1984" /> pointing out that the Six Excesses are primarily descriptions of a certain combination of symptoms<ref name="Ergil 2009" /> translated into a pattern of disharmony.<ref name="Ross 1984" /> It is undisputed, though, that the Six Excesses can manifest inside the body without an external cause.<ref name="Ergil 2009" /><ref name="Wiseman 1996" /> In this case, they might be denoted "internal", e.g., "internal wind"<ref name="Wiseman 1996" /> or "internal fire (or heat)".<ref name="Wiseman 1996" />

The Six Excesses and their characteristic clinical signs are:
# Wind ({{zh|c=风|labels=no|p=fēng}}): rapid onset of symptoms, wandering location of symptoms, itching, nasal congestion, "floating" pulse;<ref name="Deng 1999" /> tremor, paralysis, convulsion.<ref name="Ergil 2009" />
# Cold ({{zh|c=寒|labels=no|p=hán}}): cold sensations, aversion to cold, relief of symptoms by warmth, watery/clear excreta, severe pain, abdominal pain, contracture/hypertonicity of muscles, (slimy) white tongue fur, "deep"/"hidden" or "string-like" pulse,<ref name="jvz68">{{harvp|Wiseman|Ellis|1996|pp=80, 142}}</ref> or slow pulse.<ref name="Ross 1984" />
# [[Shanghuo|Fire/Heat]] ({{zh|c=火|labels=no|p=huǒ}}): aversion to heat, high fever, thirst, concentrated urine, red face, red tongue, yellow tongue fur, rapid pulse.<ref name="Ergil 2009" /> (Fire and heat are basically seen to be the same)<ref name="Wiseman 1996" />
# Dampness ({{zh|c=湿|labels=no|p=shī}}): sensation of heaviness, sensation of fullness, symptoms of Spleen dysfunction, greasy tongue fur, "slippery" pulse.<ref name="Ross 1984" />
# Dryness ({{zh|c=燥|labels=no|p=zào}}): dry cough, dry mouth, dry throat, dry lips, nosebleeds, dry skin, dry stools.<ref name="Ergil 2009" />
# Summerheat ({{zh|c=暑|labels=no|p=shǔ}}): either heat or mixed damp-heat symptoms.<ref name="Wiseman 1996" />
Six-Excesses-patterns can consist of only one or a combination of Excesses (e.g., wind-cold, wind-damp-heat).<ref name="Deng 1999" /> They can also transform from one into another.<ref name="Deng 1999" />