Evaluation of medical students using the "qi, blood, and fluid" system of Kampo medicine.

In traditional Japanese Kampo medicine, it is believed that the human body is constructed of the three major elements, “qi, blood, and fluid” (QBF), and that the appropriate amounts of them flow through the whole body without stagnation in a healthy person. However, a pathogenic condition of the QBF system can cause various physical and/or psychological symptoms [1]. Even though the QBF concept is one of the most important approaches to the patients’ conditions in Kampo medicine, there are relatively few studies about the QBF diseases and disorders in presumably healthy populations. The aim of the present study was to determine whether medical students presumed to be healthy have any potential diseases and/or disorders that could be revealed by their QBF conditions.