While pattern diagnosis provides the practitioner with a snapshot picture of the current state of illness, it is a thorough understanding of pathomechanisms that allows one to predict and prevent the progression of disease. A comprehensive knowledge of the pathomechanisms involved in a given case allows treatment to be more holistic, preventative, and effective. In modern China, pathomechanisms have become a major focus of Chinese medical literature and education. Up to now, relatively little of this material has been transmitted to the West, and consequently many practitioners have failed to go beyond pattern diagnosis to examine the underlying disease process that produces the patterns.
