Abstract
Objectives : This research aimed to develop a new etiologic classification for traditional Korean Medicine in order to respond to the social and environmental change. Methods : We reviewed the existing theories on etiological classification for East Asian Medicine thoroughly and discussed the problems and limitations. Based on the experts' consensus, we abstracted disease factors and etiologic items. Results : The disease factors are classified into three parts: the human body, the environment, and the interaction between the human body and the environment. We defined them as the inner factor, the external factor, and the interaction between the inner and the external factors. The inner factor is free from the influence of the environment, and it causes diseases solely from the components of the human body. It is divided into genetic factors. The external factor is defined as a case when a disease occurs due to a factor outside the human body and includes external injuries, environmental pollution, and natural disasters. The interaction between the inner and the external factors is a disease factor that causes diseases by the interaction of the human body and the environment and includes emotions, habits, and social environment. As a result of the analysis, it was possible to see the meanings at a single glance as the scattered and fractional meanings were integrated with focus on medicinal herbs, but the increasing number of analyzed medicinal herbs tended to more and more complicate their relationships, thus, requiring additional work like filtering. Conclusions : The new etiologic classification of Korean Medicine fully reflects the perspectives on life in Korean Medicine while embracing the changes in modem society. Also, by avoiding the usage of ambivalent terms and wrong classification methods, the new classification system constructs intuitive and concise etiology and improves usability in clinical medicine.
