Village Chief Ma was listening intently and couldn't help but ask, "Doctor Li, is it difficult for ordinary people like us to determine the actual cause of our own impotence?"
Li Xu nodded. "Exactly. That's why you must see a doctor when you're sick. It's very difficult for an ordinary person to accurately determine the cause of an illness.
"Take diarrhea, for example. It can be caused by all sorts of conditions, like spleen-deficiency diarrhea, damp-heat diarrhea, or cold-damp diarrhea.
"Furthermore, a patient might have multiple coexisting conditions and complex presentations, like true heat versus false heat, or true deficiency versus false excess.
"All of these require a doctor to perform a careful examination using observation, listening, questioning, and pulse-taking to arrive at an accurate diagnosis.
"We doctors must be extremely cautious in our diagnosis and treatment to avoid misdiagnosis and delaying proper care."
