A Case Report of One Polycythemia Vera Patient Treated with Oriental Medicine in Conjunction with Conventional Medicine

한양방치료를 병행 후 호전된 진성적혈구증가증 환자 1례

Objective: This study reports one case of polycythemia vera patient treated with oriental medicine in conjunction with conventional medicine. Methods: One patient who was diagnosed with polycythemia vera was treated using different modalities of herbs, acupuncture, and pharmacopuncture. An herbal formula, Yongdamsagan-tang was given three times a day with daily acupuncture treatment session, in addition to Soyeom and Jahageo pharmacopuncture injection which were administered three times a week. After treatment, patient's symptoms and blood test results were observed and analyzed. Results: After ten days of treatment, the patient had shown improvements in symptoms of headache, dizziness, tinnitus, and itchiness. Two months later, laboratory findings continued to be kept within the normal range and the intervals of phlebotomy therapy has extended to three months. Conclusions: This case study shows minimum evidence of safety and efficacy of oriental medicine for managing symptoms of polycythemia vera. Considering this is only a short term, single case study, further research is needed to confirm these results.