• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.904-910
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• 2023

Objectives: The aim of this case report is to present the effects of Korean medicine treatment in a patient with left facial paraesthesia, temporomandibular joint (TMJ) pain, and post-traumatic neck pain induced by cerebral infarction. Methods: A 26-year-old male patient was treated with Cheongpa-Jeon H, acupuncture, pharmacopuncture (Shinbaro2), and Chuna Therapy for 24 days of hospitalization. Left facial paraesthesia, TMJ pain, and post-traumatic neck pain were assessed with a Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) and EuroQoL-5 Dimension (EQ-5D). Post-traumatic neck pain was assessed using the Neck Disability Index (NDI). Results: After 24 days of treatment, the patient's left facial paraesthesia and left arm tingling sensation were relieved from NRS 6 to NRS 2. Left TMJ pain was reduced from NRS 5 to NRS 2. The EQ-5D score increased from 0.138 to 0.73. The NDI score decreased from 71.11 to 37.78. Conclusion: These results show that left facial paraesthesia, TMJ pain, and post-traumatic neck pain can be relieved with Korean medicine treatment. However, further well-designed studies are required to confirm these findings.

• The Journal of Pediatrics of Korean Medicine
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.25-42
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• 2017

Objectives The goal of this review was to investigate clinical, experimental and literature studies of Korean medicine on atopic dermatitis (AD) of Korean children in Korean medicine literature, seeking for the better research methods for more effective treatments. Methods Electronic investigations were practiced on AKOP (The Association of Korean Oriental Pediatrics, http://www.akop.or.kr) to collect theses which were published by J Pediatr Korean Med. The key word 'Atopy' was used for searching to ensure that every related thesis was collected. The publication date was limited from 1996 to 2016. The selected literatures were assessed mainly according to distributions of study type, publication year, scale, treatment and its efficacy. Results 55 papers were selected from 59 studies. In these collected 55 related theses, there were 29 experimental studies (52.73%), 18 clinical studies (32.73%), 8 review studies (14.55%). In the 29 experimental studies, there were 20 studies (68.97%) using NC/Nga mouse as subjects. The mite antigen was used to trigger AD by 8 studies (27.59%). The studies have been utilizing DNCB and DNFB instead of mite antigen since 2011. All the experimental studies showed that the Korean medicine was effective in AD. In total 18 clinical studies, 3 studies (16.67%) were case reports, only 1 thesis (5.56%) was conducted by case control study and the rest were case series studies. 7 studies (38.89%) of 18 studies diagnosed AD according to Hanifin and Rajka's diagnostic criteria (1980), only 1 study (5.56%) according to the Korean standard and the rest 10 studies (55.56%) didn't mention diagnostic criteria. 12 clinical studies (66.67%) showed efficacy in treating AD. There were 10 studies (55.56%) only employing internal treatments and 1 thesis (5.56%) didn't mention the exact prescription. Naesowhajungtang-kamibang, Saenghyeoryunbue-um were used 3 times (16.67%) as the internal medicine respectively. 5 theses (27.78%) were combined with acupuncture therapy. Hegu (LI4), Sanyinjiao (SP6) were used in 4 theses, and Taichong (LR3), Quchi (LI11), Zusanli (ST36) in 3 theses. The number of acupoints chosen from The Spleen meridian of Foot-Taiyin was the largest. There were 8 review theses. 2 were about the foreign oriental medicine, 3 were about the external medicine or external treatment methods, and 3 other studies were about severity scoring systems, the methodological study in the latest clinical study, overview for pattern and results of herbal medicine-derived AD clinical researches. Conclusions The experimental studies and clinical studies showed the effectiveness of Korean medicine treatments. However, this study still needs improving by conducting more comparative studies and using better research methods, in order to find more effective treatments to improve clinical efficacy.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.1-18
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• 2013

Objectives: Korea has a dual medical system where traditional Korean Medicine (KM) and Western Medicine (WM) exist au equal terms with exclusive practice boundaries. The aim of this study was to identify complementary and substitute relationships between KM and WM in Korea. Methods: The data of 19,413 respondents were collected from the 2009 Korea Health Panel dataset. General characteristics and the medical utilization of respondents were analyzed descriptively. the Univariable Analysis was used to compare the factors that affected KM and WM utilization, and the Multivariable Analysis was applied to identify complementary or substitute relationships between the respondents' choices for KM and WM. The data were analyzed by the seven disease groups; diseases of nervous system, circulatory system, respiratory system, digestive system, skin and subcutaneous tissue, musculoskeletal system, and connective tissue, injury, poisoning and others. Results: 13.6% and 76.9% of respondents used KM and WM respectively last 12 mouths. 12.7% used both, and 0.9% used KM only. In overall, respondents who visited KM institutions used also WM. However, according to the analysis of choices of medical institutions, non-pharmacological KM treatment and WM has been used as a substitute for another in the diseases of the skin and subcutaneous tissue, diseases of the musculoskeletal system, and connective tissue, injury, poisoning and others. Conclusions: Despite some exceptional disease areas, Korean people use KM complementarily to WM, and this result can rationalize the recent Korean government policies encouraging the cooperation of KM and WM. This study can he used for the future policies development for KM service delivery.

• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.125-144
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• 2023

Objectives This study aimed to investigate domestic clinical research trends in Shinbaro pharmacopuncture, identify diseases managed using Shinbaro pharmacopuncture, and suggest the direction for future studies to increase its clinical utilization. Methods This study used five steps proposed by Arksey and O'Malley and the PRISMA-extension for scoping reviews checklist. We examined published literature on Shinbaro pharmacopuncture studies reported until June 5, 2023, in the following eight databases (Research Information Sharing Service, Science ON, Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System, KMBASE, The Society of Internal Korean Medicine, PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library). The search terms used were 'Shinbaro' or 'Sinbaro'. Results A total of 47 studies were included in our analysis. Of these, 37 (78.7%) were interference time series studies. Shinbaro pharmacopuncture was the most frequently used treatment for lumbosacral disease (n=15). In the facial area, ST4 and ST6 were used in five out of six studies, and in the shoulder area, TE14 and LI15 were used in all studies. Nine of the 15 studies in the lumbosacral area used the EX-B2. The other parts mostly used the pressure points. Compared to other pharmacopuncture methods, the treatment effect was similar to that of bee venom, and faster than that of jungsongouhyul. Conclusions This is the first scoping review of Shinbaro pharmacopuncture therapy in South Korea. Studies with a high level of evidence based on sole treatment, large capacities, and standardization of Shinbaro pharmacopuncture need to be conducted to increase its clinical utilization.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.251-263
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• 2019

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to review the clinical research trends in the treatment of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in Korean medicine (KM). Methods: We searched MEDLINE, CENTRAL, EMBASE, Google Scholar and five Korean databases through May 2019, for studies on KM to treat PTSD. Clinical research that conducted KM treatment of PTSD patients were included. Two researchers independently conducted study selection and data extraction process. Results: Totally, eight studies were included in this review. Types of traumatic events that patients experienced included physical violence/threatening, traffic accidents, sexual violence and personal tragic events. KM interventions performed included acupuncture, moxibustion, herbal medicine, physical therapy, and KM-based psychotherapy. Treatment duration varied from two days to more than five months. Follow-up began at least one week to three months after the end of treatments. It was reported that the major psychological and/or somatic symptoms of PTSD, such as anxiety, depression, insomnia, and musculoskeletal pain, subjectively improved, as well as other objective outcomes: Impact Event Scale-Revised Korean version (IES-R-K), Beck's Depression Inventory (BDI), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Hwabyung Symptoms/characters, Electroencephalography (EEG) change, etc. Statistical studies were conducted in three studies only. Outcomes such as Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), BDI, and IES-R-K showed statistically significant improvement after KM treatments. There was no study reporting adverse events during or after the interventions. Conclusions: According to this review, diverse types of KM treatments have been used among PTSD patients in eight studies. The KM treatments effectively improved psychological and somatic symptoms of PTSD patients. However, the lack of high quality research as well as the lack of standardization of KM treatments for PTSD are limitations. Further methodologically robust clinical trials should be performed, and the standardization of KM treatments for PTSD should be sought.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.42 no.5
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• pp.833-845
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• 2021

Parkinson's syndrome is a degenerative brain disease that presents characteristic motor symptoms of tremor, rigidity, and gait disturbance. In addition to these motor symptoms, Parkinson's syndrome also presents non-motor symptoms (NMSs) such as sleep disturbance and cognitive decline. NMSs reduce patient's quality of life and psychosocial functioning and cause economic burden on the patient, so appropriate evaluation and treatment are required. Lewy body dementia is one of the several diseases belonging to Parkinson's syndrome. Its symptoms such as cognitive function, memory impairment, and hallucinations occur with Parkinsonism. Although drug therapy is being used with drug treatment to treat non-motor symptoms, it has limitations such as side effects, which stimulated interest in other complementary treatment methods such as oriental medicine treatment, dance, and yoga. The patient in this case complained of tremor in the right upper extremity, muscle hypertension and pain, and persistent vision, memory, and cognitive decline. The patient was diagnosed with probable Lewy body dementia. The patient was hospitalized for 4 months and received acupuncture and herbal medicines. After treatment, the patient's NMS scale scores decreased from 90 to 63, and the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale scores (summed I, II, and III) decreased from 17 points to 8 points. The Beck Depression Inventory score decreased from 22 points to 13 points. In addition, the patient's subjective evaluation revealed improvement. In this case, a patient diagnosed with probable Lewy body dementia who did not respond to the standard treatment and did not want to take medications showed improvement in not only motor symptoms but also NMSs after integrative Korean medicine treatment.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.375-384
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• 2021

Objective: This study was designed to analyze the clinical features of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis patients who attended a Korean medicine hospital and the treatment effects through retrospective chart reviews. Methods: The medical records of 82 outpatients who had been diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and visited the Allergy, Immune, and Respiratory System Department of Kyung Hee Korean Medicine Hospital from 8 January 2015 to 8 January 2021 were retrospectively reviewed. To assess the treatment outcomes, we used the FVC (Forced Vital Capacity), DLCO (Diffusing capacity of the Lung for CO), 6-minute walk test, and HRCT (High Resolution Computed Tomography). Results: The study group consisted of 28 females and 54 males. The median age of the patients was 67.98±11.44 years. The chief complaints were cough (n=51) and dyspnea (n=49). Other frequent symptoms were general weakness (n=8), weight loss (n=4), and a fever (n=2). A total of 77 (93.90%) patients were prescribed Korean herbal medicine, and 52 (63.41%) patients were treated with acupuncture, moxibustion, cupping therapy, ICT, or pharmacopuncture. After treatments, FVC, DLCO, the 6-minute walk test, and HRCT were maintained or worsened slightly. Conclusions: This study presented the characteristics of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis patients treated by Korean medical therapies, and further studies of Korean medical treatments for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis patients would be valuable.

• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.19-32
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• 2022

Objectives This scoping review aimed to investigate the domestic clinical research trends of motion-style acupuncture treatment (MSAT), identify diseases and symptoms for which MSAT is used, summarize specific methods of MSAT, and suggest the direction of future studies. Methods The study was conducted in accordance with a previously specified methodology, using the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses extension for scoping reviews (PRISMA-ScR) checklist. We searched nine electronic databases for studies on MSAT reported till March 21, 2022. The search terms were 'kinematic acupuncture,' 'MSAT,' 'motion style acupuncture,' and 'motion style treatment.' Results A total of 29 studies were included in our analyses; of them, 23 (79.3%) were before-after studies. Lumbosacral disease was the most common for which MSAT was applied (n=16). The frequency and duration of treatments differed depending on the researchers, and local acupoints (including ashi points) were used in 22 (75.9%) studies. In most cases, the method of mobilizing the joint or stretching the muscle in the disease area was used after inserting the acupuncture; however, in 7 studies, gait exercise was used. Most studies used MSAT in combination with other treatments. Conclusions This study supports the direction of future research by presenting the methodological applications of MSAT. To increase its clinical applicability, studies with a high level of evidence investigating the application to various body part, standardization and safety of MSAT are necessary.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.90-108
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• 2016

Objectives: This study aimed to learn what should be considered in the Guidelines of Clinical Trials with Herbal Medicinal Products for Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) by analyzing the existing guidelines and clinical trials.Methods: The development committee searched the existing guidelines for herbal medicinal products or GERD. Then, clinical trials related to GERD using herbal medicine were selected. The chosen trials were analyzed in terms of their inclusion and exclusion of participants, intervention, comparators, outcome, and trial design. Then, we compared the results of the analysis according to the regulations and guidelines of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety to suggest the issues that we will have to consider when developing the Guidelines of Clinical Trials with Herbal Medicinal Products for Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD).Results: As a result, few guidelines for GERD and clinical trials with herbal medicinal products were located in the national institution homepage. In addition, 8 articles were found using the following combination of search terms: “Gastroesophageal reflux disease”, “GERD”, “herbal medicine”, “herbal therapy”, “Korean Medicine”, “Traditional Chinese Medicine”, and “TCM”. Even though all trials had their own unique research questions, all studies were performed using a randomization method. Most trials included participants with reflux esophagitis, but two trials targeted proton pump inhibitor-refractory GERD. The type of intervention varied, such as decoction, granules, and capsules. Additionally, individualized herbal medicines were used in two studies. Comparators were diverse, such as placebo, Western medicine, and electro-acupuncture. The most frequently used outcome for efficacy was the effectiveness rate. In addition, the outcome for evaluating quality of life, esophageal mucosa and pressure, esophageal acid reflux, and recurrence rates were used. Safety was investigated by recording adverse events and carrying out laboratory tests.Conclusions: We identified some issues by reviewing the existing guidelines and comparing them with clinical trials for GERD and herbal medicinal products. These results will be utilized for developing the Guidelines of Clinical Trials with Herbal Medicinal Products for Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD).

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.101-109
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• 2016

Objectives : HT070 is a mixture of herbal extracts from root of Scutellaria baicalensis and stem bark of Eleutherococcus senticosus , which have long been used for stroke therapy in traditional Korean Medicine. The purpose of this study was to investigate the neuroprotective effects of HT070 on global cerebral ischemia and its potential mechanisms.Methods : Transient global cerebral ischemia was produced by 10 min of four-vessel occlusion (4-VO) in male Wistar rats. HT070 was administered orally at a dosage of 200 mg/kg twice at 0 and 90 min after reperfusion. Hippocampal neuronal damage was measured 7 days after reperfusion. To explore the potential mechanisms, we used hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂)-induced rat pheochromocytoma (PC12) cells as an in vitro model. PC12 cells were pretreated with HT070 for 1 h and then exposed to 100 μM H₂O₂ for 6 h in the presence of HT070. Cell viability was measured by MTT assay and the mRNA expression of Bax, Bcl-2, iNOS and COX-2 were measured by quantitative RT-PCR.Results : Oral administration of HT070 at a dose of 200 mg/kg significantly reduced neuronal death in the hippocampal CA1 region by 13.4% as compared to the vehicle-treated group. HT070 increased cell viability, reversed the down-regulated Bcl-2 mRNA level, and suppressed the up-regulated mRNA expressions of Bax, iNOS, and COX-2 in H₂O₂-treated PC12 cells.Conclusions : HT070 protects against delayed neuronal death after global cerebral ischemia and its neuroprotection properties might be attributed to the inhibition of mitochondrial apoptosis and ROS-generating enzymes.