Malabsorption Syndrome
Malabsorption syndrome (MAS) refers to the clinical symptoms and signs resulting from nutrient deficiencies caused by impaired uptake and transport in the gastrointestinal tract of one or more adequately digested nutrients, including proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, and trace elements. It is worth noting that digestion and absorption are closely linked processes. Although they differ pathophysiologically, the term “malabsorption” is now widely used to refer collectively to disorders of both digestion and absorption.
TCM Pattern Differentiation and Treatment Reference
|Common Symptoms
Clinical description:
Loose, watery diarrhea, accompanied by abdominal pain and borborygmi, poor appetite, and epigastric and abdominal fullness; chills and fever, nasal congestion, headache, and body aches may also occur. The tongue coating is thin and white or white and greasy, and the pulse is soggy and moderate.
In plain language:
- Diarrhea with loose stools, sometimes watery.
- Abdominal pain and frequent rumbling sounds in the abdomen may occur at the same time.
- Eating less, having a poor appetite, and little desire to eat.
- A feeling of fullness or bloating in the upper abdomen and abdomen, as though pressure is pushing outward.
- Sometimes fever and chills.
- Nasal congestion, accompanied by headache and body aches.
- The tongue coating may be thin and white, or white and greasy-looking.
- The pulse may feel soft and relatively slow.
|Treatment Approach
Clinical description:
Transform dampness with aromatic herbs; release the exterior and disperse cold.
In plain language:
- Use aromatic herbs to help transform and dispel internal dampness, easing heaviness and fatigue, poor appetite, a sticky feeling in the mouth, chest oppression, nausea, and a thick, greasy tongue coating.
- Use methods to release exterior cold, encouraging mild sweating to dispel external pathogenic cold and ease chills and fever, head and body aches, nasal congestion, runny nose, and cough.
|Related Formulas
The products below are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute medical advice or a prescription. Follow the product packaging and instructions, and use under the guidance of a physician or pharmacist.
|Common Symptoms
Clinical description:
Diarrhea and abdominal pain, often triggered by depression, anger, or emotional tension; the pain eases after defecation. Common accompanying symptoms include chest and flank distension or oppression, belching, poor appetite, and frequent passing of gas. The tongue coating is thin and white or thin and greasy, and the pulse is fine and wiry.
In plain language:
- Diarrhea accompanied by abdominal pain, with recurring cramps that cause noticeable discomfort.
- The symptoms are often triggered or worsened by low mood, anger, or emotional tension.
- The abdominal pain eases somewhat after a bowel movement.
- A frequent feeling of distension or discomfort in the chest and along the sides of the ribs, as though something is pressing outward.
- Frequent belching and a reduced appetite, with little desire to eat.
- Passing gas more often than usual.
- The tongue coating may be thin and white, or thin with a greasy appearance.
- The pulse may feel fine and taut, like a stretched string.
|Treatment Approach
Clinical description:
Soothe the liver and relieve constraint.
In plain language:
- Use methods to regulate liver qi and relieve emotional constraint, helping qi flow more smoothly and easing distension and pain along the ribs, chest oppression, low mood, irritability, and frequent sighing.
- Also ease upper abdominal fullness, poor appetite, belching, and acid reflux associated with stagnation, helping promote an overall sense of ease.
|Related Formulas
The products below are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute medical advice or a prescription. Follow the product packaging and instructions, and use under the guidance of a physician or pharmacist.
|Common Symptoms
Clinical description:
Diarrhea with foul-smelling stools resembling rotten eggs and undigested food; abdominal pain and borborygmi, with pain easing after defecation; accompanied by epigastric and abdominal fullness, foul-smelling belching, and poor appetite. The tongue coating is dirty-looking or thick and greasy, and the pulse is slippery.
In plain language:
- Diarrhea accompanied by abdominal pain, with recurring cramps that cause noticeable discomfort.
- The symptoms are often triggered or worsened by low mood, anger, or emotional tension.
- The abdominal pain eases somewhat after a bowel movement.
- A frequent feeling of distension or discomfort in the chest and along the sides of the ribs, as though something is pressing outward.
- Frequent belching and a reduced appetite, with little desire to eat.
- Passing gas more often than usual.
- The tongue coating may be thin and white, or thin with a greasy appearance.
- The pulse may feel fine and taut, like a stretched string.
|Treatment Approach
Clinical description:
Promote digestion and resolve food stagnation.
In plain language:
- Use methods to aid digestion and resolve food accumulation and stagnation, helping digestion proceed more smoothly and easing post-meal fullness, upper abdominal distension, bad breath, and belching with a sour, putrid odor.
- Also promote gastrointestinal emptying and the movement of qi, easing abdominal bloating and pain, constipation or difficult bowel movements, nausea, acid reflux, and poor appetite.
|Related Formulas
The products below are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute medical advice or a prescription. Follow the product packaging and instructions, and use under the guidance of a physician or pharmacist.
|Common Symptoms
Clinical description:
Urgent diarrhea or a feeling of incomplete evacuation; stools are yellow and foul-smelling. Accompanied by burning around the anus, abdominal pain, irritability and heat, thirst, and scant, dark urine. The tongue is red with a yellow, greasy coating, and the pulse is soggy and rapid or slippery and rapid.
In plain language:
- Diarrhea that comes on urgently, or a lingering feeling of not having fully emptied the bowels; stools are yellow and very foul-smelling.
- A burning sensation around the anus, during or after a bowel movement.
- Recurring abdominal cramps that cause noticeable discomfort.
- A feeling of internal heat and thirst, with a desire to drink water to relieve dryness.
- Urine may be scant and dark yellow, with a shorter duration of urination.
- The tongue may appear red overall.
- The tongue coating is yellow and greasy, appearing thick and sticky.
- The pulse may feel soft and rapid, or slippery and rapid.
|Treatment Approach
Clinical description:
Clear heat and transform dampness.
In plain language:
- Use methods to clear internal “heat” and “dampness,” easing sensations of heat, heaviness, and stickiness, bitter or sticky taste in the mouth, fatigue and heaviness, a thick greasy tongue coating, and scant, dark urine.
- Also help the body feel less stuffy and support smoother gastrointestinal function, easing upper abdominal fullness, nausea, poor appetite, post-meal bloating, and sticky or unsatisfactory stools.
|Related Formulas
The products below are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute medical advice or a prescription. Follow the product packaging and instructions, and use under the guidance of a physician or pharmacist.
|Common Symptoms
Clinical description:
Stools that are sometimes loose and sometimes diarrheal, with recurrence or worsening after even minor dietary indiscretion; accompanied by reduced food intake, post-meal abdominal distension, weight loss, fatigue and weakness, low energy, and reluctance to speak. The tongue is pale with a white coating, and the pulse is fine and weak.
In plain language:
- Stools may be loose or diarrheal, and even a slight dietary indiscretion can trigger recurrence or worsening.
- Eating less than usual, with a poorer appetite and noticeably reduced desire to eat.
- The abdomen feels bloated and uncomfortable after eating, more noticeably than before the meal.
- Gradual weight loss, with the body appearing thinner.
- Fatigue and weakness in the limbs, easy exhaustion, and little desire to speak.
- The tongue is pale in color.
- The tongue is covered with a white coating.
- The pulse may feel fine and weak, lacking strength under pressure.
|Treatment Approach
Clinical description:
Strengthen the spleen and boost qi.
In plain language:
- Use methods to regulate the spleen and stomach and replenish qi, supporting digestive function and easing poor appetite, post-meal bloating, upper abdominal fullness, fatigue and heaviness, and loose stools.
- Also support energy and qi, helping with easy fatigue, shortness of breath, weakness, reluctance to speak, and low energy.
|Related Formulas
The products below are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute medical advice or a prescription. Follow the product packaging and instructions, and use under the guidance of a physician or pharmacist.
|Common Symptoms
Clinical description:
Diarrhea on waking in the morning, persistent over time, with loose, watery stools or undigested food; accompanied by aversion to cold and cold limbs, dull abdominal pain, borborygmi and abdominal distension, and soreness and weakness of the lower back and knees. The tongue is pale with a white coating, and the pulse is deep and fine.
In plain language:
- Diarrhea occurs after waking in the morning, often with an urgent need to use the bathroom soon after getting up.
- The diarrhea has persisted for a long time without improvement, with ongoing or recurring symptoms.
- Stools are loose and watery or contain undigested food.
- Feeling cold and having cold hands and feet; exposure to cold makes the discomfort worse.
- A persistent, dull abdominal ache that is not severe but lingers.
- Frequent rumbling sounds and abdominal fullness, with a feeling of pressure from gas.
- Soreness and weakness in the lower back and knees, with reduced strength during activity.
- The tongue is pale in color.
- The tongue is covered with a white coating.
- The pulse may feel deep and fine.
|Treatment Approach
Clinical description:
Warm and tonify the spleen and kidneys, consolidate the intestines, and stop diarrhea.
In plain language:
- Use warming, tonifying methods to support spleen and kidney yang and digestive function, easing sensitivity to cold, abdominal coldness, soreness and weakness in the lower back and knees, poor appetite, and fatigue.
- Use methods to support the intestines and firm the stools, helping stools become more formed and reducing their frequency, and easing persistent watery diarrhea, dull abdominal pain, borborygmi, abdominal distension, and a feeling of incomplete evacuation.
|Related Formulas
The products below are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute medical advice or a prescription. Follow the product packaging and instructions, and use under the guidance of a physician or pharmacist.
References
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