ETIOLOGY
 Numerous factors can cause disease, and these include the six exogenous factors, the seven emotions, improper diet, over strain, lack of physical exercise, traumatic injuries, bites by insects or wild animals, as well as stagnated blood and phlegm fluid. The symptoms and signs of any disease reflect the pathological reactions of the affected body to certain causative factors. The causative factors, therefore, are studied both as the objective causes of disease, and in the specific ways they affect the body. On the basis of this understanding, traditional Chinese medicine is able to identify the causative factors of disease by analyzing the clinical manifestations. This is known as " seeking the causative factors by differentiating symptoms and signs. " The study of etiology, therefore, is based on developing a profound understanding of the characteristic clinical manifestations produced by each causative factor.
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