• The Journal of Churna Manual Medicine for Spine and Nerves
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.55-67
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• 2021

Objectives This review aimed to investigate studies of Chuna manual therapy (CMT) for low back pain and the evidence of their effects in order to suggest a better research method in the future. Methods We investigated studies on CMT for low back pain by searching Korean web databases from 2020 to 2021. As a result, 72 research papers were analyzed according to their published year, the titles of journals, the types of studies, the techniques of Chuna, and the instruments used for assessment. Results The results were as follows: 1. There were three papers published initially in 2000. this number showed a steady increase, and a total of 72 papers were published that year. 2. Studies on CMT were mainly published in the Journal of Korea Chuna Manual Medicine for Spine and Nerves. 3. When categorized according to the methods of studies, a simple case report was used more often than the sum of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and non-RCTs. 4. The most frequently adopted technique of Chuna in the examined studies was the COX flexion and distraction technique. 5. The Visual Analog Scale and Oswestry Disability Index were used as primary means of assessment. Conclusions Based on the analysis, it was observed that this review provided limited evidence of CMT use in patients with LBP. Therefore, further investigation using well-designed RCTs is required to obtain higher evidence.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Medical Physics Conference
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• 2002.09a
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• pp.352-355
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• 2002

The purpose of this study was 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. 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 performed in 12 normal healthy subjects during two stimulation paradigms; acupuncture manipulation on GB 34 and sham points. This study investigates the activation of the mortor 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. Group analysis from seven individuals showed that bilateral sensorimotor areas (BA 3,4,6 and 7) showed stimulation related BOLD signal contrast of approximately 6% whereas very few areas were activated when sham stimulation is given. The present study shows that acupuncture fMRI study can be safely conducted in 3T MRI environment, and acupuncture stimulation in GB34 modulates the cortical activities of the somatomotor area in human. The present findings may shed light on the CNS mechanism of motor function by acupuncture and form a basis for future investigations of motor modulation circuits in the stroke patients.

• Journal of Korean Medical classics
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.57-74
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• 2016

Subject : Treatment of acupuncture & moxibustion in Huangdineijing Objectives : Discover the principles and substances of acupuncture & moxibustion treatment of Huangdineijing Methods : The author reviewed the Huangdineijing: Suwen, Lingshu to gain a realistic sense of the facts and the medical book's contents that deal with the practices of acupuncture & moxibustion treatment for clinical praxis. Conclusions : 1. The acupuncture & moxibustion of Huangdineijing can be defined as follows. A treatment for correcting of meridian's drift by proper selection of surgical site, using suitable implementation and appropriate manipulation skill from a correct judgement of meridian's flowing through sensing the pulse for diagnosis when the meridian's flowing which come and go constantly driven by the tidal order of defensive Qi tactually appeared hard or soft caused by diseases, thus bring out the soft & gradual 50 laps circulation of nutrient Qi moderately driven by defensive Qi. 2. Today's acupuncture & moxibustion treatments greatly differ from those of Huangdineijing in that we do not know the substance of that treatment which is correcting of meridian's drift and do not obligatorily carry out feeling of the pulse for diagnosis which is a measure & judgement of meridian's flowing against a preliminary treatment in parallel with treatment so reduce use and power of that treatment. 3. I could form a list of general principle from the substances of acupuncture & moxibustion of Huangdineijing like as the flowing or fate of meridian Qi(tidally going in order of defensive Qi and nutrient Qi), deficiency or excess of Meridian flowing, comparing diagnosis before and after treatment, bring out the soft & gradual Qi. That was imposing "the concept of time" on recognition and treatment to human body.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.184-191
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• 2019

Objectives: Recently several Korean medical doctors have begun practicing applied kinesiology (AK). Although the efficacy of combining traditional acupuncture (TA) and pharmacopuncture (PP) on lumbar diseases such as lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) and lumbar herniation of intervertebral disk (LHID) has been examined, the possible benefits of combining TA, PP and AK approaches have not been examined. Therefore the aim of this study was to develop effective treatment for lumbar disorders by combining TA, PP, and AK treatments. Methods: Twenty-four patients hospitalized at Samse Korean Traditional Medicine Hospital between March and September 2018 with L5 or S1 root radiculopathy associated with LSS and LHID were included in this study. They were treated for 10 days with TA, PP and AK approaches that included category block, manipulation and strain/counterstrain treatments. The primary outcomes were mainly assessed using Japanese Orthopedic Association lumbar scores (JOALS). JOALS were determined before the start of treatment as well as five and 10 days after treatment started. Results: The treatments improved the lumbar condition of the patients based on JOA pain score. Conclusion: The combined TA, PP and AK treatments were effective in treating spinal diseases of resident patients. Prospective, controlled, and relevant protocols using multimodal strategies to define the role of TA, PP and AK are needed.

• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.200-212
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• 2007

Purpose: To find objective validity of minimal acupuncture using a modified guide tube as a method to verify the effect of acupuncture. Methods: Subjects of this study were participants of a randomized clinical trial which was practiced to verify the effect of acupuncture on postmenopausal hot flash. There were 2 arms of treatment, one's for active acupuncture group(AG) with manipulation and De qi, the other's for minimal acupuncture group(MG) using a modified guide tube which was designed to give minimal stimulation to the patient. After 8 weeks' treatment followed by 4 weeks' observation, participants were asked to fill in self-report forms on their education, previous experiences of acupuncture, original idea on the efficacy of acupuncture and recognition of blinding. Results: 19 participants of 26 in AG and 19 of 26 in MG completed the self-report form. There was no difference between AG and MG in their education(p=0.5976, Fisher exact test) and previous experiences of acupuncture(p=0.9999, Fisher exact test). In their original ideas on the efficacy of acupuncture, most of AG and MG respondents have been thought that acupuncture is very effective or quite effective, and there was no difference between 2 groups(p=0.5065). 16 of 19 in AG and 14 of 19 in MG believed that they underwent more effective way, there was no statistical difference between 2 groups(p=0.6928, Fisher exact test). Participants believed in undergoing more effective way not because they recognized treatment method, but they were satisfied with the effectiveness of treatment retrospectively. Conclusion: As the result of this study, these authors suggest that minimal acupuncture using a modified guide tube is acceptable as a method to verify the effect of acupuncture in acupuncture-familiar Korean culture. Also further studies on the stimulation-specific effect of minimal acupuncture are demanded.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Medical Physics Conference
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• 2003.09a
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• pp.75-75
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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. 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 performed in 12 normal healthy subjects during two stimulation paradigms; acupuncture manipulation on GB 34 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. Results: Group analysis from seven individuals showed that bilateral sensorimotor areas (BA 3,4,6 and 7) showed stimulation related BOLD signal contrast of approximately 6% whereas very few areas were activated when sham stimulation is given. Conclusions: The present study shows that acupuncture fMRI study can be safely conducted in 3T MRI environment, and acupuncture stimulation in GB34 modulates the cortical activities of the soma- to motor area in human. The present findings may shed light on the CNS mechanism of motor function by acupuncture and form a basis for future investigations of motor modulation circuits in the stroke patients. Acknowledgement: This study was supported by a grant of the Mid and Long Term Nuclear RID Plan Program, Ministry of Science and Technology, Republic of Korea.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.94-101
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• 2020

Background: Several Korean medical doctors have been practicing applied kinesiology (AK), invented in 1964 by Dr. George J Goodheart, USA. Although the efficacy of traditional acupuncture (TA) and pharmacopucture treatment for lumbar conditions/diseases has been examined, the possible benefits of combining TA and AK have not been reported. Therefore, the aim of this study was to report the effects of combining TA and AK treatment for lumbar disorders using the Japanese Orthopedic Association lumbar score (JOALS) assessment. Methods: There were 21 outpatients treated at Samse Korean Traditional Hospital between March 2018 and September 2018, who presented with L4/L5 or L5/S1 root radiculopathy associated with lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) and lumbar herniation of intervertebral disk (LHID). They were treated 10×(2 sessions per week, for 5 weeks) with TA and AK approaches that included a category block, manipulation or strain/counterstrain treatments. The primary outcome was mainly assessed using the JOALS score which was used before (0 ×), during (5 ×), and after treatment (10 ×). Results: There were 19 patients diagnosed with LSS and 2 were diagnosed with LHID. Using the JOALS assessment, TA and AK combined approaches improved the lumbar conditions of all 21 patients after 5 × treatmentsand continued to improve after 10 × treatments (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Combined TA and AK treatment was effective in treating spinal conditions/diseases. Prospective, relevant, well-controlled protocols for TA and AK therapies for various conditions are needed.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.183-195
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• 2007

Objectives : To determine whether individualized acupuncture (IA) provides greater pain relief and improved function compared with standardized acupuncture (SA) in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee. Methods: Design is a randomized single blind controlled trial with two intervention arms (IA vs SA) of 6 weeks' duration and 3 months follow up. An orthopedist diagnosed 50 patients' symptoms as knee osteoarthritis. Interventions were applied by 2 residents studying the acupuncture and moxibustion specially in Dongguk University International Hospital. Primary outcome measure is pain as measured by visual analogue scale (VAS). Secondary measures of pain and disability include WOMAC, SF-36, LFI and KHAQ. Results : The 50 participants were well matched for age, sex, bad side, VAS, WOMAC, SF-36, LFI and KHAQ scores at the baseline. 3 participants dropped out. There have not been any adverse events in both groups. Participants in both groups experienced great improvement in all measures except SF-36at 3 and 6 weeks. At 18 weeks, the IA group experienced significantly greater improvement than the SA group in VAS but not in WOMAC, SF-36, LFI and KHAQ. Conclusions : Manipulation of IA seems to provide pain relief longer for osteoarthritis of the knee when compared with SA.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.23-36
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• 2012

Objectives : This study was conducted to investigate effective treatment point selection method using oppressive pain in acupoints as elementary attempt for standard methodology of clinical acupuncture studies. Methods : Twenty seven subjects with hypertension or within prehypertension category - systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP) over 120/80mmHg - were divided into two groups, oppressive pain point treatment group and oppressive painless point treatment group. In oppressive pain point treatment group, single point acupuncture (SPA) was conducted for 16 sessions during 8 weeks on most oppressive painful point among 6 selected acupuncture points used in previous trials and clinic. As a SPA intervention, 15 minutes with deqi sensation- elevating manipulation was conducted on the treatment acupoint. Same process was conducted in oppressive painless point treatment group on most oppressive painless point with subject blinding. Results : Significant reduction was observed in both systolic and diastolic BP after short time intervention (15.5/8.8 mmHg, 10.7/7.1 mmHg, P<0.05, respectively at 1 week) and maintained for 8 weeks intervention period in all groups (12.8/8.0 mmHg, 19.4/12.6 mmHg, P<0.05, respectively). No significant difference of BP change between oppressive pain point treatment group (N=10) and oppressive painless point treatment group (N=9) was observed during 8 weeks study period. Conclusions : SPA treatment as used in this pilot study was effective for lowering BP in mild hypertensive population, but oppressive pain in acupoint had no effect on treatment. This present result suggests the possibility of SPA for hypertension treatment regardless of oppressive pain.

• The Journal of Pediatrics of Korean Medicine
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.66-76
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• 2016

Objectives This study aims to investigate current status of the Korean medicine treatment on the cerebral palsy (CP) via interviewing the doctors who have expertise in CP children. Methods From June 2015 to May 2016, the surveys and in-depth interviews were conducted on the fifteen Korean medicine doctors. Results Based on the surveys and interviews, widely-used treatments were body acupuncture and herbal decoction. Scalp acupuncture, intradermal acupuncture and manipulation were also used frequently. Experts stated Korean medicine could be more effective in younger patients, patients with cognitive or language problem. They also stated that Korean medicine has its advantage on strengthening the body to help grow and develop in CP children. However, the absence of guideline related to Korean medicine treatment in CP children as well as high cost are the problems. Finally, the issues regarding Korean medicine treatment in CP children, based on the in-depth interviews, emerged when western medicine is used simultaneously, when having seizure during treatment. Further research is needed for better understanding. Conclusions This study provided current status of the evidence-based Korean medicine treatment in CP children. However, further studies about the addressed issues are needed.