• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.279-285
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• 1998

Effects of acupuncture at Sanyinjiao(SP6) and Yanglingquan(GB34) on bone mineral sensity(BMD) was investigated in ovariectomized(OVX) rats. BMD of OVX rats was measured left femur and tibia 2 and 4 weeks after acupuncture stimulation, respectively. Compared with sham-operated rats, a significant decrease in spine, pelvic and left femoral and tibial BMD was observed 2 and 4 weeks after OVX, respectively. In contrast, a significant increase of spinal, pelvic and left femoral and tibial BMD was elicited 2 and/or 4 weeks after acupuncture stimulation, respectively. These results show the possibility that acupuncture can play a role of ameliorating osteoporosis by elevating serum levels of female hormones related with bone metabolism.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.239-254
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• 2006

The 3rd Japan-Korea Workshop on Acupuncture and EBM was held at Kanazawa on June $16^{th}$. From Korea team, 4 papers were presented. Dr. Hahn introduced a new approach of data analysis on series of n-of-1 trials using the Bayesian statistics. It offered important information for the future n-of-1 trials. Dr. Park clearly demonstrated the significance of various sham devices proposed and stressed the importance of research questions when we choose the control intervention in RCT. Dr. Lee reported the results of survey in Korean Medical Doctors (KMD) for their point selection and techniques to the distal and local points. Dr. Kim presented the results of face to face survey on the KMD with 28 items for acupuncture treatment on the knee OA. Finally, a draft of protocol was introduced by Dr. Kim. The title was "multi-center, a randomized, single blinded, two arms, parallel-group study to compare the effectiveness and safety of 'individualized acupuncture' and 'standardized minimal acupuncture' in Korean and Japanese patients with knee osteoarthritis (Phase IV)". From Japan team, 7 speakers presented their comments and proposals on the protocol. Dr. Takahashi introduced several issues regarding n-of-1 trials and pointed out the importance of obtaining generalizability from n-of-1 trials. Dr. Shichidou pointed the importance of research design, selection of outcome measures and reduction of biases. Dr. Itoh presented the results of point selection for the knee OA based on the literature survey. Dr. Sumiya introduced several differences between KMD and Japanese acupuncturists based on the questionnaire used in KMD survey. Dr. Furuya demonstrated a result of press tack needle and its sham device on shoulder stiffness. Dr. Yamashita introduced the results of literature survey regarding adverse events occurred by acupuncture on knee OA. Dr.Tsukayama stressed the importance of responsibility of Institutional Review Board (IRB) for the conduction of clinical trials. After several issues were discussed, the need of continued meeting for final protocol development was agreed, then the workshop was closed.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.165-177
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• 2006

Objectives : 1. Clinical trial for the efficacy evaluation of Korean acupuncture techniques in treating frozen shoulder. 2. Development of the standard clinical guidelines of the acupuncture treatment for the frozen shoulder. 3. Development of the new clinical protocol for the acupuncture treatments. 4. Verification of the hypothesis that treating at both the remote and the nearby acupoints according to the meridian theory is more effective than treating at only the nearby acupoints. Methods : 1. Research designed as Single blind, Randomized, Sham acupuncture controlled clinical Trial. 2. Assignment of 86 patients to one of three groups treated at nearby acupoints(group A), remote & nearby acupoints(group B), and sham points(group C) respectively. 3. Trial conducted at KIOM CRC of Dunsan oriental medical hospital, Daejeon Univ. 4. Estimation of the recovery rate of the frozen shoulder in subjects aged over 40. 5. Efficacy evaluation using VAS, SPADI, ROM and Improvement rate. Results : 1. There was no significant difference in VAS among the three groups. 2. Pain related scores in SPADI of the group B were significantly lower than those of the group A. 3. There was no significant difference in disability related scores of SPADI among the three groups. 4. External rotation of upper arm in the group B was significantly improved in comparison with that in the group C. 5. Abduction of upper arm in group A was improved with weak statistical significance in comparison with that in the group C. Conclusion : Acupuncture at both the remote and the nearby acupoints according to the meridian theory is effective to improve external rotation of frozen shoulder, and acupuncture at the nearby acupoints is effective to improve adduction of frozen shoulder. However it is not clear that acupuncture treatment at both the remote and the nearby acupoints according to the meridian theory is more effective than treating at only the nearby acupoints in the treatment of frozen shoulder. Since our study was a short term trial, a long term trial for a more precise evaluation of acupuncture treatment for frozen shoulder will be needed in the future.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2008

Objective : To investigate the therapeutic effect of manual acupuncture at Siguan (four gates, bilateral LI4 and LR3) on suppression of gastrointestinal motility. Methods : A single blind, randomized, sham-acupuncture controlled, crossover study was conducted. Twenty healthy male subjects were admitted at hospital, and gastrointestinal motility suppression was induced by loperamide administration. Just after intake of 20 radio-markers, four gates or sham acupoint treatments were administered every 12 hours, 4 times over 48 hours. Gastrointestinal motility was evaluated by radiographic distribution of the radiomarkers at stomach or ileum, ascending, transverse, descending colon, sigmoid/rectum, and outside body at serial time points (0, 6, 12, 24, and 48 h). Results : Four gates acupuncture activated gastrointestinal movement as evidenced by significantly changed distributionof radio-makers at 6, 12, and 48 hours (P < 0.0001, P = 0.001, and P = 0.03, respectively) in Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel statistics. No serious adverse events occurred in either group. Conclusions : This study showed a scientific clinical relevance of four gates acupuncture to gastrointestinal disorders.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.28 no.3 s.71
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• pp.116-125
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• 2007

Objective : To overview the protocols of clinical acupuncture research on cancer in the USA. Methods : Using 'acupuncture' and 'cancer' as keyword search terms in Clinical Trials. gov, 28 clinical studies were found. Three studies by non-American institutions were excluded and 25 studies were analyzed. Analytic parameters were cancer condition, primary outcome, research institution, study design, and acupuncture intervention. Results : Breast cancer was the most frequent single condition in the searched protocols. Pain and quality of life were the primary outcomes in many studies. Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centerin New York has performed the largest number of acupuncture cancer studies. The majority of studies were randomized controlled trials with active controls or placebo/sham controls. Total enrollment varied between the range of 10 and 700 subjects and ages of these subjects were at least above 18 years old (except one protocol). Most protocols had strict exclusion criteria for acupuncture needling such as bleeding disorders, infection, heart disorder, and central nervous system disorder. Conclusions : Clinical acupuncture studies for cancer patients have focused on pain, quality of life, and side effects induced by anti-cancer therapies. Re-evaluation and cautions for strict exclusion criteria in foreign countries are required to perform multi-national acupuncture trials.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.1100-1118
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• 2020

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of acupuncture as a treatment for allergic rhinitis (AR). We used a meta-analysis and systematic review to analyze the results of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that applied acupuncture to AR patients. Methods: The key question assessed the effects of acupuncture on patients with AR, and we included only RCTs. We searched the KoreaMed, NDSL, KMBASE, Koreantk, OASIS, PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane databases, with no language restriction. We assessed risk of bias with the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool. The random effects model was used to adjust for the heterogeneity of the included studies, and the effect sizes between two groups were reported as mean differences (MD) and risk ratios (RR). Results: Twelve RCTs were analyzed, with a total of 1788 participants; 824 participants were in the treatment group (i.e., acupuncture) and 964 were in the control group (sham acupuncture, western medicine, or waitlist). The meta-analysis results of 7 RCTs comparing the therapeutic efficacy of acupuncture with that of sham acupuncture showed a statistically significant difference (p<0.05) in the Rhinoconjunctivitis Quality of Life Questionnaire (RQLQ) and the Change of Total Nasal Symptom Score (TNSS). The meta-analysis of 4 RCTs comparing the therapeutic efficacy of acupuncture with western medicine showed statistically significant differences (p<0.05) in the RQLQ but not in the changes in effective rate (p>0.05). Conclusions: Acupuncture can be an effective treatment for AR, but more studies are required to enhance the level of evidence and to confirm safety.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.59-68
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• 2020

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the current state of clinical trials for acupuncture treatment of Parkinson's disease (PD) using neuroimaging methods. Methods: We searched for clinical trial studies of acupuncture treatment for Parkinson's disease that used neuroimaging methods in the MEDLINE (PubMed) database. The identified studies were then selected manually based on inclusion criteria. We subsequently analyzed the characteristics of the selected articles and reviewed the neural substrates of acupuncture treatment in PD. Results: Eight studies were included. The most frequently applied modality for PD was functional MRI. The most frequently selected acupoint for PD was GV34. Several studies showed that acupuncture treatment could improve the symptoms of PD. Through the analysis, we demonstrated that the neuroimaging method could capture the neural substrates associated with PD and that acupuncture treatment may affect the activation of brain areas that are impaired in PD in a different way than sham acupuncture. Conclusions: Applying a neuroimaging method could be helpful in clinical trials of acupuncture treatment for PD, and more efforts should be made in this area.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.1-18
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• 2008

The purpose of this research is to examine the effect of Simjeongkyeok Sa-am acupuncture treatment for major symptoms of Hwa-byung. Method : In this randomized, single blind, placebo-controlled study, we compared Simjeongkyeok acupuncture with Sham acupuncture in the treatment for major symptoms of Hwa-byung. Likert scale for major symptom of Hwa-byung was measured as the 1st evaluative instrument, and STAXI-K, STAI-K, BDI-K and HRV were also measured as the 2nd evaluative instrument at the before treatment and after treatment. Results : In comparison of Likert scale for major symptoms, total score of after treatment decreased significantly at each point on both groups, but there was no significant difference between both groups. In comparison of STAXI-K, STAI-K, BDI-K, there was no significant difference in variation of score between both groups. But Simjeongkyeok group showed higher ratio variation of STAXI expression than that of Sham group, Also on subjects whose main complaint symptom were burning sensation and whose pattern identification were Qizhi, Simjeongkyeok group showed higher variation of Likert scale score and BDI-K than that of Sham group. The significance was border line around. Conclusion : We considered that Shimjeongkeok treatment will he likely to he recommended for treating Hwa-byung, especially on subjects in each group whose main complaint symptom were burning sensation or whose pattern identification were Qizhi. Also it may also be effective on the management of anger expression.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.11-29
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• 2008

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to observe the effects of acupuncture and electro-acupuncture at $LI_4$ on intestinal motility in rat. Methods : We made over-activated state of intestinal motility with carbachol and suppressed state of intestinal motility with loperamide in rat and carried out needle retention acupuncture, low frequency electro-acupuncture and high frequency electro-acupuncture at $LI_4$ or sham point in rat devided into pre-treatment group and post-treatment group. and we resulted as follow for measuring charcoal travel rate to observe intestinal motility. Results : 1. Any of needle retention acupuncture, low frequency electro-acupuncture and high frequency electro-acupuncture at $LI_4$ have no significant influences on intestinal motility of rat in normal state. 2. All of the pre-treatment and post-treatment of needle retention acupuncture, low frequency electro-acupuncture and high frequency electro-acupuncture didn't significantly decrease intestinal motility in rat which over-activated with carbachol. 3. Pre-treatment of needle retention acupuncture and high frequency electro-acupuncture significantly increased intestinal motility in rat which suppressed with loperamide. 4. Post-treatment of needle retention acupuncture, low frequency electro-acupuncture and high frequency electro-acupuncture significantly increased intestinal motility in rat which suppressed with loperamide. Conclusions : These results suggest that acupuncture on $LI_4$ have preventive effect and therapeutic effect on suppressed intestinal motility, and especially high frequency electro-acupuncture is more effective.

• Proceedings of the KSMRM Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.85-85
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• 2003

Purpose： To investigate whether or not acupuncture of GB34 produces a significant response of the modulation of somatomotor areas by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study. Materials and methods： The acupoint, GB34, located in the back of the knee, is known to be effective in recovering motor function after stroke. Using 3T MRI scanner, functional MR imaging of the whole brain was peformed in 12 normal healthy subjects during two stimulation paradigms; acupuncture manipulation on GB34 and sham points. This study investigates the activation of the motor cortex elicited by a soft and an intensified stimulation of GB 34.Three different paradigms were carried out to detect any possible modulation of the Blood Oxygenation Level Dependent (BOLD) response in the somatomortor area to motor stimulation through acupuncture.