• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.87-101
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• 2019

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of herbal medicine during the Western medicine therapy in adenomyosis. Methods: The author searched 5 electronic databases and search keywords were 'Adenomyosis' and 'Herbal Medicine'. We included randomized controlled clinical trials (RCTs) using herbal medicine therapy combined Western medicine for adenomyosis patients. Results: The author selected 12 studies. The systematic review of the 12 trials indicated that herbal medicine therapy integrated Western medicine therapy was more effective than Western medicine therapy alone. Conclusions: The herbal medicine therapy combined Western medicine for adenomyosis patients seems to improve pain relief and improvement of illness from this research. However, this result should be taken cautiously by unclear risk of bias. More clinical research will be needed to standardize the results of this study through herbal medicine.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.97-106
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• 2018

Objectives: The combined use of herbal and Western medicine is increasing. However, herbal medicine is highly likely to interact with Western medicine making it important to understand the effects of co-administration. This study investigates the ratio of patients who take Western medicine with herbal medicine, the types of medicines commonly prescribed together, and the results of hospital examinations. Methods: We investigated patients who were hospitalized at Kyung Hee University Korean Medical Hospital for at least one day from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2017. There were some inclusion criteria. First, we chose patients aged 19 and over. Second, we chose patients who were diagnosed with osteoarthritis (OA) with diagnosis codes M13, M15, M17 according to KCD-7. Third, patients had liver function tests, renal function tests, and general hematology tests performed at least two times during hospitalization. Results: Among a total of 131 OA patients, 32 (24.4%) patients were treated with herbal-Western medicine combination therapy. The most commonly prescribed herbal medicine was Daegalwhal-tang, and the most commonly prescribed Western medicine was celecoxib. In the laboratory findings, all liver function tests, renal function tests, and general hematology tests showed no difference compared to admission day. There were also no differences between herbal medicine single treatment and herbal-Western medicine combination treatment. Conclusions: From these results, we suggest that herbal medicine single treatment and herbal-Western medicine combination treatment for OA patients does not cause adverse effects.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.34-39
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• 2012

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the safety and the efficacy of Korean herbal, western and combination medicine use in patients with abnormal liver function tests. Methods: We investigated nerve disease patients with abnormal liver function tests who were treated with Korean herbal, western and combination medicine at Dong-Eui University Oriental Hospital from January 2011 to August 2011. We compared aspartic aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and total bilirubin (T-bil) levels before and after taking medicine and excluded patients who had liver-related disease when admitted. Results: AST and ALT were decreased significantly in patients who had taken herbal, western medicine. AST, ALT and ALP were decreased significantly in patients who had taken combination medicine. Compare to herbal medicine, AST, ALT and ALP were decreased significantly in patients who had taken western medicine, and ALT and ALP were decreased significantly in patients who had taken combination medicine. There were no significant differences between western and combination medicine. Conclusions: This study suggests that prescribed Korean herbal medicine, at least, does not injure liver function for patients', moreover, it was shown to be effective in patients with abnormal liver function tests.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.39-53
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• 2012

Objectives : Many studies have shown that helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection is associated with gastroduodenal diseases. The purpose of this report was to evaluate recently published research on the influence of oriental herbal medicine on H. pylori infections. Methods : Recently published literature were systematically compared with their findings of how oriental herbal medical treatment affects H. pylori-associated disease. Results : The eradication rate of H. pylori in oriental herbal medicine groups was 66.93% while it was 66.02% in western medicine groups. In oriental herbal plus western medicine groups, interestingly, the rate increased to 84.78%. On the other hand, the total treatment efficacy rate of H. pylori in oriental herbal medicine groups was 91.27%. The treatment efficacy rate in oriental herbal plus western medicine groups rose to a record 93.22%, which was 15.34% higher than the rate in western medicine groups. In addition, the rate of adverse effects was 2.71%, 4.85%, 15.80% in oriental herbal medicine, western medicine, and oriental herbal plus western medicine groups, respectively. Diarrhea was most frequently observed in oriental herbal medicine groups, while nausea was most frequently observed in the other groups. Conclusions : The results of this study showed that herbal medicinal treatment can increase the rate of H. pylori eradication and improve H. pylori-related gastrointestinal symptoms. These findings suggest that herbal medicine can solve the problems including side effects due to antibiotic resistance of standard triple therapy.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.49-58
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• 2010

Objective : The purpose of this study is to examine safety of herbal medicine on liver function and compare with western medicine. Method : 303 subjects of skin disease(vitiligo and psoriasis) were chosen at a local oriental medical clinic, and tested with a spot liver function test from Sept 1, 2006 to Dec 31, 2006. Subjects were grouped into untreated, herbal medicine, western medicine, and combination group by treatment record. Total bilirubin, AST, ALT and LDH was compared in each group, odds ratio and regression coefficient was calculated. Results : Subjects comprised of 116 individuals receiving western medication(38.28%), 54 receiving herbal medication(17.82%), 107 receiving combined forms of medication(35.31%), and 26 individuals without any types of medication(8.58%). With the mean age of 37.0 yr. 204 were male(67.3%), 99 were female(32.7%). Comparing variables of liver functions, there was no significant difference between the control and experiment groups. After adjusting potential confounders, monthly $\beta$(SE) of multiple regression -0.009~0.000 for the herbal group, -0.005~0.000 for the western group, and -0.001~0.001 for the combination group. No significant difference between the groups. OR of T-bilirubin were 1.02, 1.05, and 1.04. AST were 0.92, 0.94, and 0.98. ALT were 0.85, 0.99, and 0.97. LDH were 0.96, 1.06, 1.00 for the herbal, western, and combination group, respectively. Conclusion : Comparing with western medication, herbal medication did not cause special ill-effect on the liver function based on liver function tests.

• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.57-76
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• 2022

Objectives: This review is aimed to figure out the effectiveness of herbal medicine for treating threatened abortion by analyzing randomized controlled trials. Methods: We searched relevant studies using seven databases including 4 domestic databases and 3 foreign databases. Data retrieval was conducted on May 18, 2022. and the papers published from January 1, 2018 to May 18, 2022 were included. The risk of bias was assessed by using Cochrane's risk of bias tool. Results: 182 studies were searched in domestic and foreign databases, and 9 studies were finally selected. Among 9 studies, the treatment group was treated with only oral herbal medicine in 4 studies and with combined treatment of herbal medicine and western medicine in 5 studies. On the other hand, the control group was treated with only western medicine. In all 9 studies, evaluation indexes in the treatment group showed more effectiveness than those of the control group, evaluation indexes were different for each study though. Conclusions: Herbal medicine was more effective for treating threatened abortion whether using it alone or combining with western medicine compared to using western medicine alone. Additional studies which include large number are needed to confirm long-term effectiveness and safety of herbal medicine treatment.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.64-70
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• 2003

Background and Purpose : Allergic rhinitis is a well-known, relatively controllable chronic disease. Although a number of methods for treating allergic rhinitis have been tried, many patients have not been satisfied with their treatment. Therefore, this study tried to evaluate the effect of a cooperative system of Oriental and Western medicine and to develop a new diagnosis protocol for treatment of allergic rhinitis. Methods : We measured improvement rate and acoustic rhinometry after the allergeninduction test and performed a filter paper test as a nonspecific hypersensitivity test with 60 patients who are allergic to house dust mite. Patients were divided into two groups, one treated with Western medicine only and one treated with both Western and Oriental herbal medicine. For the group with Western medicine only, antihistamine for one week and local steroid medicine for two weeks were prescribed. For the group with combined medicine, Oriental herbal medicine was prescribed according to the patient s constitution, along with Western medicine. After all treatments, the above tests were re-performed and the improvement rate was compared. Results and Conclusion : We observed better results in the group treated with both Western and Oriental herbal medicines, comparing improvement rate and the alteration of total nasal volume through acoustic rhinometry after the allergen induction test. In the filter paper test, there was no significant difference between the two groups. In conclusion, we showed the additive effect of Oriental herbal medicine without any severe side effects compared with treatment with Western medicine only. In this study, we set only two patient groups, but further study is required to create various experimental groups and compare among them. We suggest that it might enhance understanding of the improved effect of Oriental herbal medicine in the therapy of allergic rhinitis.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.56-63
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• 2012

Objectives: To undertake manpower-related improvements based on a comparison between specialists in the traditional Korean medicine hospitals(TKMH) and their counterparts in Western medicine Methods: A survey of the TKMH based on questionnaire sheets dispatched to them by mail(57 of 142 responded) in the June December, 2008 period, and on almanac statistics provided by the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs of Korean Government. Results: Overall, the workforce engaged in the traditional Korean medicine hospitals comprises traditional Korean medical doctors(28%), nurses(23%), administrative staffs(19%), assistant nurses(9%), medical record keepers(2%), nutritionists(2%), herbal pharmacists(1%), and others(16%). Each hospital has 16.5 traditional Korean medical doctors on average, which can be broken down into 6.2 specialists, 1.3 generalists, and 9.3 residents/interns. Only 10.7% of whole of traditional Korean medical doctors work in the hospitals, compared to 54.5% of Western medicine doctors. The ratio of traditional Korean medical doctors to the entirety of employees in the TKMH is 2.5 times higher than their Western medicine counterparts, while the ratio of medical technicians to the entire employees in the TKMH is 20 times lower than in the Western medicine counterparts. Conclusions: To provide more qualified medical service in the TKMH, they will be required to increase the proportion of non medical doctor employees, like Western medicine counterparts.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology and Dermatology
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.48-65
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• 2022

Objectives : This study was conducted to find out the effectiveness and safety of herbal medicine eye drops on conjunctivitis. Methods : We searched randomized controlled trials on conjunctivitis through 10 DBs from the start to April 27, 2022. Study collection and data extraction, and evaluation of risk of bias were conducted by two independent researchers. The evaluation of the risk of bias in included RCTs was carried out by using Cochrane risk-of-bias tool. And the data synthesis was conducted by using Review Manager(RevMan, ver.5.4). Results : Total of 106 studies are researched and 7 studies of them are finally included. 1. The herbal medicine eye drops are more effective on than the western medicine eye drops, but the heterogeneity was very high. So we conducted sensitivity analysis and compared to the herbal medicine eye drops and the western medicine eye drops, the total effective rate was higher in the herbal medicine eye drops and the heterogeneity was somewhat reduced. 2. In the subgroup analysis, Fufang Xiongdan eye drops and Houttuynia cordata Thunb eye drops are more effective than the western medicine. It may represent substantial heterogeneity. 3. In the subgroup analysis, the herbal medicine eye drops are more effective than antibiotic and antiviral eye drops on acute bacterial conjunctivitis, but showed high heterogeneity. On the other hand, the herbal medicine eye drops are more effective than antibiotic and antiviral eyed drops on acute viral conjuctivitis and showed low heterogeneity. 4. In the subgroup analysis, we compared the effectiveness of herbal and western medicine eye drops according to total effectiveness rate evaluation methods. When comparing the studies calculating the total effective rate by the sum of 'Cured', 'Significantly Impaired', and 'Improved', the effective rate of the herbal medicine eye drops was higher than that of the western medicine eye drops, and the heterogeneity was very low. 5. In most studies, side effects of herbal medicine eye drops were absent or mild. Conclusions : This study shows that herbal medicine eye drops may be more effective than western medicine eye drops and have safety. But further researches are needed to resolve the heterogeneity of this study.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.14-24
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• 2000

Objectives : To direct methods of management and development of herbs and their derived products, and at the end of this study to inform the process of making new herbal drug regulations in Korea. Methods : This study analyzed the regulations and laws of western medicine drugs. Results : We have got some herbal prescriptions which are not in the eleven books of oriental medicine now in use but which have proved effective. We need to establish standards for permissions to produce medical products through those prescriptions. Besides, we need the special permissions to produce herbal products through prescriptions, especially those which have been used to treat incurable diseases. And, we can contribute to globalization of oriental medicine and to well situating of herb products and medicinal acupunctures if we produce them according to international standards. It is thought that herbal medicine has no side effect in the medical society in Korea. But, it is getting popular to administer herbal medicine and western medicine together. Thus, the side effects of taking both medicines at the same time should be documented. Conclusions : Herbal medicines and herbal products should be under the control over the whole process of production, circulation, and sales. Now, it is time for herbal medicine to be known to all over the world. Therefore, herbal medicine must meet and adhere to the standards set by the western society and WHO.