• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.89-97
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• 2012

Objectives : The purpose of this report is to show that oriental medical treatments, chiefly using Sweet bee venom (SBV) are effective on symptom improvements and calcium removal in the patients diagnosed with calcific tendinitis in supraspinatus. Methods : We applied 0.3~0.6cc of SBV on $LI_{15}$ ($Gyeonu$) at a time and 0.1~0.2cc on each surrounding pressure point. In addition, we treated $Hwangryeonhaedok-tang$ pharmacopuncture on both acupoints of $GB_{21}$ ($Gyeonjeong$) with large intestine tonification of $Sa-Am$. Results : The symptoms improved within 3 weeks in case 1, 4 days in case 2, 5 weeks in case 3. The removal of calcium was detected by radiology at all cases. Conclusions : From the above results, it is considered that the oriental medical therapy including SBV is effective on the removal of calcium.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.17-25
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• 2001

By process of treatment for a case which diagnosed as HNP of left posterolateral aspect of L4/5 disc and treated from the 10th, May 2001 to the 23rd, Jun 2001, the results are as follows. Method & Results : This patient was medicated Hwallaktang-gami, taken acupuncture, phototherapy, TENS, electric acupuncture, exercises, Mori Cortex-bee venom acupuncture. As a result, the patient's clinical symptom were improved but a computed tomagraphy confirmed L4/5 and L5/S1 HNP was not changed as seen on repeated CT scanning. Conclusion : These results suggest that among conservative therapies the oriental medical treatments including Mori Cortex-bee venom acupuncture improve clinical symptom effectively. But in this case, the structure of herniated disc was not changed.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.85-92
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• 2010

Objectives: The objective of this study was to compare the effects of Sweet Bee Venom(Sweet BV) Therapy between the hand paresthesia patients with Osteoporosis and without Osteoporosis. Methods: This study was carried out to established the clinical criteria of hand parethesia. The patients who had past history of diabeics, neuropathy induced by alcohol or drug and was positive on Myofacial Pain Syndrome Theory were excluded. 32 patients who had hand paresthesia related with unknown-reason was selected by the interview process. And the effects of treatment were analyzed using VAS score before treatment, after treatment, after 1 month and after 3 months. Results and conclusion: After treatment, While Osteoporosis group decrease from $64.81{\pm}7.81$ to $27.21{\pm}7.32$, Non-Osteoporosis group decrease from $58.76{\pm}1.43$ to $24.74{\pm}3.81$ by VAS scores. and After 3 months, While Osteoporosis group increase from $27.21{\pm}7.32$ to $54.96{\pm}9.40$, Non Osteoporosis group increase from $24.74{\pm}3.81$ to $32.43{\pm}5.57$. Non-Osteoporosis group was accordingly more effective than Osteoporosis group after 3 months. So Sweet BV therapy for hand numbness patients without Osteoporosis was e effective than patients with Osteoporosis.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.201-211
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• 2020

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to comprehensively review Korean domestic studies and investigate the research trends of pharmacopuncture therapy on cervical pain caused by traffic accidents. Methods: Domestic studies between February 1999 and May 2020 from four Korean databases were searched with combinations of keywords 'cervical pain', 'traffic accident', 'whiplash injury', and 'pharmacopuncture'. Results: 17 studies were selected for review, including 7 randomized controlled trials, 5 retrospective observational studies, 3 case reports, and 2 non-randomized controlled trials. Each study was reviewed by published year, study type, types of pharmacopuncture solutions, selected acupuncture points, dosage of pharmacopuncture solutions, frequency of treatment, concurrent treatments, outcome measurements, and the effectiveness of pharmacopuncture therapy. The results are as follows: (1) It showed that the total number of published studies had increased slightly in the last 10 years compared to the previous decade. (2) The pharmacopuncture solutions used in the studies were in the following order: Bee-Venom (蜂毒), Jungsongouhyul (中性瘀血), Hwangryunhaedoktang (黃連解毒湯) and Soyeom (消炎). Frequently used acupuncture points were GB20, GV21, A-shi point, GV16, EX-B2, and SI15 in order. (3) The most commonly used total injection dosage was 1.0 cc at a time, and the frequency of treatment was twice a week. (4) Concurrent treatments such as acupuncture, herbal medication, physical therapy and Chuna manual therapy were performed in all 17 studies. (5) Pharmacopuncture therapy showed positive effects on cervical pain caused by traffic accidents in all 17 studies reviewed. Conclusion: Pharmacopuncture therapy was effective in cervical pain caused by traffic accidents in all 17 studies selected. Further studies will be needed using more larger scales and more objective data to confirm the effectiveness of pharmacopuncture therapy and to generalize its application.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.103-108
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• 2009

Objectives : This study is to report the effect of Pharmacopuncture therapy on a patient suffering from the pain and cold intolerance of hand caused by Carpal tunnel syndrome with Raynaud's phenomenon. Methods : We had treated the patient diagnosed as Carpal tunnel syndrome with Raynaud's phenomenon by Sweet BV and CF pharmacopuncture. We injected Sweet BV and CF into acupuncture points on both hands - Sweet BV into Baxie (EX-UE9), CF into Naegwan ($PC_6$) and Daereung ($PC_7$). And then we evaluated her symptoms by VAS (Visual Analog Scale). Results : Clinical symptoms about Carpal tunnel syndrome with Raynaud's phenomenon were remarkably improved by Sweet BV and CF Pharmacopuncture. Conclusion : Therefore, we concluded that pharmacopuncture therapy - Sweet BV, CF etc. - may be useful to treat Carpal tunnel syndrome with Raynaud's phenomenon.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.65-84
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• 2001

We recently demonstrated that bee venom (BV) injection into acupoint (i.e. Zusanli) produced more potent anti-inflammatory and antinociciptive effect in Freunds adjuvant induced rheumatoid arthritis (RA) model as compared with that of non-acupoint injection(i.e back). However, the precise components underlying BV-induced antinociceptive and/or anti-inflammatory effects have not been fully understood. Therefore, we further investigated the anti-arthritic effect of BV after extracting the whole BV according to solubility (water soluble: BVA, ethylacetate soluble: BVE). Subcutaneous BVA treatment (0.9 mg/kg/day) into Zusanli acupoint was found to dramatically inhibit paw edema and radiological change (i.e. new bone proliferation and soft tissue swelling) caused by Freunds adjuvant injection. In addition, the increase of serum interleukin-6 by RA induction was normalized by the BVA treatment as similar with that of non-arthritic animals. On the other hand, BVA therapy significantly reduced arthritis induced nociceptive behaviors (i.e., nociceptive score for mechanical hyperalgesia and thermal hyperalgesia). Furthermore, BVA treatment significantly suppressed adjuvant induced Fos expression in the lumbar spinal cord at 3 weeks post-adjuvant injection. However, BVE treatment (0.05 mg/kg/day) has not any anti-inflammatory and anti-nociceptive effect on RA. Based on the present results, we demonstrated that BVA might be a effective fraction in whole BV for long-term treatment of RA-induced pain and inflammation. However, it is clear necessary that further fraction study about BVA was required for elucidating an effective component of BVA.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.65-87
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• 2000

This study was designed to evaluate the effect of the bee venom(BV) aqua-acupuncture on the neuronal activities of catecholaminergic(tyrosine hydroxylase : TH, dopamine ${\beta}$ hydroxylase : D${\beta}$H) system in the brainstem. After the BV aqua-acupuncture was applied on Chok-Samni(ST36) and the gluteal part(Blank locus) in rats. Also, the number of colocalization between catecholamine containing neurons and Fos immunoreactive neurons were analyzed by using the double immunohistochemical technique. The results of the experiments were summarized as follows : 1. In DR and LC, Chok-Samni group and the Blank locus group showed more significant increase in the number of colocalization between TH containing neurons and Fos immunoreactive neurons than the control group. Furthermore, Chok-Samni group showed more significant increase than the Blank locus group. Also, in Arc, Chok-Samni group showed more significant increase than the Blank locus group and the control group. 2. In LC, Chok-Samni group showed more significant increase in the number of colocalization between D${\beta}$H containing neurons and Fos immunoreactive neurons than the Blank locus group and the control group. Also, in A5, Chok-Samni group and the Blank locus group showed more significant increase than the control group. Chok-Samni group showed more significant increase than the Blank locus group. However, there was no significant change in A7. Consequently, the BV aqua-acupuncture increased more potent the number of Fos immunoreactive neurons and the activity of catecholaminergic neurons. Furthermore, the BV aqua-acupuncture was more effective on Chok-Samni than Blank locus group. These results indicate that the BV aqua-acupuncture is very effective therapy to control pain. The therapeutic effect of BV aqua-acupunture may associated with the endogenous modulatory system such as catecholamine. Those data from the study can be applied to establish the effective treatment of the BV for pain control in the clinical field.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.63-70
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• 2002

Objective: To evaluate the effects of bee venom acupuncture(BVA) on the rehabilitation and quality of life in rheumatoid arthritis(RA) patients Methods: Patients with RA were treated with the BVA therapy twice a week for 3 months. Tender joint counts, swollen joint counts, morning stiffness, Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate(ESR), C-reactive protein(CRP), patient global assessment, physician global assessment, Korean health assessment questionnaire(KHAQ) were estimated and analyzed before and after BVA therapy. Results: Tender joint counts, swollen joint counts, morning stiffness showed significant decrease after BVA therapy. But, as acute inflammatory reactants, ESR showed no significant difference and CRP showed significant increase after BVA therapy. Patient global assessment, physician global assessment, and KHAQ index showed significant improvement after BVA therapy. Conclusions: BVA therapy can improve rehabilitation and health-related quality of life in RA patients as well as clinical symptoms and signs. Further study is required in more population with large scale including acute inflammatory reaction of BVA therapy.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.54-62
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• 2020

Objectives : Acute low back pain syndrome causes pain and poor quality of life. There are various studies of SBV (Sweet bee venom) pharmacopuncture, but few have identified the therapeutic effects for patients unable to walk due to acute back pain. This case series report three cases of acute low back pain syndrome treated with SBV pharmacopuncture combined with Korean Medicine (KM) treatments. Methods : Three acute low back pain syndrome patients with no other acute abnormalities in the imaging were treated by KM treatments including SBV pharmacopuncture, acupuncture, cupping, herbal medicine and physical therapy. The improvement of symptoms was evaluated using Numerical rating scale (NRS), Oswestry disability Index (ODI), EuroQol-5 dimension index (EQ-5D) and EuroQol-visual analogue scale (EQ-VAS). Results : Patients who were unable to walk due to acute back pain were able to walk. There were significant improvements of NRS, ODI, EQ-5D and EQ-VAS after treatment. The patients experienced an average 90% decrease in low back pain after inpatient KM treatment for about 8 days. NRS decreased by an average of 78.9%, ODI decreased by an average of 49.4%, and EQ-VAS increased by an average of 92.6%. In the case 1, EQ-5D decreased in all categories, but in the case 2, it decreased in all categories except for pain/discomfort and anxiety/depression, but in the case 3, it decreased in all categories except anxiety/depression. There was no serious side effect after treatment of SBV pharmacopuncture. Conclusions : KM treatments including SBV pharmacopuncture may be effective for acute low back pain syndrome patients. However, randomized controlled trials are needed in the future to confirm the clinical effects of these interventions.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.213-221
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• 2022

Background: This study investigated the clinical effectiveness of Korean medicine (KM) treatment for shoulder impingement syndrome (SIS). Methods: There were 61 patients who were diagnosed with SIS in the Jaseng hospital network of KM (7 hospitals located in Korea: Gangnam, Daejeon, Bucheon, Haeundae, Bundang, Ulsan, and Gwangju) between January 1^st, 2015 and December 31^st, 2020 who were retrospectively reviewed. The patients were grouped according to complications, intake of analgesics, duration of illness preadmission, and treatment. Treatments consisted of herbal medicine, acupuncture, cupping, Chuna, pharmacopuncture, bee venom pharmacopuncture, medicinal steaming, Daoyin exercises, and physical therapy. By comparing the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS), Shoulder Pain and Disability Index, and European Quality of Life 5-Dimensions questionnaire scores, the effectiveness of integrated KM treatment was evaluated. Results: There were 14 males and 47 females. For inpatients diagnosed with SIS, the mean NRS score decreased from 5.78 ± 1.33 to 3.40 ± 1.43 (p < 0.001). The mean Shoulder Pain and Disability Index score decreased from 53.87 ± 14.76 to 38.56 ± 18.87 (p < 0.001), and the mean European Quality of Life 5-Dimensions questionnaire increased from 0.67 ± 0.13 to 0.76 ± 0.09 (p < 0.001) after KM treatment. Medicinal steaming (0.398; p < 0.001), acupuncture (0.290), cupping (0.288), bee venom pharmacopuncture (0.282), and Daoyin exercises (0.262; p < 0.05) had a positive correlation with improved changes in the NRS score. Conclusion: Conclusion: Treatment with integrated KM treatment improved the pain, range of motion, shoulder function, and quality of life of patients with SIS.