Differentiation and Treatment of Follicular Lymphoma Based on the Clear-Turbid Theory

Follicular lymphoma (FL) is a type of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and its treatment options face many challenges. This paper discusses the pathogenesis and treatment of FL based on the clear-turbid theory in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). "The clear and the turbid being related, and the rise and fall of qi being disorderly" is the basic pathogenesis of FL. As the disease progresses, "evil qi being blocked inside, and turbid evil harming the clear" aggravates, and finally "evil qi is strong and the disease progresses, and evil poison is generated inside". Based on this theory, the method of raising the clear and lowering the turbid and the method of dispersing the clear and removing the turbid are proposed to treat FL. The emphasis of raising the clear and lowering the turbid is to take raising and lowering as the key, movement and stillness as the pivot, and to treat the middle jiao; the emphasis of dispersing the clear and removing the turbid is to clear the triple jiao, warm the yang and invigorate the qi, and harmonize the spleen and kidney. Cases are attached to illustrate, providing new ideas for the TCM treatment of FL.