• Journal of Korean Medical Ki-Gong Academy
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.326-339
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• 2009

Objective : The studies on liver effect in administration of western medicine have been well-established so far, but the studies on liver effect in administration or herbal medicine haven't been made. To make things worse, people who have liver disease generally believe that taking a herbal medicine is not useful to take care or their disease and even think it can cause liver disease. But this belief is not verified at all. So we feel the need to study about how taking herbal medicine affect to liver injury patient. Methods : We chose the 4 patient who seems to have the liver injury on the index of liver function test and we administrate the herbal medicine and after several day or weeks we recheck the liver function test. Results : Through the this method, we find the positive effect of taking herbal medicine on the patients who have the liver disease. Conclusions : Our results give no evidence that herbal medicine is harmful for liver disease. We need to study more about this.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.34-40
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• 2016

Objectives: To observe safety and efficacy of herbal medicine for psoriasis patients. Methods: We did retrospective chart review for 107 psoriasis patients who had been treated by herbal medicine for 2 months, and we analyzed the liver function test (LFT) results and Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) scores of before and after the treatment. Results: The mean LFT and the number of patients with abnormal LFT decreased after the treatments. More than 95% of patients with normal LFT maintained normal results at after the treatment, and only 2.1% and 4.6% patients with normal LFT showed abnormal Glutamic Oxaloacetic Transaminase (GOT) and Glutamic Pyruvic Transaminase (GPT) results at after the treatment. Also, both mean PASI scores for all patients and patients with abnormal LFT before the treatment decreased significantly. Conclusions: This study suggest that herbal medicine may be safe and effective treatment for psoriasis.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.67-73
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• 2010

Objective : The purpose of this study is to determine the efficacy and safely of Hwangryunhaedok-tang Pharmacopuncture (HHT-PA) therapy on post-stroke depression (PSD) in stroke patients. Methods : Fifteen PSD patients has been recruited and evaluated with liver function test (LFT) and renal function lest (RFT) and depression scales, Beck Depress ion Inventory (BDI) and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D) before and after HHT-PA treatment. Results : HAM-D score significantly decreased after HHT-PA treatment regard less of improving of motor function. But BDI score did not decrease significantly. All results of LFT and RFT were in normal range before and after HHT-PA treatment Conclusion : These results showed that HHT-PA decrease PSD symptoms and has safety on stroke patients, although has no effect on improving of motor impairment.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.1068-1075
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• 2017

Objectives: This report describes the case of a patient suffering alcoholic liver disease with lower limb weakness, which was improved by Korean medical treatments. Methods: For relieving symptoms, Korean medical treatments, including acupuncture, moxibustion, and herb medication, were performed. To evaluate the effects of the treatments, a liver function test (LFT), the Hughes grading scale, and weight were used. Results: After treatments for 29 days, symptoms were improved, and the LFT value was decreased. Conclusions: This report suggests that Korean medical treatments may be one solution for alcoholic liver disease.

• Journal of Korean Medicine for Obesity Research
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.54-60
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• 2017

Many obesity patients were affected by depressed liver function including hepatosteatosis. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical effect of the obesity therapy with Korean herbal medicine (KHM) on obese patient with abnormal liver function. This is a retrospective observational study performed on obesity patients with abnormal liver function. All subjects have taken serum liver function tests (LFTs) before treatment. Ten patients showed abnormal LFTs. They were treated with KHM at least 15 days. During this treatment, LFTs were evaluated afterwards. Body weight and body mass index of the patients were decreased during treatments. Five of 10 subjects recovered normal levels of LFTs. While other subjects remained at abnormal level but their levels were decreased. This study shows that the obesity therapy including KHM could be effective to improve liver function on obese patient. Additional large scale studies are necessary for more evidences.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology and Dermatology
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.37-54
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• 2011

Background and Objective : Recently it is true that increasing interest in Oriental medicine and usage of herbal medicine. On the other hand, there are many concerns about the stability of herbal medicine. So, this study is carried out to see whether or not the treatment with Sanghan-Bang(傷寒方) is effective on the liver function besides its effectiveness in treating facial palsy. Methods : We examined serum TP, Albumin, TB, AST, ALT, ALP, LDH, ${\gamma}$-GGT levels, and facial palsy states in 37 patients with facial palsy who had admission treatment in an oriental medical hospital. Results and Conclusion : 1. We found the levels of TP, albumin, TB, and ${\gamma}$-GGT had decreased statistically significant. Also, AST, ALT, LDH and ALP levels had decreased however it was not statistically significant. 2. We analyzed the herbal group that may be efficient to the liver function; Daehwang-Jae(16 case), Injin-Jae(12 case), and Chija-Jae(6 case) in this order. 3. From the eight cases using oriental medicinal concoctions using one of Daehwang, Injin-Jae or Chija as their main component, the liver function test results displayed decreasing values, re-entering into normal LFT ranges. 4. As we compared the admission House-Brackmann Scale with discharge, the treatment was efficient and statistically significant.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.213-218
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• 2014

Objectives: The aim of this study was to identify the causal relationship between use of levocetrizine or cetrizine, and liver injury, by comparing frequency and pattern of hepatotoxicity in levocetrizine or cetrizine prescribed patients. Methods: This is a retrospective observational study, using data retrieved from electronic medical record system. Among 1164 patients prescribed levocetrizine or cetrizine during study period (Jul, 2009 - Jun, 2010) at Seoul National University Hospital, 543 patients with more than 4- time liver function test (LFT) results were included in final analysis. Liver injury was defined as greater than 3 times elevated level of alanine aminotransferase or 2 times elevated level of alkaline phosphatase or total bilirubin, compared to upper limit of normal, in patient with normal liver function at baseline. The frequency and pattern of liver injury were assessed. Results: Incidence of liver injury in patients prescribed with levotcetrizine or cetrizine were 1.48% and 2.94%, respectively. With few exceptions, most injuries were shown to be hepatocellular type. Rapid recovery was observed after drug cessation and long term use tends to be associated with incidence of liver injury. In patient with digestive system disorder, rate of liver injury was significantly higher (p=0.011). Conclusion: The result of this study implies potential need of liver toxicity monitoring, especially in patients taking long term levecetrizine or cetrizine or in patient with digestive system disorder. However, prospective large scale observational study is needed to confirm liver injury associated with the use of levocetirizine or cetirizine.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.7 no.1 s.12
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• pp.27-36
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• 2004

Objective : This study was aimed to validate the Herbal Acupuncture Therapies(HAT) for cancer patients. Patients and methods : This retrospective study was performed on 8 patients who were diagnosed as cancer in Korea and treated with HAT in the oriental hospital of Daejeon University, from January 2003 to January 2004. We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of 8 patients for improvement of symptoms, toxic effects of liver and kidney, myelosupression and changes of Quality of Life(QOL). Results : Analysis of change of chief complaints showed that 75% patients replied moderate relief and 25% replied complete relief in Likert scale. Analysis of Liver Function Test(LFT), Renal Function Test(RFT) level showed that HAT does not have toxic effects on liver and kidney. Analysis of Complete Blood Count(CBC) level showed that HAT does not have myelosuppression effects on bone marrow. Analysis of QOL showed that 100% patients replied improvement in Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group status(ECOG) status. Conclusion : Our findings suggest that HAT offer potential benefits for cancer patients.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.153-172
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• 2009

Background : The safety of Korean herbal Medicine (KHM: prescribed herbal medicine by doctors of traditional Korean medicine) is an important issue in Korea. Although both fields. western medicine and traditional Korean medicine. have been studied on the safety of herbs and KHM, their results were not concordance with each other. Objectives : This study aims to review the influence of KHM on liver function in Korean literature systematically. Additionally, we tried to estimate the change of data of liver function test (LFT) and the incidence of liver injury (LI) after the use of KHM. Methods : Systematic literature searches were performed on 4 major databases of Korea from their inception to May 2008. Screening and selection of the studies and the extraction of data were performed independently by two authors. There were no restrictions on the types of publication including grey literatures. Results : Forty studies were included. Only sixteen studies were performed prospectively and fifteen studies collected data from outpatients. Only 8 studies reported the occurrence of LI after the use of KHM. Nineteen cases of LI showed no or mild symptoms and the elevation of LFT was not high. All of LI patients used conventional western drug and KHM concomitantly. and causality of LI was not assessed properly. The incidence of LI related to the use of KHM was estimated as 0.59%-0.76% from all data of these studies. The conflicting results were shown on the change of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and total bilirubin (TB) after the use of KHM. Conclusions : KHM might be a minor cause of LI in Korea. However the results are not strongly supported as enough to make the safety issue clear because of the limitations of original studies. More rigorous studies are required for answering the safety issue of KHM with the cooperative investigation of both fields of Korean traditional medicine and western medicine.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.374-380
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• 2016

Objective: Although the incidence of chronic hepatitis B has decreased around the world due to widespread national preventative control measures, mortality from the same condition can increase if the condition leads to liver cancer or liver cirrhosis. In most cases, herbal medicine does not show any statistically significant effects related to liver damage, but preconceptions do exist that herbal medicine can be toxic and cause such liver damage. To investigate this situation, this study therefore investigated a patient with hepatitis B who had combined traditional Korean medicine therapy and the use of analgesic drugs during a hospitalization period.Method: A patient with hepatitis B was given combined traditional Korean medicine therapy and the use of analgesic drugs during a hospitalization period.Results: Within 26 days, the patient was free from liver damage during the hospitalization period. She was followed up with a liver function test and was discharged after her condition improved; she also reported decreased back pain.