• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.225-241
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• 2012

Panax ginseng Meyer has been widely used as a tonic in traditional Korean, Chinese, and Japanese herbal medicines and in Western herbal preparations for thousands of years. In the past, ginseng was very rare and was considered to have mysterious powers. Today, the efficacy of drugs must be tested through well-designed clinical trials or meta-analyses, and ginseng is no exception. In the present review, we discuss the functions of ginseng described in historical documents and describe how these functions are taken into account in herbal prescriptions. We also discuss the findings of experimental pharmacological research on the functions of ginseng in ginseng-containing prescriptions and how these prescriptions have been applied in modern therapeutic interventions. The present review on the functions of ginseng in traditional prescriptions helps to demystify ginseng and, as a result, may contribute to expanding the use of ginseng or ginseng-containing prescriptions.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology and Dermatology
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.70-79
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• 2021

Objectives : The purpose of this study is to investigate the possibility of using herbal medicine for the management of psoriasis focusing on lipid metabolism. Methods : We reviewed studies about pathophysiology, and medical treatment of psoriasis, the relationship between psoriasis and metabolic syndrome and lipid metabolism, and herbal medicine on Pubmed and Google scholar. Results : Psoriasis is a chronic multi-organ inflammatory disease not limited to skin, and steroids, immuno-suppressants, and biological agents are used. It is known that psoriasis and metabolic syndrome act as mutual risk factors, and lipid metabolism are involved in psoriasis. The effects of various single herbal preparations and complex herbal extract, decoction on improving lipid metabolism have been consistently reported, and there was an improvement of psoriatic skin lesions and improvement of blood lipid levels through herbal medicine. Conclusions : Herbal medicine research in psoriasis has focused on the anti-inflammatory effect and the suppression effect of certain immune mediators. However, considering that psoriasis is affected by lipid metabolism and side effects of Western medicines, the use of herbal medicines for the purpose of controlling lipid metabolism in psoriasis is useful in aspects of reducing side effects of concurrent Western medicine, improving the severity of psoriasis, and managing metabolic risk factors.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.145-158
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• 2022

Objectives: To identify changes in the subjects and methods of Herbal Medicine Consumption Survey, and analyze trend of the key results Methods: The population, methods, and items of the basic reports of all Surveys on Consumption of Herbal Medicine(HM) were organized in a time-series manner. The analysis items were trend in the purchase of standardized HM; consumption value share, and price of prepared HM; type of herbal dispensary; and awareness of HM policy in Koran Medicine(KM) institutions. Results: The price of HM preparations showed an upward trend in 2011, 2014, and 2017 surveys, and decreased in the 2020 survey. However, despite this recent decrease, the 2021 survey also saw the highest proportion of HM users reporting that price of herbal decoction is expensive. Furthermore, the demand for expanded coverage of herbal decoction was the greatest for the expansion of health insurance benefits. Efforts such as adjusting the number of covered diseases and the cost of health insurance coverage would be necessary. Regarding decoction dispensaries the proportion of HM hospitals using only extramural herbal dispensaries increased. Finally, the consumption of HM and the size of the HM industry has continued to expand due to the large-scale branding of KM institutions and the expansion of health insurance coverage. Conclusion: Future surveys must standardize and unify the items for the time-series continuity and compare the results with government statistics reports on HM to increase reliability. Moreover, specialized survey items may be developed for KM, to establish a better and efficient distribution system for domestic HMs.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.45-59
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• 2018

Objectives : The purpose of this study is to present trends and contents of herbal Korean Medicine patches by analyzing the herbal patches in Korean patents. Methods : Electronic search for herbal patch patents was conducted in KIPRIS (Korea Intellectual Property Rights Information Service). Korean patents that were registered by January 1, 2018 were selected in study. Patents that were not using herbal medicine or not related to patch were excluded in this study. The applicant, application date, International Patent Classification (IPC), contents and adhesive site of patches, target diseases, model of experiment and extraction methods were analyzed. Results : A total of 17 patents were included in this study. In applicant analysis, 61.5% of applicants were corporations. All IPCs in patents were involved in Section A (Human necessities & Agriculture) and 66.7% of IPCs were A61K (Preparations formedical, dental, ortoiletpurposes). In types of patch, 8 patents were hydrogel patches (47.1%), followed by 3 heating patches (17.6%). Skin related symptoms were the most targeted diseases (52.9%), Human was the most used model in experiments. Solvent extraction and hot water extraction were used frequently, and some patents had no limit for extraction were also existed. Conclusions : The study results will be helpful to diversify formulation of herbal medicine, to expand market scale of patent and to develop new application using Korean medicine. In order to establish sufficient data for utilizing patent technologies, more patent studies providing analyzed patent information are needed.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2012

Purpose: Herbal preparations have long been used for medical purposes by traditional cultures, and their use is increasing in modern societies. However, many herbal agents produce specific cardiovascular toxicities in humans. We performed this study in order to investigate the clinical characteristics of the cardiac toxicities associated with herbal remedies. Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of 45 patients (mean age $57{\pm}10$ years) who presented with cardiotoxicity between January 2007 and May 2011 due to ingestion of herbal remedy substances. Patients were identified as suffering cardiotoxicity if they presented with chest pain, EKG abnormality, and elevation of cardiac enzyme. Results: Of the 45 total cases, 17 included hemodynamic instability (37.8%), 7 with increasing cardiac enzyme (15.6%), 2 with cardiac arrest (4.4%) and one case of mortality (2.2%). The cardiotoxic herb group that demonstrated the worst clinical course was Ranunculaceae. Conclusions: In our study results, 57.6% of the herbal intoxication patients demonstrated the effects of cardiotoxicity. Thus, we recommend careful monitoring of herbal intoxication patients.

• Journal of Korean Traditional Oncology
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.11-24
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• 2020

Objective : Radiodermatitis is a common sequelae in 95% of patients receiving radiation therapy, which is important to be well managed as it can affect the patient's quality of life as well as the cancer treatment schedule. The aim of this study is to review and summarize the interventions available for the treatment of acute radiodermatitis, including traditional Korean medicine, and to propose treatment algorithms for clinicians. Methods : To collect studies about managements for radiodermatitis, domestic and foreign database were used such as Korean journal of traditional knowledge portal (KTKP), Korean studies information service system (KISS), national discovery or science leaders (NDSL), and oriental medicine advance searching integrated system (OASIS), Pubmed, Google scholar and Scopus. Results : Thirty-two studies were selected. There were nine studies on usual care and dressing, eleven studies on chemical agents, two studies on biological preparations, and ten studies on herbal medicines. Conclusion : Hygienic options and dressings have proved to be useful in the management of radiodermatitis. Chemical agents such as corticosteroid, statin, and topical antibiotic agent have proved to alleviate symptoms and severity, regenerate damaged skin, and prevent secondary infection. In biological preparations, EGF (epidermal growth factor) and GM-CSF (granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor) could be used to protect skin and prevent radiodermatitis. For herbal medicines, Calendula, catechin, β-sitosterol, and Jaungo (紫雲膏) may be effective for symptoms including pain, itching, and burning sensation induced by radiation therapy. Because of some research with conflicting results, further studies are needed to propose an algorithm for more optimal treatments.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.737-747
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• 2017

This experiment was carried out to determine the optimal concentration of agricultural organic materials using sulfur and oil for the insect pest control in pepper and cherry tomato cultivation. The control value of aphids and Oriental tobacco budworm (OTB) was examined one day after spraying with sulfur preparation (SP) (0.33~0.17%), oil preparations (OP) (2.00~0.33%), SP+OP, OP+ginkgo leaf extracts (GLE), SP+OP+GLE on the "Super Manidaa"pepper. The aphid control in pepper was complete by applications of SP+OP (0.25+1.00%) in the early growth stage and the control value was above 98.1% by the application of OP+GLE (1.00+1.00 %), SP+OP+GLE (0.25+1.0+1%), SP+OP+GLE (0.25+1.0+0.5%) in the middle to late growth stage while showing 0% in the control treatment. The OTB was completely controlled by the 3 times application with the high concentration of SP+OP (0.25+1.00%) in pepper cultivation. This result indicates that the oil and the sulfur preparations should be applied at low concentration before insect pests do not appeared, and then sprayed at the high concentration after they appear at pepper plant. The greenhouse whitefly in 'Minichal' tomatoes was completely controlled by three times application of SP (0.25~0.33), OP (1.0~2.00%). and all the treatment of SP+OP. However, continuous control with intervals of 1~3 days was considered favorable in the tomato plant. By the periodical control with agricultural organic materials using sulfur and oil, the greenhouse whitefly, which is a high-temperature insect pest, several moths of OTB did not occur at all. In conclusion, SP+OP (0.17%+0.33%) treatment was the most economical combination to control the aphid, OTB, and greenhouse whitefly in pepper and tomato cultivation when considering operating cost. In addition, we recommend that SP should not be sprayed on the plant shoots during the day time from July to August because of high temperature.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.57-75
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• 2001

This study was conducted to improve the current regulation guidelines for developing traditional Korean medicines with effectiveness and productivity, in order to cope with the upcoming ICH on specifications on oriental herbal drugs. Also, major purposes of this study are to motivate R&D and to pioneer foreign markets for domestic herbal drug companies. First, after examining concepts of traditional Korean medicines and comparing the numbers and differentiation of herbal drugs registered on Pharmacopeia among Korea, China, and Japan, the current new drug development requirements for traditional Korean medicines were reviewed in detail, followed by comparison of foreign regulation systems including USA, EU, China, and Japan. Second, empirical cases on failure of development for new traditional Korean medicines under the current regulation system in the domestic companies including Dong-A, Kwangdong, and Samchondang, were collected and analyzed. As a result, hanbangsaengyak, the new category for traditional Korean medicines was newly developed on the basis of scientification of data between saengyak and hanyak, from the perspectives of harmonization between oriental medicine and western medicine and of balance between food and drug, in terms of industrialization, publicity, modernization, and effectiveness of administration. In addition, the new regulation requirements for the new hanbangsaengyak preparations were discussed by establishing principles of reinforcing preclinical test and of simplifying clinical trials in Korea. Finally, the further researches to articulate the complete specifications for pre-clinical and clinical requirements for traditional Korean medicines were strongly suggested.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.39-47
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• 2020

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to review the research trends in the treatment on narcolepsy in traditional Chinese medicine. Methods: We searched articles in the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) October 2009-September 2019. Keywords were 发作性睡病, 嗜睡病, and 嗜睡症. Results: Among a total of 81 articles, 12 articles were selected. The International Classification of Sleep Disorders was most frequently used as a diagnostic criteria. Feng Chi (GB20) and Baek Hoi (GV20) are the most commonly used acupoints in acupuncture treatment. Glycyrrhizae Radix (甘草), Atractylodis Rhizoma Alba (白朮), and Poria (Hoelen) (茯苓) are the most commonly used preparations in herbal medicine. The effective rate is most commonly used as an outcome measurement. Conclusions: Acupuncture and herbal medicine could be considered to improve the symptoms of narcolepsy. In the future, this study could be primary data for the development of more clinical research on the treatment on narcolepsy in Korean medicine.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.78-89
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• 2004

Background : A report published by the National Institute of Toxicological Research (NITR) in January 2004 about toxic hepatitis in Korea contained the result of analysis on 55 cases of severe toxic hepatitis from 7 university hospitals for 8 months. NITR claimed that the extrapolated annual frequency of severe toxic hepatitis in Korea was 1904 cases per year. They also claimed that the most frequent etiology of severe toxic hepatitis were herbal medications and similar plant preparations (61.7%), contrasted with traditional therapeutic preparations and healthy foods (29.1%). I have investigated that report to be certain of the result because it is a very important subject for public health and society in Korea. Results : The NITR report has too many problems to have faith in its results. They include the following: 1. The report uses only 55 cases to estimate annual prevalence rate of severe toxic hepatitis in Korea. 2. There was a large regional preponderancy in the NITR report (2 cases in Seoul from a population of 10.17 million, 19 cases in Gwangju from a population of 1.4 million) 3. There was another preponderancy that selected much fewer cases caused by western medication (9.1%) than other reasons. 4. The NITR report used a modified scale than that officially recognized to diagnose toxic hepatitis. 5. There was a mistake using the scale to adapt the right indications. 6. They collected cases before beginning the study, although it was a prospective study. There was also not any questionnaire or other materials concerned with alcohol, drugs, or history of past liver disease. Conclusions : NITR is one of the important official arms of the government of Korea. Nevertheless, there is a severe problem in validity because of selection bias, uncertain accuracy, and insufficiency of raw materials in the report. Therefore it seems incorrect to generalize the results of the report and there is a lack of confidence in it as a national study publishing by the NITR.