Blood Stasis and Ageing: Chinese Medicine Theory and Treatment

This article offers a model of ageing based not on deficiency but on stasis and blockage. Supported by findings from modern research and based on the ageing and blood stasis theory of Yan Dexin, this paper argues that ageing is due to different types of constraint and blockage hindering the free flow of qi, blood and fluids. Deficiency only ensues thereafter. Thus, resolution of stasis and freeing of qi are key aspects in the treatment of disease. An approach to the treatment of stasis based on the modern classic Yi Lin Gai Cuo (Corrections of the Errors in Medicine) by Wang Qingren is presented, as well as other exemplary stasis-resolving formulas such as Yue Ju Wan (Escape Restraint Pill) and the author’s own anti-ageing tea, Chang Sheng Cha (Tea for Long Life).