Old people's Health and Food therapy in medical books of Chosun dynasty

조선시대 주요의서들을 통해 살펴본 노인 건강과 식치

A growing number of people shows deep interests in healthcare and treatments for the elderly with increasing their population. Contrary to general adults, old people have their own physiological and pathological characteristics. Therefore, treatments for the elderly should be different form those for others in younger generation. Alimentotherapy, which means the treatment or prevention by means of food, is one of the best way to deal with geriatrics that are chronic, multiple. Korea has its tradition and plenty of information in this field. Even in the early ChoSun Dynasty, when people suffered from lack of proper medical care, physicians used dietary prescriptions as active treatments, Therefore, we can find lots of cases in "Hyangyak-jibseogbang" and "Euibangyoochui" which are medical books published at that time. After that, a specialized alimentotherapy book, "Sikryochanyo" was written based on that kind of total medical volumes. With development of society, economy. and medical science, alimentotherapy has grown remarkably. Unlike in the early Chosun Dynasty, it was used positively for promoting general health condition and practiced as supportive method for medication in the late Chosun Dynasty. Considering the characteristics of the elderly, alimentotherapy is the most effective way to keep them healthy and can also used with medication.