Foundations: Unit assessment

Which of these statements is correct?

1. The Kidney is yin and the Heart is yang, fixed
2. Every organ has its own yin and its own yang
3. Yang cannot transform into yin

Sweats effortlessly during the day and bruises at the slightest knock. Which qi function is failing?

1. Warming
2. Driving
3. Holding

Fatigue, heavy digestion and loose stools. Build the diagnosis.

Cold that worsens at rest and eases when wrapped up, with copious clear urine and a deep, slow pulse. Origin?

1. External cold just arrived
2. Established yang deficiency
3. Qi stagnation blocking the circulation of warmth

Sort each picture between the two poles.

• Sleepiness and no wish to moveYin predominatesYang predominates
• Insomnia with agitationYin predominatesYang predominates
• Loose, frequent stoolsYin predominatesYang predominates
• Constipation with dry stoolsYin predominatesYang predominates
• Strong thirst for cold waterYin predominatesYang predominates
• No thirst at all through the dayYin predominatesYang predominates

A persistent Fire excess. Under the mother-child rule, what else can you do besides draining it?

1. Tonify Fire so it balances itself
2. Tonify Wood, which is its mother
3. Drain Wood, the mother that keeps feeding it

Sweats at the slightest effort, catches colds constantly, always cold at the surface. What do you strengthen?

1. The qi that guards the surface, sustained by the Lung
2. Yin, because there is sweating
3. Blood, because there is cold

Order the controlling cycle starting from Water.

1. Water↑↓
2. Fire↑↓
3. Metal↑↓
4. Wood↑↓
5. Earth↑↓

Match each tissue with the organ that governs it.

Which of these does NOT fit qi stagnation?

1. Distension that moves around
2. Clearly worse with physical exertion
3. Sighing that brings relief

Months of dry cough, dry throat in the afternoon and a red tongue with no coating. Build the diagnosis.

Someone with yin-deficiency heat is given a strongly cooling treatment. What do you expect?

1. Improvement: the heat has been removed
2. No change at all
3. Brief improvement then worsening, because more base has been spent

Sort each sign between the two substances.

• Distension that comes and goesA qi problemA blood problem
• Stabbing pain always in the same spotA qi problemA blood problem
• Fatigue that improves with restA qi problemA blood problem
• Dry, rough skin with dark patchesA qi problemA blood problem
• Voice with no strengthA qi problemA blood problem
• Periods with dark clotsA qi problemA blood problem

A digestive picture appears with no emotional or seasonal component. Must you find a guilty phase?

1. Yes: every picture has a phase behind it
2. No: the five phases explain relationships, and sometimes the problem is local
3. No: the five phases do not apply to digestion

40-year-old man: marked fatigue, loose stools, bloating after meals that worsens in stressful spells, pale tongue with teeth marks. Full reading?

1. Spleen qi deficiency with the Liver squeezing it
2. Damp-heat excess in the intestine
3. Stomach yin deficiency