According to the clinical characteristics of this disease, it is often classified under the categories of "deficiency and impairment" and so on. The disease cause and mechanism of disease are as follows: congenital endowment insufficiency, deficiency of healthy qi, and deficiency of the body's resistance making it susceptible to external pathogens; or postnatal malnutrition, insufficiency of the five zang-organs, particularly related to the deficiency and impairment of the spleen and kidney; congenital insufficiency, postnatal malnutrition, deficiency and impairment of the five zang-organs, pathogenic qi taking advantage of the deficiency to invade, leading to repeated infections and prolonged unhealed conditions, over time the healthy qi becomes increasingly deficient, and pathogenic qi can penetrate from the exterior to the interior, manifesting various syndromes of excess pathogenic qi and deficient healthy qi.

bubble_chart Modern Research

Immunodeficiency diseases refer to a group of diseases characterized by abnormal immune responses and low immune function due to congenital underdevelopment of the immune system or acquired secondary disorders. The clinical features include susceptibility to recurrent infections, accompanied by autoimmune diseases, allergic diseases, or malignant tumors. This disease is divided into primary and secondary types, with primary types further classified into humoral immunodeficiency, cellular immunodeficiency, combined immunodeficiency, phagocytic system defects, and complement system defects.

Modern medicine believes that primary immunodeficiency diseases are related to genetic abnormalities, developmental disorders of immune tissues and organs, intrauterine viral infections, and intrinsic enzyme defects in lymphocytes. Secondary immunodeficiency diseases are often associated with various pathogenic microbial infections, malignant tumors, autoimmune diseases, radiation, immunosuppressants, antibiotics, as well as malnutrition, and deficiencies in proteins and vitamins.

Medical History

Primary immunodeficiency diseases are more common in children, while secondary types can be seen in all age groups.

Symptoms and Signs

1. Infections: Characterized by recurrent episodes, prolonged and difficult to cure, highly susceptible to opportunistic infections, and infections in multiple sites, with respiratory infections being the most common. Symptoms after infection are atypical and resistant to antibiotics.
2. Hematological abnormalities: Anemia, bleeding, and granulocytopenia.
3. Others: May be accompanied by other immune diseases, such as hypoparathyroidism; Addison's disease, diabetes, atrophic gastritis, ulcerative colitis, hepatitis, cirrhosis, purulent meningitis, rheumatoid arthritis, dermatitis, thrush, oral ulcers, etc.

Auxiliary Examinations

1. Humoral immune function tests: Serum protein electrophoresis, immunoglobulin quantification, Schick test, blood type antibodies, etc.
2. Cellular immune function tests: Lymphocyte count and morphology, thymus X-ray examination, skin tests (OT test, streptokinase-streptodornase SK-SD, purified protein derivative PPD), further skin tests (chemical antigens, such as dinitrochlorobenzene DNCB), lymphocyte transformation test, lymphocyte factor examination, E-Rose Flower test, biopsy.
3. Phagocyte defect tests: Chemotaxis test, phagocytosis test, nitroblue tetrazolium test NBT, spleen scan.
4. Complement and opsonin defect tests: Total complement CH₅₀, complement C₃, other complement component measurements, opsonin measurement.

bubble_chart Pattern Analysis

1. Wind-heat External Invasion︰Headache, fever, slight aversion to wind and cold, cough with sticky or yellow phlegm, chest tightness, thirst, nasal congestion with turbid discharge, sore throat. Red tip and edges of the tongue, thin yellow and dry coating, floating and rapid pulse. Treatment principle: Dispersing wind and clearing heat, ventilating the lung and relieving cough. Prescription: Modified Lonicera and Forsythia Powder. Ingredients: Lonicera 10g, Forsythia 10g, Bamboo Leaf 6g, Schizonepeta 6g, Great Burdock Achene 10g, Mentha 5g (to be decocted later), Platycodon Root 10g, Reed Rhizome 15g, Scrophularia Root 10g, Bitter Apricot Seed 10g, raw Liquorice Root 6g. For those without aversion to cold, remove Schizonepeta; for those with yellow phlegm, add Heartleaf Houttuynia Herb 15g and White Mulberry Root-Bark 10g.
2. Wind-cold Attacking the Exterior︰
3. Dampness-heat︰Fever, diarrhea, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, anal burning sensation. Yellow and greasy tongue coating, soggy and rapid pulse. Clearing heat and draining dampness. Modified Pueraria, Skullcap, and Coptis Decoction. Pueraria Root 15g, Coptis Rhizome 5g, Skullcap Root 10g, Poria 15g, Liquorice Root 6g. For tenesmus, add Aucklandia Root and Dried Tangerine Peel 10g each; for white and greasy tongue coating, remove Coptis Rhizome and Skullcap Root, and add Patchouli, White Atractylodes Rhizome, and Magnolia Bark 10g each.
4. Exuberance of Heat Toxin︰High fever, thirst, dysphoria, body sores or innominate swelling pain, constipation, yellow urine. Red tongue with yellow rough coating, rapid pulse. Clearing heat and removing toxins. Modified Five-Ingredient Toxin-Eliminating Decoction. Lonicera 15g, Forsythia 15g, Dandelion 20g, Tokyo Violet Herb 15g, Wild Chrysanthemum Flower 15g, Moutan Bark 10g, Coptis Rhizome 6g, Red Peony Root 15g, Liquorice Root 6g. For high fever, add raw Gypsum 50g (to be decocted first) and Anemarrhena 10g; for constipation, add raw Rhubarb Rhizoma 10g (to be decocted later).
5. Deficiency of Both Qi and Blood︰Shortness of breath, mental fatigue, lack of strength, pale complexion, poor appetite, loose stools. The tongue texture is pale with thin white coating, and the pulse is thin and weak. Tonifying qi and nourishing blood. Modified Eight Precious Ingredients Decoction. Codonopsis Root 15g, White Atractylodes Rhizome 10g, Poria 10g; Chinese Angelica 10g, Prepared Rehmannia Root 15g, Peony Root 10g, Sichuan Lovage Rhizome 10g, Prepared Liquorice Root 6g, Astragalus Root 20g. For those with yin deficiency, presenting symptoms such as vexing heat in the chest, palms, and soles, spontaneous sweating, and night sweats, add Heterophylly Falsestarwort Root 25g, Ophiopogon Tuber 15g, Chinese Wolfberry Root-bark 10g.
6. Spleen-kidney Yang Deficiency︰Fear of cold, cold limbs, poor appetite, loose stools, soreness and weakness in the waist and knees, scanty menstruation, low libido, clear and profuse urine or frequent nocturia. Pale and swollen tongue with thin white coating, deep and thin or weak pulse. Warming and tonifying the spleen and kidney. Modified Right-Restoring Decoction. Prepared Rehmannia Root 15g, Dodder Seed 15g, Epimedium Herb 15g, Chinese Yam 15g, Prepared Aconite 10g, Cassia Bark 6g, Cornus 10g, Tangshen 15g, White Atractylodes Rhizome 10g, Dried Ginger 6g, Prepared Liquorice Root 6g.