Abstract:
This article summarizes Professor Tan Yong's approach to the treatment of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) based on the lipid turbidity theory. It is believed that multiple factors such as improper diet, emotional injury, insufficient endowment, and improper work and rest lead to dysfunction of spleen and stomach, which cannot normally transport and transform water and grain essence and body fluid, and lipids cannot be effectively transformed and utilized, thus accumulating in the body to form lipid turbidity. Lipid turbidity is not only a pathological product but also an independent pathogenic factor, characterized by stickiness, concealment, heavy turbidity, lodging in collaterals, combined pathogenicity, and obstruction of qi and blood. Based on this theory, the etiology and pathogenesis of PCOS are explored, with its pathological progression divided into three stages: spleen deficiency and liver depression, phlegm and blood stasis, and kidney deficiency with lipid turbidity. In the early stage, impaired spleen transportation and liver dispersion functions lead to lipid metabolism disorders, forming lipid turbidity. In the middle stage, lipid stagnation and obstruction of the meridians affect the circulation of qi and blood, leading to internal stasis and the formation of a pathological pattern of phlegm and blood stasis. In the later stage, prolonged illness affects the kidney, resulting in kidney qi deficiency, unresolved lipid turbidity, and imbalance of qi, blood, yin and yang, which leads to long-term metabolic and reproductive dysfunction. In terms of treatment, emphasis is placed on strengthening the spleen and eliminating turbidity, soothing the liver and nourishing blood in the early stage; eliminating phlegm and blood stasis, unblocking the collaterals and eliminating lipid in the middle stage; nourishing the kidney and replenishing essence, and regulating yin and yang in the late stage, providing new insights and theoretical basis for the integrated diagnosis and treatment of PCOS with traditional Chinese and Western medicine.