Wei syndrome

For a lay person:

Wei syndrome (atrophy syndrome) is the Chinese-medicine name for weakness and wasting of the muscles, especially in the legs, without the joint pain of arthritis. In modern terms it covers several nerve and muscle diseases.

For a trained medical person:

The category maps onto flaccid weakness of neurological or muscular origin: peripheral neuropathies (including Guillain–Barré syndrome), motor neurone disease, myasthenia gravis, myopathies, and the late effects of poliomyelitis or myelopathy. A neurological diagnosis is essential.

In Chinese medicine:

Classed as atrophy syndrome (痿證). Maciocia lists Lung Heat injuring fluids and Damp-Heat (excess types), and Stomach and Spleen Deficiency, Liver and Kidney Yin Deficiency, and Spleen and Heart collapse (deficiency types). See the related pattern Wei Atrophy Syndrome.

When to get help: Get emergency care for weakness that spreads quickly, or weakness with difficulty breathing or swallowing.