Afraid of Colds When the Seasons Change? Doctor Luo Dalun’s Early-Autumn Guide to Preventing External Pathogens

Opening: I Was Going to Talk About Wu Jutong, but First an Urgent Reminder

Good morning, dear friends. Today let’s set the medical cases aside and talk about something urgent — I was supposed to tell you a case of Wu Jutong’s, but the situation right now is special: up north, especially in the northeast and my old hometown, a great many people have been infected with COVID again — their “third round.” Some aren’t even COVID, just ordinary colds, but they’re extremely contagious and, frankly, quite severe.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: I called home, and half of my relatives were running fevers; among my friends, a great many are sick too. Looking at the northeast: the weather has turned cold early, and I expect this autumn and winter will bring a fairly serious wave of external pathogens. So today I’m setting the case histories aside to talk specifically about this external-pathogen business — it’s more urgent than any case story.

The Infection Itself Is Mild — the Trouble Is the “Leftover Problems”

A lot of people have stopped taking colds seriously altogether — and it’s true: even relatives and friends with fevers burn for just two days, take some patent medicine, recover gradually, no big deal. So why make a special point of it?

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: The infection itself — external pathogen entering the body — may not be that heavy, and we can usually clear it out quickly. But the coronavirus keeps mutating, it’s extremely cunning, and it leaves behind a great many residual problems — and I think those residuals may actually be far more serious than the infection itself.

During a livestream, viewers left messages describing these aftereffects:

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Some people can’t sleep well now — the moment they lie down they can’t breathe, it’s suffocating, they have to sit up; their chest feels abnormal to this day. Some get exhausted at the slightest exertion. Some have insomnia; others have the opposite — excessive sleep, so drowsy during the day they can’t keep their eyes open… It triggers all kinds of follow-on trouble.

So the first thing: take this seriously — if you can avoid infection, avoid it. Know that external pathogens surround us and guard against them in time. People have already stopped guarding: tourists crowd together in Sanya, but the after-effects of infection are considerable. Middle-aged and young people may be fine, children may have some problems, and if elderly people are infected, the problems multiply — there really are seniors who have been dragged down by repeated infections, never fully recovering, suffering on. For older friends, prevention is essential.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: If you’re already infected, already positive, then treat it according to syndrome differentiation. But before infection, prevent what can be prevented — restart all the preventive measures you used to take. That’s the most important mindset.

Prevention Step One: Read the Weather — Late Summer Is Damp, So Clear Dampness First

How do you prevent infection? First, adjust according to climate change. Autumn is nearly here, and right now we’re in the transition between late summer and autumn.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: What characterizes late summer? Heavy dampness. I believe much of the country is damp right now, even though the weather will soon turn cool. Watch your own region: if it rains often and the air feels muggy lately, you must pay attention to clearing dampness.

How do you clear dampness? Two directions — one above, one below:

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Above, use aromatic herbs to transform dampness — rouse the spleen-stomach qi, open the qi mechanism, and dissolve the damp pathogen. Add some pepper powder or thirteen-spice blend to your cooking; at home, simmer a pot of aromatics — huoxiang (patchouli), peilan (eupatorium), baizhi (angelica dahurica), duhuo (pubescent angelica) — 10 grams of each, gently boiled in water. Careful: don’t boil long, just a light simmer, and let the steam waft through the room — that aromatic qi transforms dampness. Below, use bland diuretics to drain dampness — cook some red adzuki beans and barley (yimi), which continuously drain dampness downward. Aromatic above opens the qi mechanism, diuretic below pushes dampness out — that combination is correct.

If dampness is genuinely heavy and you use air conditioning a lot, what do you do at the very first sign of discomfort — a slightly upset stomach, mild dizziness?

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Take Huoxiang Zhengqi — but not at full treatment dose: one to two capsules (not four) as prevention; if you use the liquid form (the one with alcohol), mix half a bottle with water and drink that over the day to regulate dampness and the spleen-stomach qi. That’s targeted dampness-clearing.

At the same time, strengthen the spleen — because if the dampness goes but the spleen isn’t strong, the dampness will come right back:

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Eat whole grains to tonify the spleen — for example, Si Jun Zi (Four Gentlemen Decoction) or Xiang Sha Liu Jun Wan (Aucklandia and Amomum Six Gentlemen Pill). If your tongue has scalloped edges with teeth marks and is swollen and puffy, you’re someone with spleen deficiency and heavy dampness — a few days of Xiang Sha Liu Jun Wan will help. Ultimately, use shan yao (Chinese yam), lotus seeds, and other whole grains to strengthen the spleen. Aromatic above, bland diuretic below, and the spleen built back up — then dampness simply can’t stay.

When Autumn Dryness Arrives: First Tell “Cool Dryness” from “Warm Dryness”

In some places the weather has started turning cool, and with the coolness comes dryness pathogen. Dryness splits into cool dryness and warm dryness — both feel dry, but they’re completely different in nature.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Cool dryness: the weather is cold, your nose feels dry inside, you feel uncomfortably chilled, your tongue is pale, or you get waves of chills — especially in the cool of dawn and dusk, or after sitting in air conditioning. That’s cool dryness. When the body cools down, fluids draw inward, and the body surface feels dry — this calls for a warm, moistening, dispersing approach, to redistribute the fluids back out to the surface.

What’s used for cool dryness? Wu Jutong’s Xing Su San (Apricot Kernel and Perilla Leaf Powder):

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: This is Wu Jutong’s formula. Wu Jutong was a warm-disease specialist — his writings on dryness are exceptionally clear; Yu Jiayan (喻嘉言) had described it clearly before him, and Wu Jutong carried it on and developed it. Xing Su San: xing ren (apricot kernel) and su ye (perilla leaf) as the main herbs, with some ban xia (pinellia), qian hu (hogfennel root), jie geng (platycodon), zhi ke (bitter orange) , plus chen pi (tangerine peel), sheng jiang (fresh ginger), and da zao (jujube). It’s made for this cool dryness — a warm method, dispersing outward, sending fluids back to the body surface.

And warm dryness?

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Warm dryness comes from autumn’s blazing heat — the “autumn tiger,” a spell of fierce heat that burns fluids. Then you feel extremely dry and extremely thirsty, your tongue is red, and your nasal mucus and phlegm are scanty and sticky. On a bright, scorching autumn midday, you can easily be injured; people whose fluids are already insufficient in daily life can’t withstand it at all.

What’s used for warm dryness?

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Use Qing Zao Jiu Fei Tang (Clear Dryness and Rescue the Lungs Decoction) — a formula created by Yu Jiayan — or Sang Xing Tang (Mulberry Leaf and Apricot Kernel Decoction) — these are all cool and moistening. If you’re not sick yet and just want prevention, drink some pear syrup (qiu li gao) and eat pears — simmering a white pear in water yourself works fine; wumei and rock sugar water is another good cooling drink. Whenever you look at your tongue and it’s red, lips dry, you habitually feel parched and thirsty and crave cold drinks — follow this warm-dryness regimen.

Moxibustion: the Single Most Effective Method We Learned From the Last Epidemic

Beyond adjusting to the weather, there are old anti-epidemic methods we’ve used before — and the one Doctor Luo recommends most strongly is moxibustion:

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: A small moxa stick every day, ten to twenty minutes — the moxa smoke is wonderful; it’s aromatic and repels filth, warding off pathogenic and foul qi. Moxa your Dazhui (GV14) , your Guanyuan (CV4) , your Zusanli (ST36) — whichever, just do it daily for a short while. This is a very important epidemic-prevention method — the most effective one we distilled from the last epidemic, and it’s easy to do. The key is to choose good-quality moxa sticks.

Two more simple methods you can do anytime:

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Rub the sides of your nose when you have a spare moment — first thing in the morning, rub up and down until the nose is warm; that builds defensive ability. If you can practice standing meditation (zhan zhuang) , do it; if you need to exercise, walk — exercise is wonderful. These are all things to do now.

Supporting Zheng Qi: Steadiness Beats Greed — Don’t “Hate the Illness” and Overdo It

Preventing external pathogens also has a root — supporting zheng qi (upright qi). Tonify where tonification is needed:

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Huang qi (astragalus) and gou qi zi (goji berries) — keep at it. The amount doesn’t need to be large — just a small pinch: huang qi, I take 3 grams, maybe a dozen or so slices; gou qi zi, a small pinch. But the key is persistence — brew them in water daily like a drink. Ginseng slices needn’t be many either: I take five a day, letting them dissolve slowly in my mouth. That’s supporting zheng qi.

Why do some people flare up with heat the moment they start tonifying? Doctor Luo puts his finger on the psychology:

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: This is what I call “hating the illness” — taking medicine out of hatred for the disease: you swallow fifteen slices at once, desperate to build up quickly, and the result is a broken-out tongue, a sore tongue a couple of days later. That’s going too far. You’re not treating an illness — you’re building constitution. So take it slowly; even one or two slices a day is fine and will certainly help your constitution.

Know Your Constitution: Yang Deficiency, Yin Deficiency, Liver Fire — Totally Different Approaches

Supporting zheng qi is not one-size-fits-all — different constitutions, different methods. Applying one method to everyone at every solar term is guaranteed to be wrong.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Yang deficiency — your tongue is usually pale, you’re usually afraid of cold, your energy isn’t vigorous: moxibustion suits you particularly well, and ginseng slices or other warming tonics are fine. Yin deficiency — the tongue is red; some elderly people have very red tongues with no coating and a fast pulse; there are many such people, and many women too. The signs of yin deficiency: always craving cold drinks, night sweats, daytime irritability. These people need nourishing yin: take a little Liu Wei Di Huang Wan (Six Ingredient Rehmannia Pill) daily, or sheng/shu di huang (raw/prepared rehmannia) — the yin-nourishing herbs. American ginseng slices are fine — but never take them the way you’d take ginseng slices: with a tongue that red, taking ginseng is pouring oil on the fire. In daily life, one pear a day, simmered into water, and cooling foods like watermelon — all fine.

And there’s one group easiest to overlook — people with difficult emotions:

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: During epidemic season there’s a type that deserves special attention: people whose emotions are particularly bad — something on their mind, worrying — and a few days later the cold arrives. Stagnated qi mechanism is directly linked to catching external pathogens. These people have a red, pointed tongue tip, a sharply pointed tongue shape, red edges — liver fire. For them, don’t tonify at all — treat draining as tonifying: drink some chrysanthemum tea to clear fire, some herbal cool teas like Wang Laoji, take Jia Wei Xiao Yao Wan (Augmented Free and Easy Powder) or Chai Hu Shu Gan Wan (Bupleurum Soothing the Liver Pill) , steep some rose buds in water. People ask: “My temper is awful — can I take ginseng slices?” — with fire that big, what ginseng slices? The more you tonify, the more you pour oil on the fire. Drain the fire first; once it’s drained, your constitution can gradually strengthen.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: No matter the season, no matter the time, when external pathogens arrive there is always a large batch of emotionally troubled people who fall first — it’s a special pattern, and I don’t think anyone has summed it up before. During the Wuhan outbreak we looked at tongues, and a huge number of people had exactly this liver-qi constraint tongue picture. So take this seriously.

The Most Common Modern Combination: Yang Deficiency + Qi Deficiency + Heavy Dampness

Finally, Doctor Luo singled out one population:

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Yang deficiency and qi deficiency often combine, and on top of that comes heavy dampness — this combination is the most common among modern people. These people absolutely must clear dampness and strengthen the spleen, and protect themselves. Because as the weather turns colder from here, this group is easiest to be invaded — that’s the problem that may surface through this autumn and winter.

Closing: If You Can Avoid It, Avoid It

Up in the northeast it’s already started — yesterday a boss told me his employees are falling sick one after another with colds. So another wave may be coming this autumn and winter — everyone should be prepared.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: When the epidemic first arrived, before Wuhan had released much information and before anything was officially classified, I read what I could and told everyone this really was a plague — a friend about to travel to Wuhan on business canceled the trip. Now people think there’s no great danger left and life has returned to normal, but the after-effects are the nasty part — some genuinely degrade quality of life, and some are even harmful. So let’s stay cautious: dodge when you can dodge, and if you can avoid infection, avoid it — keep your body healthy. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: When I get the chance to teach warm-disease treatment and Wu Jutong’s experience treating external-pathogen illnesses, I’ll introduce this subject in more depth — today is about prevention; as for treatment once you’re actually sick, there are always various approaches, and we’ll go through them slowly. In any case, having a defensive awareness and learning more methods is always good — try to work and live on a foundation of health. That’s what we hope for. Tomorrow, back to Wu Jutong’s case stories.

What to Take Away

Doctor Luo Dalun’s early-autumn plan to keep external pathogens at bay:

If you can avoid infection, avoid it. The infection itself is usually mild (two days of fever), but the lingering after-effects — breathlessness when lying down, fatigue, sleep disorders — are the real cost, especially for the elderly.
Clear dampness first — late summer is damp: aromatic herbs above (huoxiang, peilan, baizhi, duhuo, 10 g each, lightly simmered to steam the room; pepper and thirteen-spice in cooking; a small preventive dose of Huoxiang Zhengqi at the first twinge), bland diuretics below (red adzuki beans, barley), and strengthen the spleen (whole grains, Si Jun Zi, Xiang Sha Liu Jun Wan for scalloped tongues, shan yao, lotus seeds).
Tell your dryness apart — cool dryness (pale tongue, chills, dry nose) calls for Wu Jutong’s Xing Su San; warm dryness (red tongue, sticky mucus, scorching thirst) calls for Qing Zao Jiu Fei Tang, Sang Xing Tang, pear syrup, or wumei sugar water.
Moxibustion is the most effective method — ten to twenty minutes daily on Dazhui (GV14), Guanyuan (CV4), and Zusanli (ST36), with a quality moxa stick. Rub your nose warm; walk or stand in meditation.
Support zheng qi steadily, never greedily — a small pinch of huang qi and goji berries daily, five ginseng slices slowly dissolved — fifteen will burn your tongue. Persistence beats dosage.
Match the method to your constitution — yang deficiency: moxibustion and warming tonics; yin deficiency: Liu Wei Di Huang Wan, American ginseng, pears and watermelon — never ginseng; liver fire from emotions (pointed red tongue tip): drain first with chrysanthemum, cool teas, Jia Wei Xiao Yao Wan, rose tea, then build up.
Emotionally stuck people fall first — whatever the season, regulate your emotions, because the most common modern combination (yang deficiency + qi deficiency + dampness) is the easiest target when the weather turns cold.

Stay healthy through the season — prevent what can be prevented, and let your body stay strong.

Compiled from Doctor Luo Dalun’s traditional Chinese medicine lecture series: how to build your constitution and guard against external pathogens in early autumn — clearing dampness, strengthening the spleen, telling cool from warm dryness, moxibustion for prevention, and matching tonification to your constitution. May we all avoid infection where we can, and stay healthy through autumn and winter.