Physiology and pathology are dealt with totally different point of view in Western medicine, although with equivalent amount of emphasis is put in medical school as major subjects. In Korean medicine, however, the two are dealt as mutual and linear. Physiology can only be understood well with profound comprehension of pathology and vice versa.

At a glance, the physiologic concepts and their explanations of Korean medicine may seem verbatim or sometimes nonsense. All theories and principles of Korean medicine make up a circle, where there’s no specific start or and end. This implies that knowledge should be learned, not step-wise but rather circle-wise; that is, coming back for further review, where review every time is not just a review over an old thing, but actually renewed knowledge.

The curriculum at Korean Medical School is very much similar to that of Western medical school; Physiology preceding Pathology and Herbology preceding Prescriptionlogy. In between the courses, students are to participate in study groups for broadening viewpoints of what is learned at class.

In Korean medicine, physiology states the utmost condition of the human body, its composition and ways to adjust to the environment for health preservation. There is, however, no medical classic written only on human physiology. (Rather, they are on health preservation, inspection of the Heavenly Ki, and the relationship of human to the Heaven and Earth) There are many dealing with pathologic changes; the famous Sang-han-lon, which epitomizes the expressions and explanations of pathologic changes with Eum and Yang. It states that physiologic condition of one’s health is in flip-flop relationship with pathologic condition, as Six external Ki becomes Six pathogenic Ki to cause disease.

Our 8th newsletter deals with physiology and pathology together to show basic theories more clear and comprehensive. Read through the outlined definitions and functions of each component and see if you can understand more after coming back after going over the pathologic mechanisms.

Certain concepts and images should always kept in mind for further comprehension. Meridians and acupoints as well as herbs and prescriptions are another part of the circle. Expressions may differ for each sub-category, but as a whole, each adds up to a circle. We hope our 8th newsletter and other materials on our website helps the reader in completing the circle.