Heart yang asthenia syndrome refers to asthenia cold syndrome marked by palpitation, aversion to cold and cold limbs due to asthenia of heart yang to warm and propel. This syndrome is the further development of heart qi asthenia in which asthenia of qi impairs yang and leads to asthenia of heart yang and lack of proper warming and nourishment of the heart as well as inhibited circulation of blood.

Clinical manifestations:
Palpitation, chest oppression or pain, shortness of breath, spontaneous sweating, aversion to cold and cold limbs, pale complexion or cyanotic complexion and lips, pale and bulgy tongue or purplish tongue, whitish slippery tongue fur, weak pulse, or knotted pulse, or slow regular intermittent pulse. This syndrome is usually seen in coronary atherosclerotic cardiopathy, infectious endocarditis, viral myocarditis, chronic rheumatic heart disease, hypotension, primary myocardiopathy, chronic pulmonary heart disease, mitral valve prolapse syndrome and cardiac insufficiency (compensatory period) due to cardiac neurosis.

Analysis of symptoms:
Palpitation is due to asthenia of heart yang, weakness to propel and irregular heart beating; chest oppression or pain and shortness of breath are due to inactivation of thoracic yang; aversion to cold and cold limbs are due to yang asthenia and lack of proper warming; spontaneous sweating is due to weakness of weiqi to protect the superficies; pale complexion or cyanotic complexion and lips as well as knotted pulse, slow regular intermittent pulse or weak pulse are due to asthenia of heart yang to warm and propel and inhibited circulation of blood; pale and bulgy tongue or purplish tongue as well as white and slippery fur are signs of yang asthenia and exuberant cold.

Key points for syndrome differentiation:
Palpitation, chest oppression or pain, weak pulse or knotted pulse and slow regular intermittent pulse as well as aversion to cold and cold limbs.