Six Evils - Summer-heat

Summer heat causes the pores to open, which is followed by heavy sweating and dispersion of yang qi, and is manifested by fever, flushed complexion, thirst, lassitude and dizziness,  cold sweating and cold limbs. It tends to have chest distress and nausea because the heat creates confusion in the chest. When heat moves down into the small intestine, it makes dark urine. Weak pulse is due to deficiency of qi and sweating. Summer-heat consumes qi. Sudden unconsciousness comes from pericardium disturbance.

The summer-heat will often accompany with dampness.  The body is a small cosmos, surrounded by summer-heat in the sky and dampness in the earth. The two evils often attack people at same time. Summer-heat makes dampness heavier, but it doesn't indicate there must have dampness in the summer-heat.

Pathogenic Characteristics of Summer-heat Evil:
A. Summer-heat is a yang evil. It exhausts qi and body fluid.
B. The heart is in charge of fire. Summer-heat is a scorching fire. So summer heat evil is easy to attack the heart, resulting in upset, even unconsciousness and aphasia.
C. Summer-heat is often accompanied with dampness to attack body, marked by heavy limbs, poor appetite, nausea, chest distress and loose stool.

Key Words: six evils, summer-heat