• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.97-106
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• 2008

Objectives : This study was designed to evaluate the effects of Bee Venom Pharmacopuncture therapy in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis. Methods : We investigated 16 patients with lumbar spinal stenosis. We divided patients into two groups : Bee Venom Pharmacopuncture was performed with acupuncture therapy for one group, and the other group received acupuncture therapy only. To evaluate the effectiveness of the treatment applied to the two groups, we used the Visual Analog Scale(VAS) and the Oswestry Low-back Pain Disability Index(ODI). We compared the VAS and ODI scores of the two groups statistically. Results : The Bee Venom Pharmacopuncture group received more effective relief than the acupunctureonly group as measured by decreasedpain and disability reported on the VAS and ODI by patients with lumbar spinal stenosis. Conclusions: Bee Venom Pharmacopuncture therapy can be used in addition to acupuncture therapy for highly effective treatment of patients with lumbar spinal stenosis. Further clinical studies are needed to verify these findings.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.41-50
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• 2013

Objectives : This study was performed to compare the effects of Shinbaro pharmacopuncture therapy and bee venom pharmacopuncture therapy in lumbar disc herniation Methods : We compared treatment efficacy of 12 patients with Shinbaro pharmacopuncture therapy and 10 patients with bee venom pharmacopuncture therapy, all of whom were diagnosed with lumbar disc herniation using computed tomography(CT) or magnetic resonance imaging(MRI). We performed a retrospective comparison and analysis during the course of 21 days since admission. To evaluate the treatment efficacy, we recorded the temperatures of the opposite back, hip, and legs with visual analog scale(VAS, back and legs), pain rating scale(PRS), Oswestry disability index(ODI) and digital infrared thermal imaging(DITI) based on patients' medical records. Results : Both treatments were effective in reducing pain and improving functions for lumbar disc herniation patients in terms of VAS, PRS, ODI, DITI. Shinbaro pharmacopuncture group showed slightly better results than the bee venom pharmacopuncture group, but the difference was not significant. Conclusions : For the treatment of lumbar disc herniation, it is suggested that Shinbaro pharmacopuncture therapy is thought to be as effective as bee venom pharmacopuncture therapy without side effects, although further study would be necessary.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.99-105
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• 2009

Objective : This is a clinical report about allergic rhinitis patients. Method : The two patients were treated by Bee Venom Pharmacopuncture and needle acupuncture together from June 2007 to September 2007. Result : As using these treatments, all patients decreased in sneezing, rhinorrhea and nasal congestion notably. And further, all patients had no side effects. Conclusion : The results suggest that Bee Venom Pharmacopuncture and needle acupuncture have an useful effect on allergic rhinitis patients.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.29-37
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• 2009

Objectives : This study was to investigate the effectiveness of Bee Venom Pharmacopuncture complex therapy on peripheral facial paralysis. Methods : We investigated 30 cases of patients with Peripheral Facial Paralysis, and devided patients into two groups : We treated one group by complex oriental medical treatment with Bee Venom Pharmacopuncture therapy, and did the other group by complex oriental medical treatment without Bee Venom pharmacopuncture therapy. To investigate the effectiveness of treatment applied for two groups, we used Gross Grading System of House-Brackmann, Yanagihara's Unweighed Grading System at baseline, 3 weeks and final. Results : 1. Male, Female is same ratio in distribution of sex, the number of left side is more than that of right side in distribution of lesion, the average age is 49.33. 2. Pain back of the ear showed the highest frequency among Bell's palsy related symptoms at onset, the overwork was a major cause of Bell's palsy in distribution of cause. 3. As a result of evaluation by using Gross Grading System of House-Brackmann, Yanagihara's Unweighed Grading System, treatment score after 3weeks was marked higher than that before treatment and treatment score after final treatment was also marked higher than that after 3weeks within each group. 4. After final treatment, Bee Venom Pharmacopuncture therapy group showed signficant difference on Gross Grading System of House-Brackmann, Yanagihara's Unweighed Grading System compared with Acupuncture therapy group. Conclusions : Bee Venom Pharmacopuncture therapy can be available for relieving symptoms related with peripheral facial paralysis.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.15-21
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• 2014

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the current trends in research on pharmacopuncture in Korea since 2007. Methods: A literature review was performed by using the search engines 'Science and Technology Society Village', 'Korean Studies Information Service System', 'National Discovery for Science Leaders', and 'Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System' in Korea from January 2007 to December 2013. Searched key words were 'pharmacopuncture', 'herbal acupuncture', 'aqua-acupuncture', and 'bee venom'. Finally, we selected 457 papers, including Korean experimental studies and clinical studies. Selected papers were classified according to year of publication, type of pharmacopuncture, disease & topic, research type and the publishing journal. Results: One hundred fifty pharmacopunctures were studied in 457 papers. Single compound pharmacopuncture was the most studied pharmacopuncture in experimental studies while animal-based pharmacopuncture was the most studied pharmacopuncture in clinical studies. Bee venom placed first among the various pharmacopunctures, followed by placenta, sweet bee venom, mountain-ginseng, and anti-inflammatory pharmacopunctures. Experimental research on pharmacopuncture has fallen since 2007 when 55 papers were published. However, clinical research has been increasing steadily. In clinical studies, case reports were numerous than randomized clinical trials (RCTs). Musculoskeletal diseases were the most frequently-treated diseases in studies on pharmacopuncture; among the musculoskeletal diseases, rheumatoid arthritis was the most frequently-treated disease in experimental studies and low back pain was the most frequently-treated condition in clinical studies. Since 2007, 45 different journals have published studies on pharmacopuncture, with the Journal of the Korean Acupuncture and Moxibustion Medicine Society having the largest number of papers on pharmacopuncture and the Journal of Pharmacopuncture the second largest number. Conclusion: The trends in research on pharmacopuncture published in studies from 2007 to 2013 were similar to those in studies published before 2006. Many studies on pharmacopuncture focused on bee venom and musculoskeletal diseases. Additional studies on diverse types of and indications for pharmacopuncture are needed.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.37-47
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• 2011

Objective : The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of sweet bee venom pharmacopuncture on the post-stroke hemiplegic shoulder pain. Methods : 40 patients with post-stroke hemiplegic shoulder pain were randomly divided into 2 groups : study group(sweet bee venom pharmacopuncture treatment group, n=21) and Control group(normal saline treatment group, n=19). They were monitored for 4 weeks, followed up with visual analog scale(VAS), pain rating score(PRS), painless passive shoulder range of movement(PROM) and Fugl-Meyer Motor assessment(FMMA) at before treatment(T0), after 2 weeks(T2) and after 4 weeks(T4). Results : 1. Study group and control group showed pain decrease, but study group showed more significant effectiveness in VAS and PRS than control group. 2. Although there is no significant difference in PROM between study group and control group, both groups showed increase of PROM, and study group had some effectiveness on abduction and flexion as the treatment progresses. 3. There is no significant difference in FMMA between study group and control group. Conclusions : This study suggests that sweet bee venom pharmacopuncture has significant analgesic effect on the post-stroke hemiplegic shoulder pain. And it seems that sweet bee venom pharmacopuncture can be applicable to improve PROM in hemiplegia patients with stroke. Further studies based on larger population and long term follow-up are needed to confirm this suggestion.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.55-83
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• 2020

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of pharmacopuncture and bee venom acupuncture for knee osteoarthritis. Methods: We searched for randomized controlled trials that investigated the effects of pharmacopuncture and bee venom acupuncture on knee osteoarthritis through the electronic databases including Pubmed, EMBASE, Cochrane, CiNii, CNKI, KMBASE, KISS, NDSL, and OASIS. Meta-analysis was performed by Review Manager software and the quality of included studies were assessed by the Cochrane risk of bias tool. Results: A total of 20 articles with 1536 participants were identified. 12 trials about phamacopuncture and 8 trials about bee venom acupuncture showed significant improvement than sham treatment, western medicine treatment, and other Korean medicine treatment such as acupuncture in diverse scales. Six trials reported adverse events. Conclusions: These findings showed certain efficacy and safety of pharmacopuncture and bee venom acupuncture. It would be helpful for patients and Korean medicine doctors in the choice of the treatment for knee osteoarthritis. Well-designed studies with long term follow up and more number of participants should be conducted to strengthen the evidence of the use of pharmacopuncture and bee venom acupuncture.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.66-80
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• 2020

Objectives: We investigated the current status of the consent form for bee-venom pharmacopuncture therapy, which is using in Korean medicine hospitals. We suggest the development of a standard informed consent form. Method: Through the questionnaire survey, status of using informed consent form was identified at 24 Korean medicine hospitals. We analyze different types of informed consent form, which was developed by each hospitals. We investigated the types of informed consent forms for various medical procedures through electronic searches. A standard informed consent form for bee-venom pharmacopuncture therapy was developed based on the medical law and the standard informed consent form for medical procedures developed by Korea Fair Trade Mediation Agency. Result: In our survey, 65% of the hospitals do not use consent well, only 35% of the hospitals use informed consent form, and the most hospitals use self-developed informed consent form. As a result of analyzing the contents of informed consent form used in each hospitals, the explanation of diagnosis, treatment precautions, suggestions for other treatments, consequences of not performing the scheduled procedure, possibility of treatment change was insufficient. 48% of hospitals manage consent in recording on a chart, 39% in scanned documents, and 13% in digital electronic consent form. Conclusion: A standard informed consent form for Bee-venom pharmacopuncture therapy include diagnosis, effectivness, necessity, indications, method, skin reaction test, hypersensitivity questionnaire, treatment precautions, possible hypersensitivity reactions and countermeasures, suggestions for other treatments, consequences of not performing the scheduled procedure, possibility of treatment change and the name of doctor.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.125-139
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• 2001

In order to study the effects of bee venom herbal acupuncture on the neurotransmitters of the rat brain cortex, herbal acupuncture with the bee venom group and normal saline group was performed bilaterally on the point corresponding to LI 4 of the rat. The average optical density of the neurotransmitters from the cerebral cortex was analyzed 30 minutes after the herbal acupuncture with immunohistochemical methods. The results were as follows: 1. The density of NADPH-diaphorase in the bee venom group was increased significantly at the motor cortex, visual cortex, auditory cortex, cingulate cortex, retrosplenial cortex, and perirhinal cortex, compared to the normal saline group. 2. The average optical density of vasoactive intestinal peptide in the bee venom group had significant changes at the insular cortex, retrosplenial cortex, and perirhinal cortex, compared to the normal saline group. 3. The average optical density of neuropeptide-Y in the bee venom group increased significantly at the visual cortex and cingulate cortex, compared to the normal saline group.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.77-83
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• 2007

Objectives The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of Sweet Bee Venom herbal acupuncture for patients with acute whiplash injury by Traffic Accident. Methods This clinical study was carried out 25 cases of acute whiplash injury patients which had been treatment in Woosuk oriental hospital from March, 2007 to September, 2007. Sweet bee venom herbal acupuncture(N=15) and normal saline(N=10) injected on the acupoints that were cervical area. I checked the VAS for the pain and ROM(range of motion) of the cervical. these were checked 3 times. one was before treatments, another was after 3 times treatments with sweet bee venom herbal acupuncture and normal saline injection, and the other was after 5 times treatments with sweet bee venom herbal acupuncture and normal saline injection. Results VAS score was significantly improved after 5 times treatments with the sweet bee venom herbal acupuncture compared to normal saline I.M. on the acupoints that was cervical area. There were significant changes in the sweet bee venom herbal acupuncture group with VAS and ROM check. Conclusions This study suggests that sweet bee venom herbal acupuncture can improve symptoms in patients with acute whiplash injury by traffic accident.