The Clinical Study of Tongue Change in Diabetes Mellitus Patients as Oriental Diagnostic Method

糖尿환자의 27例의 舌診에 關한 臨床 硏究

Tongue examination is the most unique and important diagnostic method of oriental medicine. It reveals patients condition and give some information about direction of therapy and background of disease as well as produces clue of duration of disease changing that grasps it from outside. The aims of this study show that results of tongue examination is related to somewhat special pattern. we study 27 patients(age of means: 63.01 years old, male: 14, female: 13) who come to Wonkwang University Oriental-Medicine Hospital at Chonju with diabetes mellitus or diabetes mellitus complications. Tongue colors of this study result in pale-red 8 cases, pale 6 cases, red 6 cases, crimson 5 cases, blue-green-purple 2 cases and tongue fur of this study result in white-fur 16 cases, yellow-fur 7 cases, black-fur 1 case, none-fur 3 cases. And the condition of tongue fur with grimy and thin result in thin-white-fur 12 cases, white-grimy-fur 4 cases, thin-yellow-fur 5 cases, grimy-yellow-fur 2 cases, black-fur 1 case. Means level of fasting glucose during 7 days was $223.24{\pm}32.l7mg/dl$ and postprandial 2hours was $286.37{\pm}24.54mg/dl$ There were no changes in tongue body and tongue color but changes occur in tongue fur with 9cases in this period. 5 cases of patient make a difference between FBS(fasting blood glucose) and postprandial blood glucose level more than l00mg/dl (2 cases of patient with thin-white-fur gradually turned to slight-yellow-fur. There were no changes in 2 cases of patient with crimson-none-fur and pale-white-fur. 1 case of patient with slimy-yellow-fur turned to black fur.) 11 cases of patient had lesser than $10\%$ hemoglobin $A_lC$ and tongue color of these patient were pale-red 5cases, pale 2 cases, red 2 cases, crimson 2 cases. 16 cases of patient had more than $10\%$ Hemoglobin $A_1C$ and tongue color of these patients were pale-red 3 cases, pale 4 cases, red 4 cases, crimson 3 cases, blue 2 cases. This result shows that quantity of Hemoglobin $A_1C$ make a somewhat role in tongue color. The above results show that tongue color, fur color, condition and change of fur in diabetes mellitus patients is various in pale-red, pale, crimson, none-fur. So it is difficult to give an exact diagnosis on pathology of diabetes mellitus only with tongue examination because there are a little matches between blood glucose level, prevalence-period, short-term blood glucose regulation and tongue and fur colors.