The Internal Organs:

When Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practitioners refer to an internal organ, for example the Liver or the Kidney, they are not talking about only the organ itself.  They are referring to the organ within the Yin/Yang and Five element system, which is a much larger idea that just the organ itself.  For example, in TCM the Liver includes the eyes, nails, tendons, and emotional health.  So when a TCM practitioner states that you have a Liver problem they are talking about this entire Liver system within TCM.  By monitoring the health of the entire system, TCM can prevent the actual Liver from damage and preserve your overall health.  By observing symptoms of all the aspects of Liver function, TCM can detect changes in Liver function without requiring a Western blood test, and can detect early changes in the actual Liver organ function long before a Western blood test could even measure any deterioration.