TCM body constitution study of patients with Xiaoke Disease and its correlation to body mass index

• Main Author: Sim, Shi Yun
• Other Authors: Zhao Yan
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2020
• Subjects: Science::Biological sciences
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/143293
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Presently, Type 2 Diabetes mellitus is widely recognized as Xiaoke Disease in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). As TCM body constitution reflects the overall health status of an individual, it plays an important role in disease diagnosis, prevention, and treatment in TCM. The objective of this study is to investigate and categorize the TCM body constitution of patients diagnosed with Xiaoke Disease and; to determine correlations between body constitutions identified and their corresponding body mass index (BMI). The Constitution in Chinese Medicine Questionnaire was used to calculate the body constitution of 62 patients who were diagnosed with Xiaoke Disease. BMI and information on lifestyle practices were also collected for further analysis. The results revealed that balanced constitution, yin deficient constitution, qi stagnation constitution and qi deficient constitution were the most common body constitutions in general; Majority of the patients with balanced constitution have healthy BMI, while a greater proportion of patients with overweight BMI presented unbalanced constitutions such as yin deficient constitution, qi stagnation constitution and qi deficient constitution. This result suggests that lifestyle practices such as diet preferences which affect BMI, can influence the TCM body constitution of patients with Xiaoke Disease.