The Problem with "Wheezing"

"Wheezing" has recently loomed up as a major problem for the Chinese medical community's clinical understanding. The problem came to the fore in the context of the American Association of Oriental Medicine (A.A.O.M.) Asian Medical Nomenclature Debate (Oct. 19, 2006, Phoenix AZ), on the eve of which Eastland Press and Jake Fratkin issued bilingual terms lists in which the Chinese term chuan (which is translated in A Practical Dictionary of Chinese Medicine (PD) terminology as "panting" and by others as "dyspnea") appears with the English translation of "wheezing."

In Chinese literature, chuan is universally defined as urgent or rapid breathing, in severe cases with raising of the shoulders. It is distinct from xiao, which is defined as rapid breathing with a "phlegm rale" described as "wheezy" (xia ya). Clearly, the English term "wheezing" corresponds to xiao, not chuan.