• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.15-22
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• 2017

Objectives : This study was conducted to identify awareness and satisfaction of herbal medicine preparations in Korean medicine doctor(KMD). Methods : The questionnaire consisted of three professors of Korean medicine based on previous researches and reports. The pilot survey was conducted to five KMDs who work in local clinic to get face validity. Based on the results of the pilot survey, three professors of Korean medicine completed the final version. Online surveys was conducted to member of the association of Korean medicine from march 25 to april 6 in 2016. Results : The proportion of patients who prescribe herbal medicine was not significantly correlated to gender (p=0.346), but significantly correlated to age(p<0.01), specialty(p=0.017), monthly income(0.022), and clinical experience(p<0.001). The most common reason for using the herbal preparations which is covered by NHI (National Health Insurance) was due to patient's payment(39.3%). Likewise, the most common reason for using the herbal preparations which is not covered by NHI was various kind of prescription(34.1%). Conclusions : The utilization of herbal preparations could be enhanced by expansion of NHI cover range of herbal preparations.

• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.89-103
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• 2020

Objectives This study has been conducted to verify frequently used herbs and herbal formulas to treat obesity in Korea during 2015 to 2019. Methods Publications related to treatment of obesity using herbal medicines from 2015 to 2019 were retrieved from 12 databases (PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus, China National Knowledge Infrastructure [CNKI], Koreanstudies Information Service System [KISS], National Digital Science Library [NDSL], Research Information Sharing Service [RISS], DBPIA, KMBASE, KoreaMed, KoreanTK, Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System [OASIS]). Extracted articles were analyzed in terms of publication year, journal, and type of herbs. Results A total of 136 studies have been included in this study. 33 herbal formulaes and 129 herbs have been analyzed. Taeyeumjowui-tang was the most frequently studied herbal formulae and Ephedrae Herba was the most frequently studied herb. Ginseng Radix was the most frequently studied single herb in isolation from herbal formulae. Conclusions These results suggest that various herbs and herbal formulae can be used to treat obesity. Since this study includes every type of study, additional studies based on clinic are thought to be necessary.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.119-133
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• 2005

Traditional herbal medicine is widely used among the Korean people, and other eastern Asian countries employ similar therapies as well. In recent years, due to increasing interest in herbal medicines, many researches have been made on the toxicity and side effects of herbal medications. Through private and public media, there have been many opinions suggesting taking herbal medicines is very harmful, especially on the liver and kidney functions. This assertion has been mainly presented by the doctors that practice western medicine, But this assertion is never based on adequate knowledge of herbal medicine. This study aims to provide the evidences that taking herbal medicines is safe on the renal functions. Four frequently used herbal medications(Sipjeondaebotang, Bojungigitang, Ojeoksan, and Yukmijihwangtang) were used to test the toxicity of herbal medicine oh the lab animal model(SD-Rat). There is no significant difference in body weight and kidney weight after herbal medication for 1 month. In all experimental groups, no abnormal findings were observed in histological study, and lab renal function index(BUN, creatinine, uric acid). These results say that four herbal multi-used-medicines, when medicated, is safe from the renal toxicity in lab animal model.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.87-102
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• 2003

This study was conducted to examine recognition of oriental medical doctors on the quality control of herbal medicine and to provide useful information for the establishment of effective quality control system of herbal medicine. Data were collected from 202 oriental medical doctors working in oriental medical hospitals or clinics in Daegu-Gyungbuk province. Generally, there is a tendency that most respondents have low degree of recognition, trust and satisfaction of the quality control of herbal medicine while they think standardization and complete quality control systems of herbal medicine is needed highly. Thus, in order to increase confidence of consumers in herbal medicine, and to increase the utilization of oriental medical services, both strengthening of quality control systems and standardization and establishment of Oriental KFDA as a new government agency responsible for the work should be required.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.397-401
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• 2016

The quality control is a fundamental procedure for the standardization of herbal medicine to guarantee the consistency of efficacy and safety. For a long time, the quality analysis of herbal medicine has been largely dependent on the routine sensory evaluation, such as taste, smell, color, and shape. However, with the recent development of analytical instruments, various scientific approaches have been introduced in this field. On the basis of the theory that the biological activities of herbal medicine are mainly contributed by its chemical compositions, several types of chemical markers have been suggested for the quality evaluation. In addition to the analytical methods for the specific marker compound(s), including analytical marker and active marker, recently, chemical fingerprinting, a method comparing the chromatographic pattern of the whole chemical components, has been developed and widely accepted as a reliable approach for the quality control of herbal medicine. Moreover, in order to exactly understand the relationship between complex compounds and their holistic biological activities in herbal medicine, unique strategies, such as "BECCs (bioactive equivalent combinatorial components)" and "PhytomicsQC" have been established. In this article, we give an overview of the several categories of chemical markers and the recent research trends for the quality evaluation of herbal medicine.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.25-41
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• 2022

Background & Objectives : As the government of South Korea implemented policies to strengthen health insurance coverage, the health insurance benefit for raw herbal medicines has been promoted. This study investigated the current status of the herbal medicines coverage in the Japanese national health insurance to secure reference data for the design of herbal medicines coverage in South Korea. Methods : Literature review was conducted to collect and analyze the history and current situation on herbal medicines coverage in the Japanese health insurance system. To supplement the contents not presented in the documents, on-site interviews were conducted at the medical institutions and pharmacies that prescribed or prepared herbal medicines in Tokyo, Japan. The contents of the survey included the background and progress of the herbal medicines coverage, the status of herbal medicines use, the payment system, and the safety management of herbal medicines. Results : Since the introduction of health insurance in the 1960s, Japanese insurance system has covered herbal medicines, and so far, it has been maintained without any additional restrictions. When the raw herbal medicines are prescribed to outpatients, the preparation fee is set higher than that of other medicines, but overall payment regulations and systems for herbal medicine are generally the same as other medicines. Conclusions : The case of Japan can be a useful references and implications for national health insurance policy on herbal medicines in south Korea.

• 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 Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.621-634
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• 2023

Objectives: This study summarizes current trends and results in clinical studies on herbal medicine treatments for chronic pancreatitis. Methods: Studies published from 2014 to 2023 were searched for on the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), PubMed, and KMbase using the keywords "chronic pancreatitis", "herbal medicine", "herb", "만성 췌장염", and "한약". The studies were analyzed according to year, study design, characteristics of the patients, and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) intervention. Results: In total, 23 studies were selected. There were 21 randomized controlled trials and 2 case-control studies. The most common herbal prescriptions were Qingyi-tang (淸胰湯), Radix Bupleuri (柴胡), Radix Paeoniae Alba (白芍藥), Radix Glycyrrhizae (甘草), Radix Scutellariae (黃芩), and Rhei Rhizoma (大黃). In all the studies, herbal medicine treatments were effective in the treatment of chronic pancreatitis, and efficacy was assessed using clinical symptoms, physicochemical examination, radiological examination, and relapse. Conclusions: Herbal medicine treatment can be an effective treatment for chronic pancreatitis and has potential in clinical practice.

• 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.

• Herbal Formula Science
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.105-118
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• 2021

Objectives : The process of disease treatment in traditional medicine is defined as differentiating patterns and determining treatment. As an important part of this process, the herbal formulas are specific combinations or configurations of medicinal herbs that serve as tools for treatment. As clinical experience increased, the number of herbal formulas also increased. For example, there are 61,739 herbal formulas in Pujifang, and 96,592 in Dictionary of traditional chinese medicine prescriptions. In chapter of Release the exterior syndrome (RES; 解表劑) of textbook, the 42 formulas were presented. For the understanding on the formula, most of books explained with description or figure about the formulas. But there is no study on the interrelationship of each herbal formulas. This study investigated the interrelationship of RES herbal formulas. Methods : The RES herbal formulas were analyzed with the ingredients, actions and clinical applications by literature study. Results : To improve cognition the interrelationship of RES herbal formulas, we analyzed the formulas and established the 19 interrelations of herbal formulas. Conclusions : Finally, this study established the interrelation of herbal formula as one figure. This result could contribute to improve cognition the interrelationship of RES.