The Role and Importance of the Spleen in Oriental Medicine and Everyday Life

[우리문화신문=유용우 한의사] Since the terms of oriental medicine have been around for thousands of years, many of them are used in everyday life. Among them, the spleen has become the most common everyday language. We often say “stomach is weak” when digestive function is weak, and “set the stomach” when responding to the surrounding demands, and the spleen at this time is called the spleen. am.

In oriental medicine, there is also a lot of discussion about the spleen, and there is a mix of claims that ‘the spleen is literally the spleen’ and ‘no, in the past, the pancreas (pancreas) was referred to as the spleen due to insufficient development of anatomy’.

The spleen, which was mentioned earlier when referring to a weak stomach, means spleen in Korean, and is a ledger that means ‘spleen’ in both directions.

The spleen is the most important lymphatic organ in our body, accounting for about 25% of the body’s lymphatic organ weight. In a word, it can be said that it is the center of immunity and the commander of immunity. Zira is in charge of the immune function of removing bacteria or foreign proteins that invade our body, and removes various blood cells including aged red blood cells and platelets and cells bound with immunoglobulin. It also serves as a reservoir for making and storing red blood cells and lymphocytes and releasing them when needed. By storing half of the monocytes, when a wounded area occurs in our body, monocytes migrate to the injured area to help heal the wound.

It is like saying that if the function of the spleen decreases, the immunity decreases. Therefore, it is said that the response to immunity is slow and wound healing is slow, so it is bad for killing. In particular, the ability to control blood, which is considered important from the point of view of oriental medicine, is poor, and aging and damaged red blood cells and white blood cells increase and the amount of extra blood decreases.

For this reason, when the spleen is weak or the spleen is weakened in spring, fatigue symptoms that begin with ‘annoyance’, decline in digestive ability, and deterioration in sleep quality are caused, making it difficult to live a good quality life.

1. The spleen is the body’s recycling plant and warehouse

In oriental medicine, the spleen can be described as “a recycling factory and warehouse for all bodily fluids in the human body.” Soon, as blood and body fluids pass through the spleen, old and damaged ones are destroyed, and new ones are created as much as they are destroyed. It is also pivotal.

First function ‘Destruction’

There is a saying in a novel that “destruction is the mother of creation (production)”. Taking the red blood cells of our body as an example, if the spleen reliably removes the old and damaged blood cells from among the red blood cells, the amount removed is produced, so the blood cells in our body always maintain freshness and are responsible for supplying oxygen and discharging carbon dioxide. However, if there are a lot of old and damaged blood cells at play, even if both blood tests are normal, the actual active blood cells are insufficient, so symptoms similar to anemia come.

Therefore, when the spleen is destroyed and its production capacity is reduced, the activity of white blood cells in our body decreases, resulting in a slowdown in immune function and a decrease in the oxygen delivery efficiency of red blood cells, resulting in symptoms of lack of oxygen in the body.

Therefore, if the following symptoms are observed, spleen dysfunction should be suspected.

* My body is heavy and everything starts to bother me.

* Chest tightness, sighing, yawning.

* Head feels heavy and sometimes dizziness or headache occurs.

* When I try to use my head, sleepiness comes.

* The motion sickness started to get worse.

* If you stay indoors for a long time, you feel stuffy and feel hot.

For those who frequently experience this phenomenon, the productive destruction function of the spleen is insufficient in most cases, so it is necessary to treat it clearly and start managing life.

Second function ‘save’

There are two storage depots for the energy sources of the human body. One is the liver as a new product factory and warehouse that makes new things. The other is a recycling factory and warehouse, and the hoarder corresponds to this. In particular, the spleen plays a major role as a recycling factory and warehouse, producing and storing blood is the most important.

Therefore, the spleen destroys old and damaged blood and creates new ones as much as they are destroyed and stores them in the spleen. In this situation, tissues and organs with large fluctuations in blood demand in daily life become overloaded, and various symptoms begin to appear in the body at some point.

* If you try to exercise, you will soon become short of breath and breathing rough while only cardiopulmonary to handle the blood demand of your muscles.

* When you eat food, you cannot keep up with the blood requirement of the stomach, so even if you eat a little, the food is not eaten, and even if you eat a little more, you often suffer from hunger. Especially in the case of children, they eat rice in their mouths.

*When women menstruate, the supply must be made as much as the blood is drained.

If the above symptoms appear frequently, a decrease in the storage function of the spleen should be suspected, and exercise and lifestyle management should be started to improve it.

The third function ‘Immune Commander’

Whether the internal antigens are excessive or the immune substances, including germs and viruses from outside, are excessive, our bodies work hard in silence in their respective positions. If you compare this to the national system, it is like the military guarding the border and the police in each district working hard. However, if the border line is pierced due to severe intrusion from the outside or if the internal problems of the body are so severe that the police force in each district is insufficient, the entire body must cooperate to solve it.

When an immune disorder occurs in this situation, the easiest and surest way in our body is the ‘fever’ phenomenon, which induces the proliferation of white blood cells and increases their activity by increasing body heat. The command that detects these abnormalities and induces fever is the spleen. Therefore, if the spleen is strong, it is possible to respond flexibly and sensitively to immune issues, but if the function of the spleen is lowered, the immune response is not slowed down or the increase or decrease in immunity is not achieved.

* I caught a bad cold, but I didn’t have a fever, so I suddenly progressed to bronchitis or pneumonia.

* Frequently, mild fever persists even though there is no specific abnormality.

*Hives or skin spots often occur.

If these symptoms appear frequently, a decrease in the immune function of the spleen should be suspected.

2. How to save the spleen

The spleen is our body’s recycling factory and warehouse, and it is a very important book rather than universal recognition. I have mentioned various situations above, but if the word “annoyance” permeates your body and mind, whether you are a child or an adult, you should suspect a decline in spleen function, look back on yourself, and find a way to overcome it.

In oriental medicine, the spleen is regarded as the center of hematopoiesis and the starting point of digestive function, and provides various ways to supplement and treat it. If the degree of spleen function is severe, you should visit an oriental clinic for treatment, and if it is slightly exposed, you should recover yourself through life management.

First, don’t put extra strain on your spleen.

The first strain on the spleen is when it squeezes itself out in response to excessive demands in the absence of stored blood. Therefore, if the body is too heavy, take a proper rest, and if you are sleepy, sleep, but do not lie down for a nap, and refrain from overeating. In particular, people who have a habit of chewing food for a long time in their diet can know the amount themselves and only eat as much as they pull with the cooperation of the spleen and stomach. However, if you eat in a hurry or overeat, the spleen gets squeezed, and the first symptom is hunger. If people with abnormalities in the spleen frequently experience hunger and often feel sluggishness, the spleen becomes more and more difficult.

And sleep should be valued. Whether it is night or day, sleepiness is an active defense mechanism to protect the brain and protect the body. At this time, if you follow the demands of sleep, your brain will have time to recover and your spleen will also have time to spare. However, if you hold on to it forcibly, the spleen and brain become paralyzed and a vicious circle is formed.

Second, the function of the spleen should be actively promoted.

As a way to actively improve health in this world, it can be said to be herbal medicine and exercise. Therefore, the spleen can strengthen its structure and function through active exercise, but the spleen has one important feature. It is said that it should be done without straining the spleen during exercise – breathing becomes rough. If you soon become out of breath, exercise will rather squeeze your spleen.

As a result, walking and yoga are the best exercises you can do, and they actually help your spleen. Therefore, when the burden of the spleen makes you feel hungry and digestion is weak, a light walk is sometimes helpful. While maximizing the effect of these walking, the way to increase the function of the spleen is ‘walking barefoot’. When the indented area along the big toe and big toe is stimulated by soil, sand, or stone, it absorbs the energy of nature that can strengthen the spleen, and stimulates the meridians to make the spleen healthy. It is the spleen that can receive the greatest help through walking barefoot.