• The Journal of Korean Medicine Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology and Dermatology
• /
• v.27 no.2
• /
• pp.89-100
• /
• 2014

Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada(VKH) Disease is a bilateral granulomatous uveitis often associated with exudative retinal detachment and extraocular manifestations, such as pleocytosis in the cerebrospinal fluid and, in some case, vitiligo, poliosis, alopecia, and dysacusis. There has been no previous report for the disease in the field of Korean traditional medicine. The case was treated with conventional medical intervention and Korean traditional treatment including acupuncture and herbal medicine. The case was discharged with improvement in fundus photography and optical coherence tomography. The authors report the case to suggest that Korean medical approach combined with conventional treatment can be helpful for the disease.

• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
• /
• v.31 no.4
• /
• pp.110-127
• /
• 2018

Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of traditional herbal medicine (THM) in the treatment of dysfunctional uterine bleeding (DUB) versus conventional western medicine. Methods: Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) comparing THM vs. conventional western medicine for DUB, were obtained from PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, CNKI, RISS, NDSL, KISS and OASIS. The risk of bias was assessed by using Cochrane's risk of bias tool. Results: 16 RCTs with 1,659 patients were identified and reviewed. 10 RCTs reported THM was statistically effective than control group in effective rate. Also recurrent rate was estimated in 6 RCTs and was lower than control group. 7 studies observed adverse events (AEs) and severe AEs were not reported. Conclusions: Despite several limitations, this review suggested that THM was safe and effective in the treatment of DUB. THM may also decrease the recurrence rate. However, this could not be proven conclusively. To ensure evidence-based clinical practice, more sternly designed trials are warranted.

• Journal of Korean Medicine for Obesity Research
• /
• v.23 no.2
• /
• pp.86-97
• /
• 2023

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to review clinical studies related to the effect of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) on moderate to severe obese patients with hypertension. Methods: Clinical studies from the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) were searched by specific keywords and criteria. Total of 7 randomized controlled trials were selected and analyzed. Results: Various evaluation methods were used to see the effect of TCM compared to conventional western medicine. Most of the studies used herbal medicine combined with conventional anti-hypertensive western medicine. The effective rate of anti-hypertension was higher when TCM was added to conventional anti-hypertensive medicine. Traditional medicine treatment showed significant effect on lowering blood pressure and body mass index. Conclusions: Based on the results of the clinical studies from China, TCM can be a valuable option for moderate to severe obese patients with hypertension. Applying Traditional medicine has a significant effect on lowering blood pressure and weight loss. Combining herbal medicine can be worthy of clinical promotion and application for moderate and severe obese patients with hypertension.

• The Journal of Churna Manual Medicine for Spine and Nerves
• /
• v.17 no.2
• /
• pp.131-139
• /
• 2022

Objectives This study aimed to analyze the medical utilization of low back pain (LBP) patients after back surgery and estimate the medical costs of Korean and Western medicine collaborative treatment, odds ratio, and hazard ratio between the two groups using the 2019 Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service-National Patient Sample (HIRA-NPS-2019). Methods Data management and descriptive analysis, logistic regression, and survival analysis were conducted for defining and estimating the LBP patients after back surgery in the NPS 2019 dataset. Results A total of 216,424 patients out of 991,189 were identified as having LBP. Among the patients with LBP, 1,734 were treated with surgery while 214,690 were not. Among those who had surgery, 937 were treated with conventional treatments only and 797 underwent Korean medicine treatments. The odds ratio of the logistic regression analysis was 0.7129, suggesting that Korean medical treatment experience group had a 28.7% lower risk of reoperation than the Western medical treatments only group. The hazard ratio of the survival analysis was 0.9145; thus, the risk probability of reoperation was estimated to be approximately 8.55% lower. The 50% risk of reoperation was 69 days (0.5044) for the conventional group, and 97 days (0.5008) for the Korean medical group in the survival analysis using the Kaplan-Meier graph. Conclusions These results could be utilized in future studies in conducting economic evaluation for estimating cost-effectiveness of Western medicine and Korean medicine treatment compared to Western medicine alone in LBP patients after back surgery in a South Korean perspective. mended and should be applied while taking the necessary precautions.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
• /
• v.39 no.2
• /
• pp.145-149
• /
• 2022

This study examined the effectiveness of Korean-Western cooperative treatment for patients with plantar fasciitis. Fifty patients received Korean medicine treatments (acupuncture, pharmacopuncture, herbal medicine) and Western medicine treatments (polydeoxyribonucleotide, and extracorporeal shock wave therapy). Evaluation methods used were comparison before and after ultrasound (P9), and numeric rating scale scores. Results revealed a significant improvement in the level of pain and evaluation of improvement using ultrasound. Moreover, it was suggested that Korean-Western cooperative medicine treatment may be effective for the treatment of plantar fasciitis.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
• /
• v.38 no.2
• /
• pp.96-109
• /
• 2021

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of acupotomy for the treatment of patients with knee osteoarthritis. There were 9 databases searched to retrieve randomized controlled trials until August 3, 2019 regarding acupotomy versus conventional Western medicine, conventional Western medicine treatment with and without acupotomy, and Korean medicine treatment with and without acupotomy, and meta-analysis was performed. Of 303 potentially relevant studies retrieved, 43 were systematically reviewed. All studies were conducted in China. Effective rate, visual analogue scale, and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis index were used as the evaluation scales. The Ashi point was selected most frequently. In all studies, the intervention group was more effective than the control group. Meta-analysis revealed that acupotomy showed statistically significant beneficial results. Although acupotomy had a beneficial effect on knee osteoarthritis, the risk of bias of the included studies was not low. The majority of the results from the evaluation scales used were highly heterogeneous (> 50%) which reduced confidence in the estimation of effect, or had a small sample size. Further clinical research and development is required in the future.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
• /
• v.38 no.5
• /
• pp.778-788
• /
• 2017

Objective: We conducted this study to report the clinical manifestations of integrative treatment with Korean and conventional medicines in a patient with acute hepatitis A after conventional medicine therapy for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and pneumonia. Methods: A patient was treated with herbal medicine, western medicine, and moxibustion. The liver function tests (GOT, GPT, ALP, ${\gamma}-GT$), total bilirubin, and 4-scale scoring (none, mild, moderate, and severe) of symptoms were used to assess any improvement in symptoms. Results and Conclusion: The symptoms at the time of admission were improved. The levels of GOT, GPT, ALP, ${\gamma}-GT$, and total bilirubin were decreased in laboratory tests. We obtained positive effects for the integrative treatment of acute hepatitis A.

• Journal of Haehwa Medicine
• /
• v.21 no.1
• /
• pp.79-85
• /
• 2012

Objective : This study was aimed to report a patient accompanied by alcoholic derogation acute abdominal pain treated with oriental medicine combined with conventional treatment. Methods : A 36 year old female patient complained of acute abdominal pain for one year from Apr. 2009. She had treated at local general hospital. But the symptom was not reduced. Instead, it was aggravated on Jul. 2010. The main symptoms were left flank pain, chest discomfort, nausea and anorexia. The patient was treated by oriental medicine (herbal medicine (Chunggan-plus), acupuncture, moxibustion, etc) combined with conventional medicine from Jul. 10th, 2010 to Jul. 17th, 2010. We observed the patient with evaluation of laboratory test and imaging scan. Results : Most of the symptoms of the patient were improved. Especially, the abdominal pain were disappeared from grade 3 to grade 0. No side effects were noted during treatment. Conclusion : This results suggest that the oriental medicine combined with western medicine may effective to treat alcoholic derogation acute abdominal pain.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
• /
• v.38 no.3
• /
• pp.13-29
• /
• 2017

Objectives: The objective of this review is to investigate the use of conventional Western medicine (WM) and complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) on leg cramps. Leg cramps are the occurrence of muscular spasm in the leg muscles which occur frequently in the elderly and are frequently observed in the clinical field. Methods: Relevant clinical studies were searched from five medical databases including PubMed, KISS, RISS, OASIS, and J-STAGE. Systematic review, clinical studies, and clinical practice guideline were included in this review. Results: In total, 27 clinical studies, 9 systematic review and meta-analysis, and 1 clinical practice guideline met the inclusion criteria. Included studies were classified and analyzed according to the type of intervention. Studies on quinine and magnesium have been most studied in WM and CAM, respectively. Although quinine shows some clinical effects on leg cramps, however, the risk of side effects are suggested. In addition, magnesium failed to improve the clinically significant effects in most studies. Five case reports using Oriental herbal medicine (OHM) were included and OHMs were effective in improving leg cramps without side effects, however, the quality of evidence was low. Clinical studies on other interventions were lacking. Conclusions: The results of this study indicate that there is no definite treatment standard for leg cramps until now, and there are limitations such as low level of evidence and side effects for each treatment. OHM can be an effective alternative to conventional intervention on leg cramps, therefore, related clinical studies are needed.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology and Dermatology
• /
• v.34 no.3
• /
• pp.27-54
• /
• 2021

Objectives : This review was conducted to validate the effectiveness and safety of herbal medicine combined with conventional therapy for rosacea. Methods : Randomized controlled trials(RCTs) reporting the effects of herbal medicine treatment on rosacea were searched through eight electronic databases from 2016 to March 17, 2020. This study collection and data extraction were performed by two independent reviews. The Cochrane risk-of-bias tool was used for the evaluation of the risk of bias in all included RCTs. Mean differences(MD) and Risk ratio(RR) of 95% Confidence intervals(Cls) were calculated and data synthesis was conducted using Review Manager(RevMan, ver.5.4) Results : Eighteen RCTs were included and all trials compared the combined therapy of herbal medicine with conventional western therapy to conventional therapy alone. The effective rate of the combination of herbal medicine with western medicine(RR 1.20, 95% CI : 1.13-1.28, p<0.00001, I²=0%), the effective rate of the combination of herbal medicine with laser-based therapy(RR 1.12, 95% CI : 1.04-1.21, p=0.004, I²=18%) and the effective rate of the combination treatment group using herbal medicine, western medicine and external drugs were all statistically higher that of the control group(RR 1.19, 95% CI : 1.11-1.28, p<0.00001, I²=0%). The score of non transient erythema(MD -0.36, 95% CI : -1.01 0.29, p=0.27, I²=93%), flushing(MD -0.69, 95% CI : -0.97, 0.41, p<0.00001, I²=32%), papules or pustules(MD 0.10, 95% CI : -0.15, 0.35 p=0.44, I²=0%) were also seen in the herbal medicine and western medicine combination group. The overall risk of bias of the included studies was some concerns. No serious adverse effects were observed. Conclusions : This review found the safety and effectiveness of the combined therapy of herbal medicine with conventional western therapy for rosacea.