In Dang Gui Bu Xue Tang, the sensation of heat in the muscles is due to which phenomenon?

• A. Blood deficiency causing heat
• B. True heat
• C. External heat
• D. Yin deficiency causing heat

Answer: (A)

Blood deficiency can produce a sensation of heat in the muscles. Dang Gui Bu Xue Tang nourishes and augments the blood, addressing a deficiency pattern where the tissues lack adequate nourishment. When blood is insufficient, the muscles aren’t properly moistened and cooled, leading to a subjective warm, heat-like sensation in the muscles—deficiency heat. This is different from true heat (an actual excess pathogenic heat) or external heat (from an outside pathogen), and it’s not due to yin deficiency, which produces empty heat from a different root. So the heat in the muscles here is best understood as blood deficiency causing heat.