This study examines the theoretical framework underlying the establishment of acupuncture-moxibustion and herbal medicine as core therapeutic modalities in Korean medicine, focusing on the structural logic of the Hado (River Diagram) and the concept of exterior-interior regulation. Rather than treating the Hado as a historical cause, this study employs it as an interpretive model to elucidate how the human body was conceptually organized into functionally distinct regulatory layers: a somatic regulatory system that responds to external stimuli and a visceral regulatory system that sustains internal physiological processes. Within this framework, acupuncture and moxibustion are understood as exterior regulatory techniques that modulate bodily responsiveness through somatic pathways involving the body surface, meridians, muscles, and neural networks. In contrast, herbal decoctions are interpreted as internal regulatory therapies that operate primarily through visceral processes mediated by digestion, metabolism, and systemic regulatory networks. This distinction reflects a functional differentiation of regulatory hierarchy rather than a material correspondence between therapeutic tools and the Five Phases. Analysis of classical medical texts further suggests that acupuncture-moxibustion and herbal medicine were applied in a coordinated yet non-overlapping manner, often structured according to a principal-assistant (master-guest) relationship depending on pathological conditions. By reframing their combined use as a structured regulatory strategy rather than an arbitrary combination, this study provides a theoretical foundation for the structured integrative application of therapeutic modalities in contemporary Korean medicine.

In traditional East Asian medicine (TEAM), the concept corresponding to subhealth is referred to as mibyeong(未病). However, notable differences exist in the contemporary usage of term mibyeong across Korea, China, and Japan. In light of these discrepancies, the following suggestions are proposed. First, to achieve international harmonization of the term mibyeong, its conceptual definition should be standardized through consensus among the relevant countries. Second, substantial heterogeneity exists in the methods used to assess the level of subhealth(mibyeong). Therefore, these assessment index should be further developed and refined by benchmarking and integrating the other country's approach. Third, current disease classification structures, such as the International Classification of Diseases(ICD) and the Korean Standard Classification of Diseases(KCD), as well as clinical healthcare terminologies including SNOMED CT, do not incorporate terms that adequately represent the concept of subhealth. Accordingly, the inclusion of this concept within these classification and terminology systems is warranted.

This study comprehensively reviewed the pharmacological properties and experimental evidence of eleven special crops cultivated in Hoengseong County; Codonopsis lanceolata, Malus asiatica, Sesamum indicum, Perilla frutescens, Phaseolus calcaratus, Atractylodes spp., Sorghum bicolor, Zea mays, Glycine max, Oryza sativa, and Lycopersicon esculentum. The review was conducted based on traditional herbal medicine texts for materia medica, as well as cellular and animal experiments identified through systematic literature searches. The findings indicated that a wide range of these crops exhibited immunomodulatory, antioxidant, and metabolic regulatory activities. Moreover, improvemental effects were observed across diverse disease models, including atopic dermatitis, alopecia, osteoarthritis, obesity, renal disease, diabetes mellitus, epilepsy, ulcerative colitis, osteoporosis, and etc. These results suggest that various special crops have considerable potential for development as functional materials targeting chronic diseases, consumption, aging and frailty.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by deficits in social interaction and repetitive behaviors. As definitive treatments have yet to be established, there is a significant unmet need for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM). The objective of this study was to investigate the current status and therapeutic mechanisms of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) involving ASD patients over the past five years. We conducted a comprehensive search of ASD-related TCM RCTs on the CNKI database on December 29, 2025. Following the search, studies were manually selected based on the inclusion criteria. Finally, 14 studies that explored therapeutic mechanisms were included for this analysis. Acupuncture-related research accounted for the majority at 78%, with scalp acupuncture being the most frequently utilized technique. Additionally, various specialized acupuncture methods and acupoint selection based on TCM pattern identification were employed. Herbal medicine studies utilized formulas such as Modified Guipi decoction and Zengye Chengqi decoction, while other modalities including Chuna (manual therapy) and thread-embedding therapy were also identified. Clinical instruments such as Child Autism Rating Scale(CARS) and Autism Behavior Checklist(ABC) served as the primary tools for quantifying ASD symptoms. All included studies demonstrated more significant symptomatic improvement in the treatment groups compared to the control groups following intervention. Regarding the exploration of TCM mechanisms, the most prevalent research themes included the modulation of neurotransmitters, anti-inflammatory and neurotrophic effects, synaptic remodeling, and the regulation of the gut-brain axis microbiota. Furthermore, the use of neuroimaging techniques was identified to investigate the enhancement of white matter microstructure and changes in brain functional microstates. Future research should incorporate larger sample sizes, more homogeneous participant groups, and cutting-edge technologies-including advanced neuroimaging-to deepen our understanding of ASD and further elucidate the therapeutic mechanisms of Traditional Korean Medicine methodologies.

This study mapped traditional medicine pattern codes between ICD-11 Chapter 26 Traditional medicine patterns and KCD-8 Korean medicine patterns/Sasang constitutional medicine patterns to compare both classification systems. Two Korean medicine experts independently mapped 254 ICD-11 codes to 159 KCD-8 codes, achieving an initial agreement of 93.3%. The results showed that 186 codes (73.2%) were mappable: 106 exact mappings (41.7%), 71 broad mappings (28.0%), 9 narrow mappings (3.5%), and 68 no mappings (26.8%). After excluding residual categories such as "other specified" and "unspecified," the 196 clinical codes showed 54.1% exact, 10.7% broad, 4.6% narrow, and 30.6% no mapping. Most mappings (70.4%) had a 1:1 correspondence, whereas 29.6% required 1:n relationships. ICD-11 traditional medicine patterns lack detailed definitions, inclusion/exclusion criteria, and postcoordination rules found in other ICD-11 chapters. KCD-8 omits meridian patterns entirely (26 codes in ICD-11), has no residual category, and shows an inconsistent hierarchical structure. Future KCD revisions should consider adding residual categories for statistical completeness, incorporate missing category such as meridian patterns to reflect clinical practice, and develop consistent hierarchical coding to improve compatibility with ICD-11.

Oxidative stress is a key mechanism in both cardiometabolic and neurodegenerative diseases. Because the iris lacks a true anterior epithelium, it allows for high-resolution, non-invasive imaging of connective tissue. We investigated whether iris texture and color are related to systemic oxidative stress, especially in Parkinson's disease (PD). This retrospective case-control study included 13 patients with PD and 17 healthy controls. Anterior-segment images were captured using a digital camera with a fixed spacer. Iris texture was quantified using a Gabor filter bank, and brightness and saturation were analyzed in the HSV color space. Systemic oxidative stress and antioxidant capacity were assessed using serum d-ROMs, BAP, Total Oxidant Status (TOS), and Total Antioxidant Status (TAS). The PD group exhibited significantly higher TOS levels compared to the control group, indicating elevated systemic oxidative stress. In the iris image analysis, the PD group showed a tendency toward increased brightness and decreased saturation compared to controls. Texture analysis using Gabor filters revealed potential structural alterations in the iris of PD patients, although the differences were not consistently significant across all parameters. Correlation analysis indicated that while certain iris texture features were associated with age, the primary oxidative stress marker (TOS) was not, suggesting a disease-specific elevation. Simple, standardized iris imaging detects appearance alterations associated with higher oxidative stress in PD, indicating promise as a non-invasive supplementary biomarker. Given the limited single-center, cross-sectional design, larger multi-center studies with standardized and automated techniques are required to generalize the findings.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the pressure ulcer healing rate and the factors affecting pressure ulcer healing in the patients with Stage 3 and 4 severe pressure ulcers admitted to a long-term care hospital. The study tools included medical records, including pressure ulcer classification, stage, ulcer size, and pressure ulcer risk based on clinical pressure ulcer records. The study results showed that the time required for 50% of 151 pressure ulcers to heal was 170 days, and the 365-day healing rate was 80.13%. Factors that significantly differed between the groups with and without Stage 3 and 4 pressure ulcers were the presence of multi-drug resistant organism, mean arterial pressure, onset period, presence of encroachment, PUSH score at admission, and pressure ulcer size. Furthermore, the presence of multidrug-resistant bacteria and mean arterial pressure were factors that influenced the healing of Stage 3 and 4.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the emotional characteristics of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) using the Core Seven Emotions Inventory-Short Form (CSEI-s) and to analyze its correlations with PC-PTSD-5 and PCL-5-K. Data from 51 patients diagnosed with PTSD at Wonkwang University Sanbon Hospital were retrospectively analyzed; demographic characteristics were reviewed, emotional features according to gender and age were compared, and correlations among PC-PTSD-5, PCL-5-K, and CSEI-s were examined. Hierarchical regression analysis was conducted to evaluate the effect of PTSD severity on CSEI-s subscales after controlling for demographic variables, and standardized CSEI-s scores were additionally analyzed by gender and severity level. The results showed no significant differences in CSEI-s scores according to gender, age, or trauma type. However, PCL-5-K severity had a significant influence on anger (怒), thought (思), depression (憂), sorrow (悲), fear (恐), fright (驚), and the total CSEI-s score. Standardized analysis revealed that 'fright' (驚) and 'sorrow' (悲) frequently exceeded normal boundaries in high-severity groups. These findings indicate that CSEI-s shows a meaningful association with PTSD severity and effectively identifies dominant emotional patterns, especially fear and sorrow, suggesting that CSEI-s provides clinically useful information for the diagnosis, treatment planning, prognosis, and management of PTSD.

This case report aims to describe the application of collaboration between Western and Korean medicine in the treatment of a patient with paraplegia due to spinal cord injury caused by T11-12 herniated nucleus pulposus at a rehabilitation hospital. The patient, diagnosed with paraplegia and underwent surgery, received combined rehabilitation therapy, Western medical treatment, and traditional Korean medicine including acupuncture, moxibustion, and wet cupping therapy. The main symptoms included decreased lower limb muscle strength, inability to ambulate, and impaired bladder and bowel function. Treatment outcomes were assessed using the Manual Muscle Test(MMT), Spinal Cord Independence Measure III (SCIM III), and Numeric Rating Scale (NRS). The patient showed objective improvements in lower limb motor function, bladder and bowel function, and overall independence in activities of daily living. This case suggests that integrative collaboration between Western and Korean medicine in a typical rehabilitation hospital setting can be safely implemented and may contribute positively to functional recovery in patients with paraplegia. It may serve as a reference model for future clinical implementation of integrative collaborative care systems.