A blood test, specifically a CBC test, is very useful for TCM practitioners. The most basic CBC test gives the red blood cells (RBCs), white blood cells (WBCs) as well as the platelets. Without getting too technical, just appreciate that it gives the clinician a quick indication of whether that patient is anemic or prone anemia.

Why is this important to a TCM practitioner? For one, many TCM patterns involve blood, specifically, that viscosity of it. As I have explained, knowing whether a person ailment is due to blood being deficient or stagnated is most important. Ofcourse, I, as a TCM practitioner, will always do my particular intake to find this out. However, the patient being in his CBC report can help to facilitate this diagnosis.

Most anemic patients are deficient. Blood deficiency is a common TCM diagnosis I make concerning anemic patients. The TCM concept of kidney jing deficiency is another common diagnosis with anemic patients. These patients usually present with fatigue and are suffering from some chronic illness. Infection or lung qi deficiency maybe a contributing factor to blood deficiency.

In TCM theory, the liver stores blood. If a patient presents with blurred vision, dizziness and scant menstruation, with women, then liver blood deficiency is the first diagnosis I look to make. The state of one’s iron levels is also important to assess. I will devote another blog on this topic of iron levels.

As mentioned, a CBC test also gives the status of the WBCs. In TCM if a person’s results are indicative of an abnormal WBC count, then it usually pertains to an acute infection. I would look for patterns such as: Wind-Damp, Wind-Heat, Damp-Heat or Wind-Cold.

The lung qi maybe affected. The TCM concept of Wei qi is linked to a deficient- functioning immune system. As far as TCM patterns, I look for lung or kidney deficient syndromes.