• Korean Journal of Oriental Medicine
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.103-110
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• 2012

Objectives : Fire needling has been applied as the treatment for various diseases and been getting much attention from Oriental medicine due to its excellent effectiveness as the results of clinical studies have reported. However, the research findings on the safety of treatment method, materials for the Fire needling needle materials and the possibility of burn injury during the procedure are still insufficient. Methods : A thermo imaging camera was used to confirm the temperature distribution on acupuncture needle and the treatment area during the fire needling therapy. Then the degree of thermal injury was observed by H&E stain and TUNEL assay. In addition, in order to assess the safety of acupuncture materials, we conducted MTT assay using a L6 cell line. Results : The average temperature of the skin surface was observed at $47{\sim}51^{\circ}C$ after classic fire needling and $30^{\circ}C$ after warming fire needling. Warming fire needling therapy does not induce a burn on the tissue and a third degree burn was observed locally in the muscle and skin layers after classic fire needling treatment. This confirms that hwa-acupuncture therapies do not cause major burns. According to the safety assessment test result, no cytotoxicity was detected in the warming fire needling materials. This confirms the safety of the acupuncture materials Conclusions : Various research results on the biological safety of fire needling. Since fire needling therapy induces a burn locally without leaving any scar, and as other results indicate, it is considered a safe treatment method.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.53-62
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• 2011

Objectives : Burn is most common adverse events of moxibustion. Various kinds of components influence on the heat stimulation of commercial indirect moxa, but there are not enough investigation about the status. The purpose of this study is to investigate the 6 components to build a base data that is currently available to build a standard of an indirect moxibustion. Methods : The length and weight, density, thickness of the paper disk, diameter of the paper disk, and diameter in the paper disk hole were measured against 6 kinds of commercial indirect cautery. Results : 1. 'Seoam', 'Kihwang' and 'Taegeuk' shows uniform length than the other brands. 2. 'Dongbang', 'Kihwang' and 'Taegeuk' shows uniform weight than the other brands. 3. 'Dongbang', 'Kihwang' and 'Taegeuk' shows uniform density than the other brands. 4. 'Dongbang' and 'Kihwang' shows uniform thickness than the other brands. 5. 'Seoam', 'Dongbang' and 'Taegeuk' shows uniform diameter of disc hole than the other brands. Conclusions : As a result of investigation, 'Dongbang' and 'Kiwhang' indirect moxibustion was identified as a uniform product. This results are considered as an important base materials of the KS through commercial indirect moxibustion.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.99-110
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• 2007

Objectives : This study was performed to evaluate a recent status of acupunctural treatment in pediatric practice. Methods: 660,893 children, who visited HAMSOA oriental clinic from January 2004 to December 2005 was screened to decide the number treated with acupuncture, the diagnosis and the type of acupuncture. In addition, the questionnaire for clinician about acupuncture therapy was performed and analysed to understand their applications. Results: The number treated with acupuncture was 69,797, 10.56%. Classified with ages, 3 months and below was 729 (1.7%), 1 year - 3 months was 5,035 (11.80%), 2 year - 1 year was 6,875 (16.10%), 3 year - 2 year was 5,540 (12.98%), 6 year - 3 year was 12.636 (31.94%) and 6 year and above was 10,876 (25.48%). The most frequent diagnosis taken acupuncture was atopic dermatitis (14.93%) and the next was rhinitis (13.80%). The most frequent type of acupuncture was laser acupuncture. The clinicians answered questionnaire agreed that acupuncture therapy is effective for pediatric disease treatment and fear about acupuncture of young patients was the most important obstacle. Conclusion : The acupuncture therapy in pediatric practice is not so frequent treatment but in increasing stage. Futhermore, in-depth research about acupuncture therapy in pediatrics is demanded.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.187-196
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• 2019

This study was performed to review clinical research studies involving acupuncture treatment for primary headache disorders to provide a basic reference for future studies. Clinical studies of primary headache disorders treated with acupuncture were retrieved from 3 Korean electronic databases (NDSL, OASIS, and RISS). The studies were classified by year of publication, type of study, type of acupuncture, outlined acupoints, methods used for filiform needles, pharmacopuncture, auricular acupuncture, and thread-embedding acupuncture. Thirty-eight trials were reviewed, of which 33 used filiform needles, 6 pharmacopuncture, 1 auricular acupuncture, and 1used thread-embedding. Most of the studies reported that acupuncture treatment was effective in treating primary headache disorders. Some studies reported statistically significant effects, but the results overall were inconsistent. Therefore, there is insufficient evidence to support the treatment of acupuncture to resolve headaches. On the basis of these results, further studies should be performed to qualitatively and quantitatively determine the efficacy of acupuncture treatment for primary headache disorders.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.177-185
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• 2006

Objectives : To observe the effect of acupuncture treatment and western medical treatment on frozen shoulder patients. Methods : 39 voluntary patients were randomly assigned to the Eastern treatment group(E group, n=22) and the Western treatment group(W group, n=17). The E group received acupuncture treatment on LI15, TE14, GB21 and Master Dong's acupuncture points, Shin-gwan and Gyun-joong, twice a week for 4 weeks. The W group received suprascapular nerve block, subacromial injection and trigger point injection, twice a week for 4 weeks. Both groups were instructed to practice self exercise during their daily lives. Evaluations were made before treatment and after treatment using Constant Shoulder Assessment(CSA), Shoulder Pain and Disability Index(SPADI) and the patient's satisfaction concerning the treatment was measured by Visual Analogue Scale(VAS). The obtained data were analyzed and compared. Results : The E group showed significant improvement(p<0.05) according to the CSA and SPADI. The patient's satisfaction scored 5.67 on a scale of 10. The W group showed significant improvement(p<0.05) according to the CSA and SPADI. The patient's satisfaction scored 7.73. But the difference between the two groups were insignificant according to CSA and SPADI. Conclusion : Both acupuncture and nerve block treatment significantly improved frozen shoulder. But the difference of the two treatments was insignificant.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.123-134
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• 2006

Objectives : To research the study related to acnes with acupuncture In literature, and to establish the hereafter direction of treating acnes with acupuncture. Methods : We searched oriental medical literature, PubMed, NDSL and 1055 related to acne and acupuncture. Results : 1 Among the meridians, the Large Intestine Meridian, the Stomach Meridian, the Bladder Meridian and the Spleen Meridian were commonly used. 2. Among acupuncture point, Zusanli(ST36), Quchi(LI11) and Sanyinjiao(SP6) were mostly used. 3. The methods are focused on expelling wind-damp, heat-clearing, blood-harmony, transport function of stomach and spleen. 4. Auricular acupressure were used on Naebunbijeom, Pijihajeom, Pejeom and Shinmun.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.109-116
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• 2016

Objectives : Our primary objective lies in understanding the current landscape of translational research on acupuncture, moxibustion and pharmacopuncture. Methods : We searched our own selection of keywords of acupuncture, moxibustion and pharmacopuncture and translational research from three overseas databases (Pubmed, Scopus, Medicine) and four domestic databases (DBpia, KISS, Riss4u, Korea Med). Results : We have chosen 41 articles in total-40 articles on acupunture, 6 article on moxibustion(5 articles were duplicated in use in each category). Origin-wise, 48.8 %/24.8 %/17.0 % of our articles pool came from USA/China/Korea, respectively. UK, Austria, Thailand and Italy contributed the rest of our article pool. For those articles written in USA and China, review articles were the most common type. For the US articles, all 10 review articles were non-systematic reviews, while, for China's contribution, one out of 4 review articles were systematic review. Type-wise, our research pool's breakdown is as follows ; 17 review articles, 11 experimental research, 2 randomized controlled trials(RCT), 1 clinical trial, 4 conference reports, 1 letter, 1 study protocol and 4 uncategorized. Topic-wise, brain-neurology was most frequently referred with 8 articles, followed by parkinson's disease (3 articles) and epilepsy (2 articles). Conclusion : 1. In terms of research submission articles, Korea appears to be lacking translational research on acupuncture, moxibustion and pharmacopuncture, compared to USA and China, in our view. 2. Unlike the cases of USA and China, most of Korean translational research is limited to doing a T1 level of translational research. In order to bring bench-to-bedside to light. we believe, there should be more studies, and thereby a certain level of activation, to the T2 level of translational research in Korea. 3. Further, in our view there should be more efforts to improve article quality at the T1 level of translational research, which eventually becomes the fundamentals of the next level of research (i.e. T2 research), as well as to increase the number of research submissions, going forward.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.27-38
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• 2009

Objectives: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease, principally characterized by synovial inflammation of the joints. We previously reported the effect of acupuncture for RA, but the mechanism is still unclear. Various factors such as oxidative stress and angiogenesis were involved in the pathogenesis of RA, and recently, it has also been reported that cytokines also play a major role in RA. Thus, we investigated whether acupuncture could induce any changes in the levels of cytokines including vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), angiogenin and epidermal growth factor (EGF) as well as erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), c-reactive protein (CRP), and rheumatoid factor (RF) in the sera of RA patients. Methods: The forty three patients who met the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria for RA recruited. The acupuncture group (n=21) underwent 14 sessions of partially individualized acupuncture treatment for 6 weeks, and the control group had no treatment (n=13) over the same periods. We evaluated ESR, CRP and RF. In addition, to find out the mechanism of acupuncture, we assessed the changes of the cytokine activities using protein cytokine array in the sera of the patients. Results: Acupuncture significantly decreased the levels of ESR and CRP, but RF were not changed after 6-week acupuncture treatments. Moreover, acupuncture reduced the levels of VEGF, angiogenin and EGF in the sera of the patients. Interestingly, they were related with angiogenesis, which is an important process in the pathogenesis of RA. The levels of oncostatin, interleukin(IL)-$1{\alpha}$, IL-8, leptin, monocyte chemotactic protein-1, macrophage-derived chemokine, macrophage inflammatory proteins-1, platelet-derived growth factor BB and RANTES were not changed significantly. Conclusions: The effect of acupuncture for reliving RA symptoms can be partially explained by inhibition of angiogenesis factors in the sera of the RA patients.

• 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.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.175-185
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• 2008

Objective : Acupuncture (from the Latin acus, "needle," and pungere, "to prick") is a technique of inserting and manipulating fine needles at specific points on the body. As a placebo acupuncture needle device was developed based on the visual impact of needling, it has been raised that it is useful only when acupuncture points and needling are visible to subjects. To examine the visual factor of the placebo acupuncture, the present study was aimed to compare the blinding index of the verum and placebo acupuncture between masked and unmasked situation. Methods : Thirty-six patients were randomly alloted to be stimulated with a verum or placebo acupuncture in a cross-over design. They were asked to guess a right answer whether they were stimulated with the verum or placebo acupuncture at LI4 in an unmasked or masked situation. The penetrating, pain, and deqi sensations were also measured after the stimulation using modified visual analogue scale. Results : The correct answer rate of the placebo acupuncture was 22.2% and 16.7% in an unmasked and masked situation, respectively (P>0.767). The blinding index of the placebo acupuncture was -0.56 (95%CI -0.84 to -0.27) and -0.67 (95%CI -0.91 to -0.42) in an unmasked and masked situation, respectively. The penetrating and deqi sensation of the verum acupuncture were significantly higher than those of the placebo acupuncture in both unmasked and masked situation. The pain sensation of the verum acupuncture was significantly higher than that of the placebo acupuncture in masked situation, but not in unmasked situation. Conclusion : Blinding of the placebo acupuncture was successful both in the unmasked and masked situation. These finding indicate that visual factor might not play a critical role in blinding of the placebo needle. We suggest that placebo needle would be also useful in a functional magnetic resonance imaging scan even when the subject could not see the placebo needle.