Large intestinal disorder mainly reflects the dysfunction of the large intestine proper and the pathological changes in its functions in transportation and transformation. The clinical symptoms of large intestinal disorder are usually constipation, diarrhea and purulent and bloody dysentery.

Large intestinal disorder is either asthenic or sthenic. The asthenia syndrome of large intestine is usually caused by congenital yin deficiency, or by exuberant heat consuming body fluid, or by excessive vomiting and diarrhea, or by impairment of yin due to chronic disease which lead to consumption of large intestinal fluid; the sthenia syndrome of large intestine is often caused by attack of summer-dampness and heat, or by improper food that lead to retention of damp heat in the large intestine.

Syndrome of large intestinal fluid consumption  
Syndrome of large intestinal fluid consumption refers to the symptoms of retention of dry feces and difficulty in defecation due to consumption of large intestinal fluid and inhibited transportation. This syndrome is usually caused by congenital yin deficiency or by insufficiency of blood in the aged, or by excessive vomiting and diarrhea, or by consumption of yin due to chronic disease, or by non-restoration of consumed fluid at the advanced stage of febrile disease, or by excessive hemorrhage, etc.
 
Clinical manifestations:
Dry feces and difficulty in defecation, defecation once in several days, dry mouth and throat, or dizziness and halitosis, reddish tongue with scanty fluid, yellow and dry tongue fur, as well as thin and unsmooth pulse. Such symptoms are usually seen in disturbance of intestines, habitual constipation, chronic atrophic gastritis, esophagus cancer, stomach cancer and intestinal cancer as well as the rehabilitative stage of various infectious diseases.
 
Analysis of the symptoms:
Dry feces and difficulty in defecation, defecation once in several days are caused by consumption of large intestinal fluid, loss of moisture in the large intestine and its function in transportation; dry mouth and throat are caused by consumption of fluid and loss of moisture dizziness and halitosis are caused by stagnation of large intestinal qi and disturbance of lucid yang by upward adverse flow of turbid qi; reddish tongue with scanty fluid, yellow and dry tongue fur, as well as thin and unsmooth pulse are the signs of consumption of yin fluid and endogenous dry-heat.

Key points for syndrome differentiation.
This syndrome is marked by retention of dry feces and difficulty in defecation as well as manifestations of loss of fluid.

Syndrome of large intestinal dampheat  
Syndrome of large intestinal damp-heat refers to the symptoms of diarrhea and dysentery due to invasion of damp heat into the intestinal tract and failure of the intestine to transport. This syndrome is mainly caused by invasion of pathogenic damp-heat in summer and autumn into the intestinal tract, or by improper diet, leading to retention of damp-heat and turbid pathogenic factors in the intestinal tract.
 
Clinical manifestations:
Abdominal pain, yellowish and foul fulminant diarrhea, scorching sensation over the anus, or purulent and bloody dysentery, tenesmus, scanty and yellow urine, reddish tongue, yellow and greasy tongue fur as well as slippery and rapid pulse. Such symptoms are usually seen in acute enteritis, dysentery, ulcerative colitis, intestinal tuberculosis and tumor in the intestinal tract.
 
Analysis of the symptoms:
Abdominal pain, yellowish and foul fulminant diarrhea are caused by retention of damp-heat in the large intestine, stagnation of qi in the intestinal tract and failure of the intestine to transport; scorching sensation over the anus is caused by heat invading the large intestine; purulent and bloody dysentery is caused by damp-heat fumigating the large intestinal tract and impairing the collaterals; tenesmus is caused by stagnation of dampness and qi as well as heat fumigating the intestinal tract; scanty and yellow urine, reddish tongue, yellow and greasy tongue fur as well as slippery and rapid pulse are the signs of internal stagnation of damp-heat.
 
Key points for syndrome differentiation:
This syndrome is marked by abdominal pain, fulminant diarrhea, or purulent bloody dysentery as well as manifestations of damp-heat.