An organ that extends from the bottom of the mouth into the mouth and consists of smooth muscle. Human tongue is also an important organ of language, which plays the role of feeling taste and assisting eating. The strongest muscle in the human body is the tongue. Invertebrates have developed tongue structures. The tongue of some mollusks is called toothed tongue, which consists of rows of horny plates and looks like a file. It is usually hidden in a toothed tongue pocket at the bottom of the mouth and sticks out to help eat outside the mouth when used. For example, snails and snails have toothed tongues. Insects also have tongues, which are located in the bottom wall of the mouth between the upper and lower jaws, and have chitin thorns on their tongues, so they can taste and stir food, such as locusts. Insects with sucking, licking and chewing devices have abnormal tongues, such as mosquitoes, flies and bees. The structure of vertebrate tongue is simple and complex, and its functions range from less to more. There are horny teeth at the tongue end of liver cirrhosis, which can file fish skin and suck its flesh and blood. Fish's tongue is supported by hyoid bone and has no muscles. It can only move back and forth to help swallowing. Tailless amphibians have developed muscles on their tongues, which can stretch freely and secrete mucus to stick to insects for food. Reptiles' turtles and crocodiles can't stick out their tongues, while snakes and lizards can stick out their tongues far away. The tongue end of a snake is bifurcated, commonly known as letters, which can continuously absorb and stick odor molecules in the air. When it retracts, the tip of the tongue enters the capsule of the vomeronasal organ, and the olfactory mucosa in the capsule can monitor the chemicals brought back. The tongue of the chameleon is extremely developed, generally contracting in the mouth and popping up when used; The tongue is very long, almost equal to the body length, the tip of the tongue is very wide, and there are many glands on it, which can stick insects. Birds' tongues are hard and covered with keratinized epithelium, so they generally don't move. Woodpecker's tongue can be stretched out very long, and there is a hook at the front end, which is suitable for hooking insects in the hole. The front end of hummingbirds' tongue is tubular or brush-like, which is suitable for sucking nectar. Mammals' tongues are covered with mucous membranes and have striated muscles arranged in three directions, which can rotate flexibly. It is divided into three parts: tongue root, tongue body and tongue tip. The base and body of the tongue are connected with the floor of the mouth, and only the tip of the tongue is free. There are many tiny nipples on the back of the tongue: filiform nipples, fungiform nipples, contour nipples and lobular nipples. Except for filamentous papillae, the other three have taste receptors-taste buds. Taste buds are oval-bud-shaped, and consist of sertoli cells and taste bud cells. The taste hole extends to the surface of the tongue, and you can feel the taste of food in your mouth. Taste buds in different parts can perceive sweetness, sourness, bitterness and saltiness respectively. The two sides of the tip of the tongue are sensitive to salt, the two sides of the tongue body are sensitive to acid, the root of the tongue is the most sensitive to bitterness, and the tip of the tongue is sensitive to sweetness. Different tastes play a signal role in people's life activities: sweetness is a signal that calories need to be supplemented; Sour taste is a signal of accelerated metabolism and food deterioration; Salty taste is a signal to help maintain body fluid balance; Bitterness is a signal to protect human body from harmful substances; And umami is the signal of the origin of protein. Taste buds are also sensitive to various flavors. People have the highest ability to distinguish bitterness, followed by sour taste, salty taste and sweet taste. There are many receptors in taste buds, aiming at different tastes. For example, bitter receptors only accept bitter ligands. When the receptor binds to the corresponding ligand, it produces excitatory impulses, which are introduced into the central nervous system through nerves, so people will feel different tastes. Epithelial cells of tongue papilla are often slightly keratinized and exfoliated, and mixed with saliva and food crumbs to form a thin white covering called tongue coating. People's tongue coating will have different color changes due to different physical conditions, and tongue diagnosis is one of the important diagnostic methods in traditional Chinese medicine. The main function of mammalian tongue is taste, in addition to sucking, licking food, stirring food and helping swallowing. Carnivores have prickly protrusions on their tongues, which can lick the minced meat attached to bones. Anteaters and pangolins can stick out their tongues for a long time and secrete mucus, which can stick to ants in large quantities. The predictive function of human tongue on diseases: Tongue diagnosis is an important method for diagnosing diseases in traditional Chinese medicine. Tongue is connected with five internal organs through meridians, so the deficiency and deficiency of viscera, qi and blood, body fluid and the changes of diseases can be objectively reflected in the tongue picture. Through tongue diagnosis, we can understand the deficiency and excess of zang-fu organs and the nature, severity and changes of diseases. Among them, the change of tongue quality mainly reflects the deficiency of viscera and the rise and fall of qi and blood; The change of tongue coating is mainly used to judge the depth and severity of exogenous pathogens and the rise and fall of stomach qi. Chinese medicine divides the tongue into the tip of the tongue, the middle of the tongue, the root of the tongue and the side of the tongue. It is considered that the tip of the tongue belongs to the heart and lung, the middle tongue belongs to the spleen and stomach, the root of the tongue belongs to the kidney, and both sides of the tongue belong to the liver and gallbladder (see Figure 3- 1). According to different parts of the tongue, reflecting different visceral diseases has certain reference value in clinic, but it can't be seen mechanically and needs to be considered comprehensively in combination with other symptoms and signs. 1. Tongue quality: refers to the tongue body, mainly observing its color, shape and state. Normal tongue is reddish in color, fine and moist, fat, thin, old and tender, and flexible in activities, indicating sufficient qi and blood. Can be seen in healthy people, but also can be seen with initial exogenous diseases or mild internal injuries. (1) Tongue color ① Pale tongue: The tongue color is lighter than normal, and the main deficiency syndrome and cold syndrome are more common in blood deficiency, like yang deficiency and qi and blood deficiency. Pale color and fat tenderness belong to deficiency cold; Fat and tender with tooth marks on the side is qi deficiency and yang deficiency. ② Red tongue: The tongue color is darker than normal and bright red, mainly due to internal heat syndrome. Redness of the tip of the tongue is inflammation of the heart; Red tongue indicates that the liver and gallbladder are hot; Red dryness refers to body fluid injury caused by heat or excessive fire due to yin deficiency. ③ Crimson tongue: the tongue is deep red in color, which belongs to heat syndrome, mostly due to pathogenic heat entering the camp, blood deficiency or yin deficiency, and excessive fire. The deeper the crimson tongue, the heavier the heat toxicity. 4 ecchymosis tongue: there are blue-purple ecchymosis or spots on the tongue, mostly with blood stasis accumulation inside. ⑤ Sudden tongue: The whole tongue is bluish, which is either extremely hot or cold-heat syndrome. The tongue is deep purple and dry, extremely hot, and fever is evil blood; The tongue is yellowish purple or bluish purple and smooth, which is yin-cold syndrome. (2) Tongue shape: Observe the old, tender, fat, prickly and cracked tongue. ① Old and tender: "old" refers to rough tongue, tight and convergent shape and color, mostly due to excess heat syndrome; "Tenderness" refers to the delicate tongue quality and delicate color, which is mostly caused by deficiency syndrome or deficiency-cold syndrome. 2 Fat and thin: "Fat" refers to the swelling of the tongue, which is mostly related to water and dampness. The tongue is light and fat, and there are teeth marks on the edge of the tongue, which mostly belong to spleen deficiency or kidney yang deficiency and water-dampness retention; The tongue is red and swollen, which is mostly caused by damp-heat accumulation or excessive heat toxicity. "Thin" refers to the thin tongue, which belongs to deficiency syndrome. People with pale tongue and thin tongue shape are mostly deficient in qi and blood; Red tongue and thin tongue are mostly caused by yin deficiency and internal heat. ③ Puncture: Tongue papilla hyperplasia and hypertrophy, protruding like a thorn, mostly caused by excessive heat. The heavier the heat evil is, the bigger the thorns are. Clinically, the tip of the tongue and the edge of the tongue are often stinging, and the sting of the tip of the tongue is mostly caused by excess heat in the liver and gallbladder. ④ Cracks: There are various longitudinal or transverse cracks or wrinkles on the tongue, mostly caused by mucosal atrophy. A few normal people can see a cleft tongue. The tongue is crimson and cracked, mostly due to heat syndrome; Most people with light and cracked tongue belong to deficiency of both qi and yin. (3) Tongue image: Observe whether the tongue body is trembling, skewed, flabby and firm. ① Tremor: The tongue vibrates involuntarily, which is mostly caused by deficiency of both qi and blood or internal movement of liver wind. ② Oblique: The tongue inclines to one side, which is mostly a stroke hemiplegia or a precursor of stroke. ③ Weakness: the tongue is weak in stretching and rolling, which is mostly caused by deficiency of both qi and blood and dystrophy of tendons and veins. ④ Toughness: the tongue body is not soft, which is not conducive to flexion and extension, or even unable to rotate. Most of them are caused by high fever and excessive pathogenic heat, or are signs of stroke. 2. Tongue coating: Tongue coating is caused by stomach anger. Zhang Xugu said: "Tongue coating shows qi in the stomach, and stomach qi occurs in the heart and spleen. Therefore, people who are not sick often have a thin layer, which is the gas in their stomachs, just like the grass on the ground. If the land is barren, the soil will be lifeless. " Wu Kun 'an said: "The tongue is covered with moss, and the ground is covered with moss. The moss of the earth is born on moisture; Tongue coating is caused by stomach steaming and spleen dampness, so it is called coating. " Modern doctors believe that the formation of tongue coating is mainly the differentiation of filiform papillae. The ends of filamentous papillae differentiate into keratinized trees, and the gaps between the branches of keratinized trees are often filled with exfoliated keratinized epithelium, saliva, bacteria, food residues and oozing white blood cells, forming a normal tongue coating. The normal tongue coating is thin and white, the white coating is tender but not thick, with moderate dryness and wetness, and it is not slippery or dry. Observe the color, thickness and moisture of tongue coating. (1) Moss color: white, yellow, gray and black. ① White fur is the most common in clinic, and other colors of fur can be considered to be formed on the basis of white fur. White fur generally belongs to the lung, with exterior syndrome and cold syndrome, but there are exterior syndrome and heat syndrome in clinic. Thin as white, moist as cold; Thin and white dryness is wind and heat; Cold-dampness syndrome can be seen as white and thick greasy fur. ② The yellow coating is light yellow, light yellow, dark yellow and brown. Generally speaking, the darker the yellow hair, the heavier the heat evil. Pale yellow and slightly hot; Pale yellow heat is heavier; Deep yellow heat is heavier; Brown is a hot knot; Yellow dryness is heat-induced body fluid; Yellow, greasy and damp. ③ Gray-black coating is mainly used for heat syndrome, and also has cold-dampness or deficiency-cold syndrome. The tongue coating is dark and dry, and body fluid is injured by heat; Dark and moist tongue coating is mostly caused by yang deficiency and cold excess. Gray-black moss is more common in the stage of severe illness. (2) Thickness: thin coating, thick coating, less coating and no coating. Thin fur is mostly the first disease, with pathogenic factors in the exterior and mild illness; Thick fur indicates that pathogenic factors are abundant and have internal transmission; Or gastrointestinal stagnation; Or phlegm. The thicker the moss, the stronger the pathogenicity and the more serious the disease. However, the formation of tongue coating reflects the presence or absence of stomach qi. Although the tongue coating is thick, it shows that there is another side of stomach qi, while less coating often indicates that the body is unhealthy, and no coating indicates that the stomach qi is insufficient and there is no chance to grow hair. Irregular tongue coating is peeling off on the tongue surface, and the peeling place is smooth and without coating, which is called flower peeling off, mostly due to deficiency of both stomach qi and yin. If there is greasy fur, it means that phlegm-dampness has not turned into dampness and healthy qi has been damaged. (3) moistening dryness: reflecting body fluid. Normal tongue coating is neither dry nor wet, and no coating is dry, indicating that body fluid is consumed. Exogenous diseases are mostly dry and hot, while internal injuries are mostly yin deficiency and body fluid deficiency. The tongue coating is wet, indicating that the body fluid is not injured, but the coating surface is too wet, making the tongue stick out and drip, which is called slippery coating, indicating that there is moisture retention in the body. Greasy coating: The coating is dense and delicate, such as a layer of turbid and smooth mucus covering the tongue surface, which is not easy to erase, and is mostly filled with phlegm and dampness. Rotten moss: loose moss, such as bean curd residue, accumulates on the tongue surface and is easy to wipe off. Most of them are due to excessive steaming of turbid substances in the stomach, which is a manifestation of retaining the stomach and removing rot. 1. Normal tongue picture: the tongue is reddish, moderately fat and thin, with thin and white tongue coating and moderately dry. 2. Pale white tongue image: the tongue is pale white, the tongue body is fat and tender, and the tongue coating is white and thin. Significance: Most of them are weak stomach qi or deficiency of qi and blood. 3. Old tongue with rough coating: the tongue is reddish, old, with white coating, yellowish and rough as gravel. Significance: Dampness blocks the veins, so it can't absorb fluid, or sudden heat hurts fluid. 4. Pale white tongue with white coating: the tongue is pale white with white coating, and the middle part is as thick as powder. Significance: Yang deficiency and heat floating can be seen in Yang deficiency and exogenous damp-heat. 5. Light white tongue coating is black and dry: the tongue is light white, the tongue body is fat, and the tongue coating is gray and black and dry. Significance: spleen loses health, turbidity is generated in the middle, phlegm and dampness clear the orifices. 6. reddish mirror tongue image: the tongue is reddish and tender, with cracks at the edge, and the tongue surface is bright and clean without moss. Significance: Deficiency of stomach yin or deficiency of both qi and yin. 7. ecchymosis tongue picture: the tongue is red and dark, with ecchymosis and ecchymosis at the edge and thin and white tongue coating. Significance: Blood stasis blocks collaterals and qi and blood stagnate. 8. Flashy safflower peeling tongue (map tongue) Tongue image: the tongue is reddish, the tongue body is skewed, and the tongue coating is white and greasy, showing a map shape. Significance: Deficiency of both qi and yin in stomach, phlegm-dampness blocking collaterals. 9. Red tongue flower peeling tongue image: the tongue is red and tender, the tongue coating is white and greasy, the peeling place is bright and bright without coating, or covered with white transparent coating. Significance: Damp-heat hurts the yin, and the wet turbidity has not changed, which hurts the vaginal fluid. 10. picture of red and swollen tongue: the tongue is red, the body of the tongue is swollen and fat, and it cannot shrink into the mouth. There is yellow coating on the tip and middle of the tongue, and white coating on the edge and root of the tongue. Significance: Damp-heat fumigation, blood heat rising. 1 1. reddish-purple tongue picture: the tongue is reddish with blue patches on the tip of the tongue, and the tongue coating is white and greasy, with little coating in the middle. Significance: qi stagnation and blood stasis or long-term illness without connecting qi and blood. 12. Pale red tongue coating with white thickness. Tongue picture: pale red tongue coating is white and thick. Significance: Qi deficiency and blood stasis, phlegm drinking. 13. The tongue is thick and greasy. Tongue image: the tongue is reddish, the body is slightly fat, the thick and greasy tongue is covered with powder, and the surface is slightly yellow. Significance: Damp-heat blocking triple energizer 14. Pale red tongue coating is yellow and rough: the tongue is reddish, the coating is yellow and dry, and rough as gravel. Significance: Gastrointestinal accumulation of heat with dampness, damp heat turns to dryness. 15. Red tongue coating is black and greasy: red tongue coating is thick and greasy, with white and yellow edges and black in the middle. Significance: Yang deficiency goes up, while damp-heat goes up. 16. Red tongue without coating: the tongue is red and tender with cracks in the middle, except for a little residual coating on the edge of the tongue, Yu Guangying has no coating. Significance: Injury of stomach, kidney, qi and yin. 17. Toothed tongue image: the tongue is slightly red, the tongue body is fat with teeth marks, the middle part of the tongue has longitudinal cracks, and the coating is thin and white with coarse particles. Significance: spleen deficiency and dampness block internal heat. 18. Cracked tongue: the tongue is slightly thin, like a knife, and the tongue coating is thin and white. Significance: yin deficiency, deficiency of true yin, fire deficiency and inflammation. 19. cracked tongue picture: the tongue is pale blue, the tongue body is thick, there is a deep crack in the middle, the tongue edge is cracked like a knife, and the tongue coating is white and greasy and uneven. Significance: deficiency of both qi and blood, deficiency of kidney yin. 20. Red tongue and white rotten tongue image: the tongue is red, the tongue coating is white and thick, and the particles are coarse and loose, such as tofu residue piled on the tongue surface. Significance: Phlegm-food coagulation, damp-heat transpiration. 2 1. Tongue with red coating and yellow rot: the tongue is red with red spots, the tongue body is old, the tongue coating turns from white to grayish yellow, thick rot accumulates, and there are longitudinal cracks on it. Significance: Damp heat, filth and turbidity accumulate in it. 22. Dark red tongue coating brown tongue coating image: the tongue is red and dark, and the coating is brown like a pot, thick and cracked. Significance: Gastrointestinal heat stagnation, Fu Qi impassability. 23. Red tongue with yellow and white fur: red tongue with red spots, yellow and white fur, thick and covered with rice flour. Significance: pathogenic heat, dampness and toxin are contained in it. 24. Dark red tongue, Huang Gan tongue: dark red tongue, thin tongue body, thick, brown and dry tongue coating. Significance: excess heat is dry in gastrointestinal tract. 25. Red, crimson tongue, yellow, black and fur: the tongue is crimson and old, with red spots on the tip of the tongue, thin white fur turning grayish yellow, and the roots are gray and greasy. Significance: wind and phlegm are disturbing, and phlegm is hot and full of fu-organs. 26. Tongue image with red tongue and black rough moss: the tongue is red with red spots, and the black rough moss is covered with thick pieces. Significance: Heat toxin is internal solid and phlegm is internal solid. 27. Red prickly tongue and tongue image: the tongue is red with red prickles, the tongue coating is white and greasy, and the surface is yellowish. Meaning: Stagnation and heat are separated. 28. Blue and thin tongue image: the thin and long face of the tongue is blue and dull, and the tongue coating is white and thick. Significance: cold and dampness stagnate, and qi and blood stagnate. 29. Stripping the tongue with crimson tongue: the tongue is purple and dark, and the tongue surface is stripped without moss. Significance: clearing heat and nourishing blood, damaging yin and blocking collaterals. 30. The pale white tongue coating is watery and slippery: the tongue is light and fat, the tongue tip coating is white and slippery, and the middle root coating is yellow, thick and sticky. Significance: Deficiency of kidney yang; Wet, turbid and hot. 3 1. Red and thin tongue image: the tongue is red and thin, with two layers of thick yellow scales, which are dry and cracked into pieces, and the rest are stripped without moss. Significance: Gastrointestinal fever is related to yin deficiency and excessive fire. 32. The tongue is red and fat with ecchymosis; The tongue is crimson with ecchymosis, the body of the tongue is swollen, the surface of the tongue is damaged, the coating is white and slippery, and it is sauce-colored. Significance: Damp toxin is abundant in the interior. Speaking of tongue health care, we really need to pay more attention! When the tongue is doing exercise, it will naturally promote the nerves of the moving tongue to exercise together, thus achieving the purpose of beauty and fitness. The "tongue diagnosis" of traditional Chinese medicine is to diagnose the pathological changes of the corresponding viscera by observing the changes of various parts of the tongue body. Therefore, regular tongue exercise can strengthen the functions of various parts of internal organs, contribute to the digestion and absorption of food, strengthen the body and delay aging. The specific methods of tongue practice are as follows: 1. After washing your face every morning, stretch and retract your tongue 10 times in front of the mirror, and then swing your tongue from side to side five times outside your mouth. Second, sit in a chair, open your hands and fingers, put them on your knees, and lean forward slightly. First inhale through the nostrils, then open your mouth wide, stick out your tongue and exhale, and at the same time open your eyes and look straight ahead, and practice repeatedly for 3 ~ 5 times. Third, the mouth is open, the tongue is extended and contracted, and the fingertips of the index finger, middle finger and ring finger of the right hand are rubbed up and down from the lower left to the throat for 30 times. Then when the tongue stretches and contracts, rub it up and down 30 times with the fingertips of the three fingers of the left hand from the bottom right to the throat. Fourth, in front of the mirror, open your mouth, slowly stick out your tongue, stay for 2 to 3 seconds, and practice repeatedly for 5 times. Then look up, stretch your chin, open your mouth, stick out your tongue, stay for 2 ~ 3 seconds and practice for 5 times. Tongue exercise is a good set of self-health exercises, which helps the elderly to relieve hypertension, cerebral infarction, asthma, presbyopia and tinnitus, and prevent Alzheimer's disease. Doing it once a day in the morning, at noon and at night can not only reduce the occurrence of oral diseases and delay the aging of taste buds, but also exercise facial muscles, making people radiant and youthful forever.