• 한방재활의학과학회지
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• 제29권3호
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• pp.1-13
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• 2019

Objectives This review aims to analyze the current research trend in the usage of bee venom (BV) acupuncture for spinal diseases. Methods We collected 80 articles on BV acupuncture clinical study for spinal diseases by searching Korean web databases 'Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation', 'Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System', 'Korean Traditional Knowledge Portal' from 1999 to 2018. Results We summarized the most frequent clinical treatment methods of BV acupuncture. 1. Herniated intervertebral disc was treated for 40% and the treated spinal diseases were various. 2. '1:10,000' in the type of BV was chosen for 21%. 3. 29% of studies used 6-7 acupoints per session and 23% of studies used 'BL' as the injection site. 3. The highest volume of injected BV into each acupoint was 0.1 cc for 34% and the highest total volume of injected BV was 1.0 cc for 39%. Conclusions We found the limited evidence on the lack of consensus and detailed description in the reported experimental design. The results in this review suggest that future works should focus on more consistent and systematic study for the reproducible and standardized treatment methods.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• 제22권4호
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• pp.35-45
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• 2005

Objectives : To investigate the applicability of thermography as severity measurement in the patients with osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee. Methods : Data were obtained from 80 patiens with OA of the knee. They were asked to answer two disease-specific questionnaire (Western Ontario and McMaster Universities (WOMAC) OA index. Lequesne's Functional Index (LFI)), one generic instrument (Korean Health Assessment Questionnaire (KHAQ)), VAS in order to assess the severity of disease, quality of life, and degree of pain and taken thermography in standardized environment. Results : The thermal difference between ipsilateral side and contralaterla side of lateral aspect of knee was correlated with that of medial aspect of knee, and the thermal difference of anterior thigh was correlated with that of lateral, medial aspect of knee and patella region. Age, duration of disease, duration of morning stiffness, sex, crepitus, and painful side of knee were not correlated with the thermal differences of each region. LFI, WOMAC, WOMAC pain subscale, WOMAC stiffness subscale, WOMAC physical function, KHAQ, VAS were not correlated with the thermal differences of each region. Conclusion : Futher study on the thermography on OA of the knee in population with appropriate severity grade and the standardization of analysis of thermographic data were recommended.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• 제36권1호
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• pp.44-51
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• 2019

Objectives : Teaching the standardized acupuncture point locations and improving the accuracy of acupoint locations through objective evaluation is a very important part of Korean medicine education. The aim of this study is to develop a dummy system for evaluation and support of teaching acupoint location in meridian and acupoints classes and to introduce the developed system. Methods : We established a protocol for the development of the system. The protocol included definition of usage purpose, definition of its essential performance, and set of scope. The system compares the amount of light at the target acupoint with the amount of light at the other sites to determine whether the target acupoint is properly specificated. Results : A prototype of the system was built according to the protocol and consists of light emitter, dummy, control/operation, input part and output part. The light emitter projects laser beam passing through the skin of the dummy. Light sensors were attached inside the acupoints of the dummy. Three types of light sensors were selected depending on the location of the acupoints. The arithmetic, input, and output parts were constructed using Arduino and Raspberry pi boards. The developed system was applied in class. Conclusions : It is thought that the dummy system for evaluation and support of teaching acupoint location can be used as a training model in order to help teach standardized acupoint locations and objective evaluation.

• 동의신경정신과학회지
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• 제33권4호
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• pp.401-424
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• 2022

Objectives: As effective treatments for dementia are lacking in Western medicine, complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is considered a useful option. While the quality of life (QoL) is a vital outcome for patients with dementia, the QoL of patients receiving CAM for dementia remains ambiguous. This study aimed to determine the effect of CAM on QoL outcomes in dementia patients. Methods: A search was performed using the keywords "dementia," "Alzheimer's," "cognitive impairment," "Chinese," "Korean," "oriental," "herbal," "acupuncture," and "quality of life". All quantitative data were synthesized using R version 4.1.1. Results: Twenty-five randomized controlled trials (RCTs), 16 pre-post trials, and two cohort studies were selected for the systematic review. QoL in Alzheimer's disease (QOL-AD) (n=11, 25.6%) and geriatric QoL in dementia (GQOL-D, n=9, 20.9%) were the most utilized QoL instruments. Significant benefits in QoL were observed after receiving mind, body, combined mind and body, nursing, oriental medicine, and acupuncture therapies. In the meta-analysis, the combined effect was shown to significantly increase QOL-AD compared to before CAM interventions (standardized mean difference, SMD: 0.507; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.191~0.824; p<0.01). The overall synthesized estimates in the GQOL-D showed a significantly improved QoL (SMD: 0.537, 95% CI: 0.238~0.837 p<0.01; one group; SMD: 1.465, 95% CI: 0.934~1.996, p<0.01). The seven studies assessing the cost-effectiveness of CAM reported uncertain outcomes. Conclusions: This study showed that CAM interventions benefited patients with dementia by improving their QoL. While additional standardized research is required, CAMs are suggested as effective clinical management for patients with dementia. They are also suggested as complementing therapies for these patients.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• 제21권3호
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• pp.265-282
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• 2004

Objective : The aim of this study was to review systemically clinical trials on the effectiveness and safety of herbal medicines in the treatment of osteoarthritis. Methods : Computerized literature searches were carried out on seven electronic databases, and hand-searching on some chinese medical journals in library of Kyung Hee Medical Center. Trial data were extracted in a standardized, predefined manner and assessed independently. Results : 1. Thirty reports of clinical trials and two reports of meta-analyses concerning herbal medicine were collected and reviewed. Among these reports three medical herbs were applied as topical medicine and others as internal medicine. 2. The western studies established NSAIDs or placebo as their control group. Five chinese reports established formulated herb pill(Ruanshnagshenjin pill) as their control group and Six did not establish a control group at all. 3. ACR was the most highly used diagnostic criteria in the western studies while the Chinese used their official criteria established by their government or the criteria of their text books. 4. 20 reports chose the Lequesne functional index, SHAQ, WOMAC OA index, AIMS, and their own unique scoring system as the criteria of analysing the effect. Others chose clinical symptoms, articular functions, and lab finding as their criteria. 5. 7 single herbs and 19 formulated herbs were studied. Among the formulated herbs, Achyranthes japonica was studied in 10 of the studies and Angelica gigantis Radix in 8, making them the most often studied herbs among the studies.

• 한방안이비인후피부과학회지
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• 제33권3호
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• pp.45-68
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• 2020

Objectives : This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of manual and electroacupuncture on glaucoma. Method : We searched 11 electronic databases using index words to identify randomized clinical trials. Meta-analysis of weighted mean difference (WMD) or standardized mean difference (SMD) were used to evaluate the outcomes. Cochrane bias risk assessment tool was used to assess the risk of bias in each clinical study. The collected data was analyzed using RevMan software (ver. 5.3). Results : At the initial stage of data retrieval, 549 papers were searched. After reviewing 37 full texts, a total of 10 RCT studies (426patients, 715 eyes) were selected and 8 RCT studies (357 people, 617 eyes) were involved in meta-analysis. Meta-analysis of 8 RCTs showed that acupuncture alone was more effective in reducing intraocular pressure(IOP) than conventional treatment (WMD = -5.73, 95% CI: [-12.30, 0.83], P = 0.09, I² = 97%) The combination of acupuncture or electroacupuncture with conventional treatment was also effective in lowering IOP (WMD = -1.84, 95% CI: [-2.31, -1.37], P <0.00001, I² = 45%). It was estimated that the combination of acupuncture with conventional treatment was also effective for improving visual field (VF) (WMD = -2.17, 95% CI: [-4.32, -0.02], P = 0.05, I² = 89%) but improvement in visual acuity (VA) was not significant (MD = 0.06, 95% CI: [-0.03, 0.15], P = 0.23, I² = 0%). Subgroup analyzes were performed only for the studies that used open glaucoma as the study's disease and combination of acupuncture or electroacupuncture with conventional therapy would have an effect on lowering intraocular pressure (WMD = -1.68)., 95% CI: [-2.46, -0.90], P <0.0001, I² = 29%). Conclusion : This study suggests that acupuncture treatment for glaucoma may be effective in reducing intraocular pressure and helpful in improving visual field defects. However, due to the small sample size, high risk of bias and high heterogeneity in the methodology, it is expected that further studies will be needed to verify the results. Further studies in large-scale samples based on a minimized biased methodology would be necessary.

• 대한한의학회지
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• 제33권1호
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• pp.24-41
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• 2012

Objectives: This study reviewed research trends concerning the prevalence of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use and to suggest future research directions appropriate to medical circumstances in Korea. Methods: We searched for surveys of CAM use in 8 databases including 6 Korean databases, Ovid MEDLINE, and the CINAHL electronic database. Three independent reviewers working in pairs screened titles and abstracts of articles for eligibility. Full text was retrieved in case of disagreement on the eligibility. The main analysis targets included survey researcher's affiliation, terminology used in the title, study subject, definition of CAM, classifications of CAM modalities, and the area assortment of CAM and traditional Korean medicine (TKM). Results: 92 articles were included for analysis. The major constituent of affiliation was doctors (53%). According to years, study subjects were diversified to a large range of diseases. Since 2003, terminology is absorbed to use CAM. But actually, the most commonly used definition in the research was comprehensive such as "not generally considered part of major medicine" (55.4%) and the most used classification of CAM was self-criteria (61.9%). As for area assortment of CAM and TKM, many therapies exist in a gray zone between CAM and TKM. Conclusions: Standardized definition and classification criteria about CAM fit to the Korean healthcare system have not yet developed. For traditional Korean medicine academia, more concern should be paid to establishing appropriate development of definitions and classification criteria.

• 대한한의학회지
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• 제42권2호
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• pp.107-119
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• 2021

Objectives: This study was aimed to report changes in clinical symptoms and signs after treatment with Korean medicine in patients who suffered from calf edema due to deep vein thrombosis (DVT). Methods: A 46-year-old male patient, who discharged home after receiving standardized treatment for acute DVT in the right leg, suffered pain and heat sense due to edema of the affected calf. Oral administration of herbal medicine (Gyejibongnyeong-hwan 4 g, twice daily) and acupuncture therapy were given to him for 6 weeks. The change in chief complaints, Villalta score, the right and left side difference of the circumference and the skin surface temperature of both calves, and blood level of D-dimer were observed before and after treatment. Results: The patient's chief complaints began to significantly improve from 2 weeks after treatment, and disappeared completely within 4 weeks. At the end of the treatment, a substantial decrease in the difference between the right and left calves in the circumference and skin surface temperature was observed. This effect was maintained even at the time of follow-up 3 months after the end of treatment, and the patient completely recovered indoor and outdoor life to the level before onset. Conclusions: This case suggests that Korean medicine treatment, including Gyejibongnyeong-hwan administration and acupuncture therapy, can be a viable option to improve edema and related clinical problems in the affected limbs due to DVT.

• 동의신경정신과학회지
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• 제32권4호
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• pp.345-378
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• 2021

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the recent trends of clinical research on acupuncture using electroencephalogram (EEG) as the outcome measurement. Methods: Nine domestic and foreign databases were searched to collect related studies published up to November 3, 2021. The participants, intervention, outcomes, results of the included studies were extracted and analyzed. Results: A total of 18 studies were selected. Neurological diseases and mental disorders were included in most studies, and vascular dementia were most frequently investigated. Electroacupuncture and body acupuncture intervention were most frequently conducted in seven studies. The most commonly used outcomes using EEG was EEG abnormality. However, in most studies there was accurate description of the EEG measurement. Most studies showed significant difference in EEG outcomes after intervention. The quality of included studies was poor. Conclusions: EEG as diagnostic markers and outcome measurements is increasingly studied. Standardized EEG measurement and the consistent EEG finding for specific diseases are needed to perform the future rigorous studies on EEG as diagnostic and outcome tools.

• 대한예방한의학회지
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• 제24권3호
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• pp.1-13
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• 2020

Objectives : The objective of this survey was to examine students' perception of the clinical performance examination (CPX) in college of traditional Korean medicine using student standardized patients. Methods : College of traditional Korean medicine students who completed the first-semester clinical practice education were selected as the subjects, and they participated in a survey asking questions about the following matters: satisfaction with CPX, self-evaluation, difficulties experienced during the CPX course, level of prior knowledge of clinical practice education, and usefulness of and intimacy with Student Standardized Patients (SSP). Results : Satisfaction with CPX was calculated to be 4.10 (5 being the perfect score), and self-evaluation of CPX was calculated to be 4.12. The subjects chose physical examination as the most difficult item relating to CPX. 80.5% responded positively to the question relating to diverse experiences in practice education, and 52.8% responded positively to the question relating to prior knowledge of diverse standardized patients. 55.6% responded positively to the question relating to performance proficiency of SSP, 63.9% responded positively to the question relating to usefulness of SSP to prepare for CPX, and 69.4% responded positively to the question relating to usefulness of SSP in evaluating CPX, and 55.6% responded positively to the questions relating to intimacy with SSP. It was confirmed that there was a strong quantitative correlation between prior knowledge of clinical practice education and usefulness of SSP, and that there was a strong quantitative correlation between performance proficiency of SSP and usefulness of SSP. It was confirmed that there was a middle-level correlation between performance proficiency of SSP and intimacy with SSP, and that there was a middle-level quantitative correlation between intimacy with SSP and usefulness of SSP. Conclusions : It was confirmed that senior students enrolled in college of traditional Korean medicine were mostly satisfied with the clinical performance examination in college of traditional Korean medicine using SSP, and that usefulness of SSP had a quantitative correlation with prior knowledge of diverse clinical practice educations, performance proficiency of SSP, and intimacy with SSP.