• International Journal of Costume and Fashion
• /
• v.9 no.2
• /
• pp.35-48
• /
• 2009

Therapeutic garments are an undeveloped area and yet they have the potential to generate considerable profit for the fashion industry. In traditional Chinese medicine, there are spots and pathways on the body through which energy flows and practitioners consider that disease results when this energy flow is hindered. Clothes which stimulate the spots can therefore potentially help to cure disease. In addition, clothes are worn every day and can therefore offer prolonged treatment certainly in comparison with other treatments. Obesity is a big problem nowadays and one which is caused by poor energy circulation (according to TCM). A garment which stimulates the spots can assist energy flow and therefore cause the wearer to lose weight. In the process, it can also alleviate side effects of obesity such as diabetes and high blood pressure. The was to stimulate spots include acupuncture, acupressure, moxibustion etc. There are lots of products to press spots which improve energy flow both in the Western and Chinese markets. The basic principle of circulation is in fact the same in both Western and Chinese medicine. However, most of these are products are footwear ones because they can easily provide the necessary stimulation to reduce tiredness and improve circulation. For garments, to press the spots effectively it is best to use tight clothes such as corsets and leggings. The important point is to tighten the body and to make energy flow and yet feel comfortable at the same time. Choice of fabric is therefore an important issue. Although the idea has been introduced, it will be necessary to develop a technique which will allow the necessary amount of pressure to be applied. It could be concluded that this area has a lot of possibility for the future but further research will need to be done before the idea becomes workable.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
• /
• v.39 no.5
• /
• pp.886-894
• /
• 2018

Objective: Despite being the most common cause of cranial dystonia, Meige syndrome remains a rare clinical entity. It is characterized by blepharospasm and orofacial dystonia. This case study reports on the use of traditional Korean medicine for a patient who suffered from blepharospasm and oromandibular dystonia suspected to be the result of Meige syndrome. Methods: A patient was given a series of Korean medicine therapy treatments, including administration of the herbal medicine Gamiguibi-tang-gamibang, acupuncture, and cupping, over a 19 day hospitalization period. We measured the state and progress of this case using the numeric rating scale and dystonia frequency. Results: A decrease in subjective symptoms and reduction in the frequency of oromandibular dystonia was observed after Korean medicine therapy treatments. Conclusion: This case is useful for describing herbal medicine treatment for Meige syndrome, and further case reports and studies will be needed in the future.

• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
• /
• v.25 no.2
• /
• pp.81-88
• /
• 2015

Objectives The purpose of this review was to analyze the research trends in clinical research related to pelvic malposition published in Korean medicine journals. Methods We searched articles in Korean databases (OASIS, NDSL, RISS, and KTKP), and sorted the articles by publishing date, pelvic malposition type, field of study, and measurement index. Results 1. 25 original articles and 9 case report articles were reviewed. 2. In recent years, this topic has been studied more frequently, with an increasing number of original articles published. 3. 16 articles analyzed pelvic malposition type. And half of the articles focused on ilium. 4. The original articles have figured out the correlation between pelvic malposition measurement indices and other measurement indices or diseases. 5. Treatment tools, such as chuna therapy, the mckenzie method, devices for correcting malposition, acupuncture were used in the case report articles. 6. 29 measurement indices, such as Ferguson's angle, Ilium shadow measurement, and Iliac height difference were used. Conclusions According to the literature, pelvic malposition is related to other diseases and measurement indices, and manual medicine on pelvic malposition can be effective. However, due to the lack of sufficient empirical evidence from medical articles to support this, further clinical research should be conducted.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
• /
• v.22 no.2
• /
• pp.123-132
• /
• 2005

Melittin,cationic 26-amino acid, is the principal component of the bee venom (BV) which has been used for treatment of inflammatory disease such as arthritis rheumatism NF-kB is activated by subsequent release of inhibitory IkB via activation of a multisubunit IkB kinase (IKK). We previously found that melittin bind to the sulfhydryl group of p50, a subunit of NF-kB. Since sulfhydryl group is present in kinase domain of IKKa and IKKb, melittin could modify IKK activity by protein-protein interaction. We therefore examined effect of melittin on IKK activities in sodium nitroprusside (SNP)-stimulated synoviocyte obtained from RA patients. Melittin suppressed the SNP-induced release of IkB resulted in inhibition of DNA binding activity of NF-kB and NF-kB-dependent luciferase activity. Consistent with the inhibitory effect on NF-kB activation, IKKa and IKKb activities were also suppressed by melittin. Surface plasmon resonance analysis realized that melitin binds to IKKa $(Kd\;=\;1.34{\times}10-9M)$ and IKKb$(Kd\;=\;1.0{\times}10-9M)$. Inhibition of IKKa and IKKb resulted in reduction of the SNP-induced production of inflammatory mediators NO and PGE2 generation. The inhibitory effect of melittin on the IKKs activities, binding affinity of melittin to IKKs, and NO and PGE2 generation were blocked by addition of reducing agents dithiothreitol and glutathione. In addition, melittin did not show inhibitory effect in the transfected Synoviocytes with plasmid carrying dominant negative mutant IKKa (C178A) and IKKb (C179A). These results demonstrate that melittin directly binds to sulfhydryl group of IKKs resulting in IkBrelease, thereby inhibits activation of NF-kB and expression of genes involving in the inflammatory responses.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
• /
• v.18 no.2
• /
• pp.42-50
• /
• 2015

Objectives: The aims of the study were to test the single- dose intravenous toxicity of Daebohwalryeok pharmacopuncture (DHRP) in Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats and to estimate the crude lethal dose. Methods: The experiments were conducted at Biotoxtech Co., a Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) laboratory, according to the GLP regulation and were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of Biotoxtech Co. (Approval no: 110156). The rats were divided into three groups: DHRP was injected into the rats in the two test groups at doses of 10 mL/kg and 20 mL/kg, respectively, and normal saline solution was injected into the rats in the control group. Single doses of DHRP were injected intravenously into 6 week old SD rats (5 male and 5 female rats per group). General symptoms were observed and weights were measured during the 14 day observation period after the injection. After the observation period, necropsies were done. Then, histopathological tests were performed. Weight data were analyzed with a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) by using statistical analysis system (SAS, version 9.2). Results: No deaths and no statistical significant weight changes were observed for either male or female SD rats in either the control or the test groups during the observation period. In addition, no treatment related general symptoms or necropsy abnormalities were observed. Histopathological results showed no DHRP related effects in the 20 mL/kg DHRP group for either male or female rats. Conclusion: Under the conditions of this study, the results from single-dose intravenous injections of DHRP showed that estimated lethal doses for both male and female rats were above 20 mL/kg.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
• /
• v.37 no.4
• /
• pp.661-668
• /
• 2016

Objectives: To describe the effect of traditional Korean medicine and treatment on Miller Fisher syndrome (MFS).Methods: A 54-year-old woman diagnosed with MFS presented with eyeball dysfunction, diplopia, vertigo, right facial palsy, and back dysesthesia. The patient had been treated with immunoglobulin for 21 d, but her symptoms failed to improve. Thus, herbal medicine, acupuncture, electropuncture, pharmacopuncture, and moxibustion were added. Length of eyeball movement, distance that the patient recognize double images in the eyes and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) are measures for the syndrome.Results: The symptoms of the patient considerably improved, with the return of eyeball movement to normal and disappearance of diplopia.Conclusions: The results suggest that Korean medicine may be an effective therapy for MFS.

• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
• /
• v.31 no.3
• /
• pp.125-131
• /
• 2021

This study reports the effectiveness of Korean medicine therapy by improving symptoms in patients with herniated lumbar disc (HLD) diagnosed with chronic overflow urinary incontinence (OUI). The patient was treated with two types of herbal medicine and electroacupuncture for 10 days. We used diary of voiding and incontinence, Overactive Bladder Symptom Score (OABSS), Bristol Female Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms questionnaire (BFLUTS) and numeral rating scale (NRS) to assess the symptoms. After treatment, the number of nocturia decreased from 5 to 2.5. OABSS decreased from 9 to 2 and BFLUTS decreased from 95 to 87. The NRS of back pain decreased from 7 to 3. This study may suggest that Korean medicine therapy can be effective therapy for OUI with HLD.

• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
• /
• v.29 no.3
• /
• pp.61-74
• /
• 2019

Objectives This study aimed to review clinical studies about Korean medicine used in peroneal nerve palsy. Methods In 11 online databases (Earticle, Research Information Sharing Service, Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System, KMbase, Korean Traditional Knowledge Portal, National Digital Science Library, MEDLINE/Pubmed, Ebscohost, Cochrane CENTRAL, EMBASE, China National Knowledge Infrastructure), we searched clinical studies about Korean medicine. Among the studies that we've searched, we excluded the studies that are not related to Korean medicine, case reports, randomized controlled trials and retrospective studies. As a result, 16 case studies and 1 randomized controlled trial are included. Results Total number of patients was 123. In these studies, acupuncture (100%), herbal medicine (58.8%), pharmacopuncture (58.8%), Korean physical therapy (58.8%), moxibustion (41.1%), cupping (41.1%) etc. were used. In acupuncture, GB34 and ST36 were most frequently used. Most of the herbal medicines used in these studies were different. Range of movement were most frequently used in outcome measure. Conclusions In this study, we reviewed studies about Korean medicine used in peroneal nerve palsy. It was difficult to clearly determine which intervention has improved the symptom. In the future, Further clinical studies will be needed to retain the evidence for the treatment of peroneal nerve palsy. And also more randomized controlled clinical trials to prove the efficacy of Korean medicine will be needed.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
• /
• v.40 no.2
• /
• pp.165-172
• /
• 2019

Background: To suggest potential of Korean medicine treatments as a conservative management for neurogenic claudication and lower extremity weakness due to spinal stenosis. Case Summary: The patient suffered weakness, pain and numbness of the right leg and difficulty walking with diagnosis of spinal stenosis due to herniated lumbar intervertebral disc. Korean medicine treatments, including herbal medicine, acupuncture, pharmacopuncture and Chuna manual therapy were applied. The Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) of pain and numbness in the right leg decreased from 7 to 4, with an increase in strength of the right leg from 60% to 95% compared to the strength of left leg. Walking duration also increased from less than one minute to more than five minutes. Conclusion: Korean medicine treatment may be considered as an effective conservative management for symptoms of spinal stenosis.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
• /
• v.40 no.5
• /
• pp.938-947
• /
• 2019

Objective: This study was performed to report the changes in symptoms and radiological consequences of a patient diagnosed with spinal neurofibroma and complaining of lower back pain. Methods: The patient was diagnosed with a spinal neurofibroma after MRI examination and was treated with traditional Korean medicine, including traditional Korean medication and acupuncture. We measured the change in symptom severity using a numerical rating scale (NRS) and the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI). We also used the EQ-5D (EuroQoL-5D) scale to assess the patient's quality of life. In addition, we examined the change in the size of the cyst by MRI twice after discharge: at about 3 months after discharge and at about 8 months after discharge. Results: After about 6 weeks of treatment, most pathological symptoms had decreased. The patient showed a decline in NRS and ODI scores and showed an increase in quality of life. The two MRI examinations after the discharge revealed a decrease in the size of the cyst. Conclusions: Traditional Korean medicine can be a solution for patients with spinal neurofibroma causing neurological pain.