Ou Boxin, Huang Dejian, Hampsch-Woodill Maureen, Flanagan Judith A
Brunswick Laboratories, Wareham, Massachusetts 02571, USA.
FASEB J. 2003 Feb;17(2):127-9. doi: 10.1096/fj.02-0527hyp.
Ancient traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has effectively relied on the theory of yin-yang balance in diagnoses and treatments of diseases and disorders for more than 2000 years. However, in eastern society, yin-yang is regarded as an incomprehensible ideology without definite physical meaning. Consequently, the yin-yang balance in medicine has not been studied by modern scientific means. In the western world, yin-yang balance is often misunderstood as a religious belief or a principle of lifestyle. Herein, we attempted to define the physical meaning of yin-yang in TCM by correlating it with biochemical processes. We propose that yin-yang balance is antioxidation-oxidation balance with yin representing antioxidation and yang as oxidation. Our proposal is partially supported by the fact that the yin-tonic traditional Chinese herbs have, on average, about six times more antioxidant activity and polyphenolic contents than the yang-tonic herbs. Our hypothesis opens an avenue to systematically study the yin-yang balance and its health implications with the use of modern biochemical tools.
两千多年来，中国传统医学（TCM）在疾病的诊断和治疗中有效地依赖于阴阳平衡理论。然而，在东方社会，阴阳被视为一种难以理解的意识形态，没有明确的物理意义。因此，医学中的阴阳平衡尚未通过现代科学手段进行研究。在西方世界，阴阳平衡常常被误解为一种宗教信仰或生活方式原则。在此，我们试图通过将阴阳与生化过程相关联来定义中医中阴阳的物理意义。我们提出阴阳平衡是抗氧化 - 氧化平衡，其中阴代表抗氧化，阳代表氧化。我们的提议得到了部分支持，即滋阴的传统中药平均而言，其抗氧化活性和多酚含量比壮阳中药多约六倍。我们的假设为使用现代生化工具系统地研究阴阳平衡及其对健康的影响开辟了一条途径。
