Age-Related Hypertension — Part 2
Age-Related Hypertension — Part 2
Classical Medicine does not measure blood pressure. So what does it observe?
In Part 1, we explored how modern medicine understands age-related hypertension as a condition shaped by arterial stiffness, endothelial dysfunction, and changes in autonomic regulation.
Yet in clinical practice, all of these complexities ultimately converge into a single target:
a number.
Classical Medicine does not measure that number.
It developed in a time before blood pressure monitors existed.
So what, then, does it observe?
The Same Patient, A Different Question
If modern medicine asks,
“What is the blood pressure?”
Classical Medicine asks,
“What process is unfolding within this person right now?”
Let us revisit the symptoms often reported by elderly patients with hypertension:
Dizziness
Headache
Facial flushing
Tinnitus
Insomnia
Irritability
In modern medicine, these are often considered secondary effects—
symptoms expected to improve once blood pressure is controlled.
However, in clinical reality, these symptoms frequently persist
even after the numbers are normalized.
Classical Medicine does not treat these as byproducts.
They are the starting point of diagnosis.
Liver Yang Rising — When Upward Force Is No Longer Regulated
In Classical Medicine literature, this cluster of symptoms is often described as
Liver Yang Rising.
Taken literally, it refers to “Yang energy of the Liver rising upward.”
But interpreting this as a problem of the anatomical liver leads to misunderstanding.
In Classical Medicine, the “Liver” represents a functional system,
not a physical organ.
This system is responsible for maintaining the smooth flow within the body
and regulating the balance between upward and downward movement.
When this system becomes excessively active,
energy tends to concentrate in the upper body—
particularly the head and face.
This is used to explain symptoms such as dizziness, headache, flushing, and tinnitus (Maciocia, 2015).
Liver–Kidney Yin Deficiency — When the Root Weakens, the Branches Sway
Classical Medicine goes one step further.
Liver Yang Rising is not simply a state of excess activity.
It is understood to arise from a deeper foundation:
Liver–Kidney Yin Deficiency.
As aging progresses, the functional capacity of the “Kidney system” gradually declines.
In Classical Medicine, the Kidney is seen as the foundation of vitality—
providing the regulatory base for the entire body.
When this foundation weakens,
it can no longer anchor or restrain the upward movement of the Liver system.
Like a tree with weakened roots,
the branches begin to sway (Chen & Chen, 2004).
It is not possible to fully translate this framework into modern biomedical terms.
However, there are structural parallels.
Modern research shows that with aging:
Autonomic regulatory capacity declines
Sympathetic activity becomes relatively dominant
(Monahan, 2007)
This observation partially overlaps with the Classical Medicine description:
a weakening of foundational regulation leading to increased upward activity.
This is not to say the two systems are describing the same thing.
Rather, it suggests that they may be observing similar phenomena through different languages.
What Classical Medicine Is Actually Observing
In summary, Classical Medicine views age-related hypertension as:
A condition in which,
through the process of aging,
the body’s foundational regulatory capacity weakens—
and as a result, upward-moving forces are no longer adequately controlled.
Symptoms such as dizziness, headache, tinnitus, and insomnia
are not secondary effects,
but direct expressions of this process.
Blood pressure is simply one of those expressions.
From this perspective,
the goal of treatment is not merely to lower a number.
It is to:
support the weakened foundation
restore balance to the upward movement
What Comes Next
In the next part,
we will examine how this treatment principle is translated into a concrete clinical formula:
Tianma Gouteng Yin—
and how its structure reflects this way of thinking.
References
Chen JK, Chen TT. (2004). Chinese Medical Herbology and Pharmacology. Art of Medicine Press.
Maciocia G. (2015). The Foundations of Chinese Medicine. Churchill Livingstone.
Monahan KD. (2007). Effect of aging on baroreflex function in humans. American Journal of Physiology.
Wang J, Xiong X, Liu W. (2012). Traditional Chinese medicine syndromes for essential hypertension. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine.
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