Abstract
Purpose : There are two types of sleep disturbance: inability to sleep (不眠) and somnolence (多眠). This study is to examine treatments of the two types of sleep disturbance in the Books of Cold Damage and how those theories were established and formed. Methods : 1. Verses including the words related to inability to sleep and somnolence were extracted from "Treatise on Cold Damage Diseases" (傷寒論). 2. Among the Books on Cold Damages that are classified according to the symptoms, 17 books with contents related to inability to sleep and somnolence were selected to collect and classify data in three perspectives: mechanism of disease (病機), method of treatment (治法) and disease pattern (病證). 3. Data collected through the above methods were compared and diagramed. Results & Conclusions : 1. On Cold Damage, inability to sleep is mostly rooted when human body lacks yin energy while having excessive yang energy (陽盛陰虛) due to fire and heat (火熱). The reason could be misuse of perspiration inducing method (汗法) or purgation (下法) on the doctors' part. 2. On Cold Damage, somnolence is rooted when pathogen (邪氣) is spread to yin meridians (陰經) and the human body lacks yang while having excessive yin energy (陰盛陽虛) or when heat (熱邪) is invaded into interior parts (裏部). 3. Many scholars of Cold Damage in later periods had copied the "Treatise on Cold Damage Diseases" for treatments of sleep disturbance but many others have applied the verses from "Treatise on Cold Damage Diseases" or added new treatments. Do jeol-am (陶節庵) and Wang Geung-dang (王肯堂) particularly had deep understanding on "Treatise on Cold Damage Diseases" and utilized the content freely or suggested new remedies because they had thorough knowledge on relating formula as well.