TCM, on the other hand, is characterized by TDS. Differentiation means comprehensive analysis, while syndrome refers to symptoms and signs. So differentiation of syndromes implies that the patient's symptoms and signs collected by the four diagnostic metbods are analyzed and summarized so as to identify the etiology, nature and location of a disease, and the relation between vital qi and pathogens, thereby determining what syndrome the disease belongs to. By treatment is meant selecting the corresponding therapy according to the outcome of differentiating syndromes. Taken as a whole, TDS means diagnosis and treatment based on overall analysis of symptoms and signs.

As concerns the relationship between "disease" and "treatment", TCM takes two different clinical ways on the basis of TDS. One is "treating the same disease with different therapies," by which is meant that the same disease may manifest itself in different syndromes at different stages or under different conditions. Therefore, the therapies of the same disease should be adopted towards different therapies according to the patient's constitution, the geographical environment, the climatic and seasonal changes. Take flu for example, it may be caused by wind-cold, wind-heat, summer-heat and dampness or other pathogens. So it is advisable to adopt dispersing wind-cold, eliminating wind -heat, clearing away summer-heat and dampness respectively. The other is called "treating different diseases with the same therapy", by which is meant that different diseases manifesting themselves in the same syndrome may be treated with the same therapy. For example, prolapse of the rectum due to protracted diarrbea and hysteroptosis are two different diseases. However, if they are both marked by themselves in the same syndrome of qi of sinking of the middle energizer, they can be treated in the same therapy by lilting qi of the middle energizer. From the above it becomes obvious that TCM does not focus its attention on similarities or dissimilarities between diseases but on the differences between the syndromes. Generally speaking, the same syndromes are treated with basicaily same therapies, while different syndromes with different ones.

To sum up, the principle that different contradictions in essence are handled by different methods in the course of development of a disease is the core of TDS.

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