Latent Pathogenic Factors in Chinese Medicine

There is a category of illness in Chinese Medicine that Western Medicine is so far unable to describe. In the ancient texts, it is referred to as latent pathogenic factors (LPF). While improvements in medical technologies may someday “discover” latent pathogenic factors, so far conventional medicine has no answers for many patients with symptoms of unknown cause. However, Chinese Medicine does have answers for these patients with the explanation of latent pathogenic factors.

So what is a latent pathogenic factor? It is generally regarded to be a pathogen (such as a bacteria, virus, or parasite) that enters the body without causing an appropriate immune response that kills the pathogen. The pathogen then “lurks” deep within the body and may not produce symptoms right away. Months or years later, symptoms occur and disease emerges -- seemingly from an unknown cause.

There are many different ways this can play out, and there are a multitude of illnesses that can occur as a result of a latent pathogenic factor. This depends on both the type of pathogen that invading the body as well as the individual constitution (or genetics) of the patient. Within the context of Western Medicine, some diseases such as AIDS, hepatitis, Lyme Disease, and herpes could definitely be classified as being caused by a latent pathogenic factor since symptoms do not occur immediately.

However, there are a variety of other things that can be caused by a latent pathogenic factor, even though the pathogen is not detected by conventional medical techniques. In most cases, an acupuncturist will diagnose a latent pathogenic factor based on the patient’s health history and palpation of the pulse and acupuncture meridians. The appearance of the patient’s tongue may also be an indicator of a latent pathogen. These methods of diagnosis take years to learn, and often require the acupuncturist to see many cases of latent pathogenic factors to be able to recognize them.

Autoimmune disease of all kinds, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, autism, asthma, Crohn’s disease, chronic sinusitis or post-nasal drip, and chronic cough may all be caused by latent pathogens in some cases. A patient may experience a cold or flu-like illness, subsequently seems to recover in a few days, and soon after develops a new symptom such as asthma or fatigue. In children, a parent may observe that the child developed asthma or behavioral problems after suffering from an ear infection or a common cold. This is what an acupuncturist in Del Mar would diagnose as a latent pathogenic factor.

The great news is that there are solutions in Chinese Medicine to latent pathogenic factors. The treatment period could take several months or longer, depending on the severity of the pathogen, the strength of the patient’s will to get better, and the period of time the pathogen has been lodged in the body. While a total “cure” may not be possible in some cases, the patient will often become asymptomatic for many decades. Sometimes the acupuncturist can detect if the latent pathogen has been completely eliminating by noticing a subtle change in the pulse quality or disappearance of nodules in the affected acupuncture meridians.