Qin Bowei and The Essence of Medical Records of Famous Doctors in Qing Dynasty in Diagnosis and Treatment of Coughs:Experience Mining and Comparative Re-search
Objective To explore the experience of renowned traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)physician Qin Bowei in treating coughs,as documented in The Essence of Medical Records of Famous Doctors in Qing Dynasty,and to seek the academic sources and characteristics of his approach through comparison,aiming to provide references for modern clinical practice.Methods Case records from Qin Bowei's ward rounds,published books,and The Essence of Medical Re-cords of Famous Doctors in Qing Dynasty,housed in the medical records office of Dongzhimen Hospital,were reviewed,se-lected,and entered into a database.Data on the number of cases,prescriptions,clinical manifestations,and frequency and number of times of drug usage were collected.Association rule analysis,cluster analysis,and complex network analysis were performed.These findings were then cross-referenced and complemented with an analysis of the Qing Dynasty physicians'case records and Qin Bowei's understanding of cough treatment,as documented in his writings,to summarize the thought process and experience of both Qin Bowei and the Qing Dynasty physicians in treating coughs.Results A total of 51 case records and 81 prescriptions for cough treatment by Qin Bowei were obtained,along with 73 case records and 91 prescrip-tions for coughs from seven physicians in The Essence of Medical Records of Famous Doctors in Qing Dynasty.Through mining and content analysis,Qin Bowei's primary approach to treating coughs can be summarized as differentiating coughs caused by internal and external factors and treating both the symptoms and the root cause.Phlegm obstruction and reversed flow of qi serve as manifestation,and treatment should focus on ventilating the lung,lowering qi,and resolving phlegm.Ex-ternal invasion and internal injury serve as the root causes,and treatment should be adjusted according to the cause.Qing Dynasty physicians similarly emphasized regulating qi and resolving phlegm,often using methods to"bank up earth to gen-erate metal",while also distinguishing between internal and external factors affecting the organs,with attention to the inter-actions of the Five Elements.Conclusion Both Qin Bowei and the Qing Dynasty physicians emphasized the classification of coughs caused by external pathogens,internal injuries,and organ imbalances,and the use of methods to regulate qi and resolve phlegm.Qin Bowei focused on stopping coughs by regulating qi and resolving phlegm,with a detailed differentiation of causes,while the Qing Dynasty physicians often employed the method of"bake up the earth to generate metal"and paid close attention to the interactions of the Five Elements.Their diagnostic and treatment experiences can provide valuable in-sights into the treatment of externally contracted coughs such as those caused by summer heat,dampness,or a combination of external cold and internal heat which receive relatively less attention in modern clinical practice,and internally generated coughs caused by factors like food stagnation,blood stasis,heart fire,liver qi,stomach cold,and kidney deficiency,as well as coughs induced by internal organs.
CoughMedical RecordsQin BoweiThe Essence of Medical Records of Famous Doctors in Qing Dy-nasty