Journal of Pharmacopuncture最新文献

Objectives: In East Asia, postpartum care has traditionally been considered important for maternal health; however, studies on this are still insufficient. Therefore, we examined the satisfaction and perceived effectiveness of herbal decoctions used in postpartum care in a city in the Republic of Korea (ROK).

Methods: We analyzed anonymized secondary data obtained from a retrospective cross-sectional survey of women who had taken herbal decoctions provided by the support service for women giving birth in a local city in ROK. The questionnaire items consisted of basic information regarding childbirth, the need for the herbal decoction support service, satisfaction, and the effectiveness of the service received.

Results: A total of 68 women were included in the study, and those aged 30-39 accounted for 73.13%. Of the 68 women, 79.37% visited within 3 weeks of childbirth. Women's satisfaction regarding herbal decoction support for postpartum care was 76.47%, and most women (98.53%) responded that they needed it more than twice. More than 50% of women showed improvement in puerperal wind disorders, weight gain, and delayed eliminated lochia.

Conclusion: A large proportion of women who took herbal decoctions reported satisfaction and perceived effectiveness when used to treat puerperal wind disorders. Nevertheless, future well-designed clinical studies are needed to provide information on whether herbal decoctions effectively prevent and treat puerperal wind disorders.

Objectives: The present study was designed to conduct a comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the efficacy of herbal medicines as add-on therapy on lung function in asthmatic patients.

Methods: A comprehensive search of online databases was performed up to December 2021 to identify randomized controlled trials that used orally herbal preparations for asthma as add-on therapy. Studies were assessed for methodological quality using the Cochrane Collaboration's Risk of Bias tool. The main outcome was percent predicted value of forced expiratory volume (% predicted FEV1). Pooled weighted mean difference (WMD) estimate with corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) was calculated using inverse-variance weights method while random effects meta-analysis was used, taking into account clinical and conceptual heterogeneity.

Results: As a result, 1,525 studies were identified. 169 studies were reviewed in-depth and 23 studies met our systematic review inclusion criteria. Finally, nine randomized controlled trials were included in the meta-analysis. Findings indicated that use of herbal medicines in patients with asthma significantly improved % predicted FEV1 (WMD 3.73, 95% CI 1.76-5.70), with no evidence for significant heterogeneity (p = 0.56 [Q statistic], I² = 0.0%). In subgroup analysis by age, improvement in % predicted FEV1 was higher and significant in adults (WMD 5.16; 95% CI 2.68-7.63) compared to children (WMD = 1.27; 95% CI -1.98-4.51). Sensitivity analysis showed the significant effect of herbal medicine consumption on improving FEV1 was consistently (range of summary WMDs 3.27-4.59), indicating that the meta-analysis model was robust. There was no evidence of publication bias both visually and statistically.

Conclusion: Findings support, the complementary use of herbal medicines resulted in significant improvement in the lung function compared to standard treatment in asthmatic patients with no considerable adverse events. This improvement is more likely to be observed amongst adults.

Objectives: Human Polycystic Ovary/Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), a frequent endocrine pathophysiology among women of fertile age, is associated with woman's lifespan endocrine, metabolic and psychological implications. Long-term usage side effects of allopathic strategies and their low efficacy made complementary medicine treatments a relevant subject for these patients. The main aim of this work is to review the efficiency of the acupuncture treatment reported in the latest studies on literature regarding PCOS patients.

Methods: A comprehensive literature search, in English language, about the use of acupuncture on the management of PCOS, was conducted in October 2020 using EBSCO, Cochrane, PubMed, Medline, Embase, databases for randomised and non-randomised controlled trials between 2015 and 2020 (09/2015-10/2020), following the PRISMA protocol.

Results: This research led us to an analysis, according to PICOS, of six final papers selected among 178 in total. The articles addressed distinct aspects of the PCOS condition, diverse acupuncture techniques and different main and secondary outcomes in agreement to the respective main objective. According to this review, acupuncture seems to be useful for the treatment of this debilitating and chronic health condition which affects millions of women worldwide, many of them part of the workforce in their community.

Conclusion: Despite of the display of these positive results addressing acupuncture treatments to manage PCOS major symptoms - whether they are reproductive, metabolic, or mental health features - more research is urgent. Randomized, double blinded controlled trials with improved quality design and following STRICTA and/or CONSORT recommendations are necessary to engage acupuncture as a standardized and scientific validated technique in PCOS condition.

Objectives: After the evidence-based Korean medicine clinical practice guidelines (KM-CPGs) for 30 targeted diseases were developed in 2021, 34 diseases have been proposed for the second-wave development of the KM-CPGs. The purpose of this study was to investigate the development priorities of the candidate diseases into the second-wave development of KM-CPGs in south Korea.

Methods: In this study, we analyzed the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service National Patient Sample data from 2017 to 2018 to determine the demand and economic importance of the candidates for the second-wave development of KM-CPGs in real-world clinical settings in Korea.

Results: The annual number of visits and patients, annual healthcare expenditure per patient, and healthcare expenditure per institution were analyzed. Musculoskeletal disorders, including sciatica and adhesive capsulitis of the shoulder, were the most important topics regarding the number of visits and patients and annual healthcare expenditure per institution. Specifically, sciatica (52.05% of the total number of visits, 48.34% of the total number of patients, and 42.12% of the total treatment expenditure per institution) showed overwhelmingly high proportions. However, cerebral palsy (36.03% of the total number of inpatient visits and 24.55% of the total number of inpatient patients) was a more important topic in inpatient clinical settings than musculoskeletal conditions or cancer, and healthcare expenditure per patient in this topic had the highest ranking. Furthermore, fractures were found to be highly important in inpatient clinical settings. No patients had influenza A virus infection or posttraumatic stress disorders who visited the KM medical institution of interest.

Conclusion: This study highlights the gap between the real-world clinical setting and the research field in some topics. The results of this study can provide guidance for the second-wave development of KM-CPGs in the future.

Objectives: Several studies have reported that methotrexate is an anti-cancer and immunosuppressive drug leading to lung injury. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the protective effects of silymarin, citral, and thymoquinone on methotrexate-induced pulmonary toxicity.

Methods: Forty-eight rats were divided into six groups, including healthy, Methotrexate, and drug carrier control groups and silymarin, citral, and thymoquinone treatment groups. At the end of the experiment, the studied rats were anesthetized and sacrificed by CO₂. Lung tissue samples were isolated to measure the antioxidant activity and histopathological evaluation.

Results: In the thymoquinone treatment group, the concentration of total antioxidant capacity and Malondialdehyde increased and decreased significantly, respectively, compared to the methotrexate group. The histopathological evaluation of the lung of the methotrexate group showed hemorrhage and congestion, the nodule-like accumulation of mononuclear inflammatory lymphocytes around the blood vessel, a small number of neutrophils around the blood vessel, and the inflammatory cells around the small vessels. However, no significant pathological alterations were observed in the treatment groups, especially the thymoquinone treatment group.

Conclusion: Thymoquinone has the greatest protective effect on methotrexate-induced lung injury, probably due to its antioxidant effect.

Objectives: Medical services are closely related to individual health and welfare, and health status in childhood or adolescence is widely recognized to be related to many socioeconomic outcomes. Therefore, providing appropriate medical services in childhood and adolescence is important. We aimed to investigate the determinants of traditional Korean medical services (TKMS) usage by children aged < 19 years. The focus was on the role of their parents' experiences with TKMS in determining TKMS use by children.

Methods: Using a representative sample in South Korea, we conducted a regression analysis to assess how parents' experience with TKMS affects the probability of their children using TKMS.

Results: We found parents' experience with TKMS to have a significantly positive effect on the probability of TKMS use by children and parents' biological information, such as age and sex, to affect the probability of TKMS use. Specifically, parents' experiences with TKMS generally increased the probability of children using TKMS by approximately 20%.

Conclusion: This study's results suggest that considering parents' opinions and providing them the opportunity to participate in programs that enhance young children's use of TKMS may be effective.

Objectives: Terminalia chebula, the main ingredient of Altan Arur 5, has been used for many years in traditional medicine. This medicine is more effective than other drugs and is used to treat chronic gastritis and gastrointestinal disorders such as peptic ulcers and esophageal reflux. Other ingredients of Altan Arur 5 are Punica granatum (pomegranate), tulip seeds, black balm, and excreta of Trogopterus xanthipes. The main ingredients of T. chebula are antibacterial and analgesic in traditional medicine. Despite having been used for many years and although many studies have been conducted on the beneficial effects of this medicine and its ingredients, the toxicity of Altan Arur 5 has not yet been elucidated. Therefore, we aimed to study the toxicity of Altan Arur 5 to ensure that it is safe to use.

Methods: Acute and chronic toxicity of Altan Arur 5 were assessed in 10 Kunming mice and 8 Sprague-Dawley rats, respectively, in different doses. In the acute toxicity study, Altan Arur 5 was orally administered to Kunming mice in doses of 12 g/kg, 24 g/kg, and 48 g/kg for 14 days. In the chronic toxicity study, it was orally administered to Sprague-Dawley rats in doses of 1.25 g/kg, 2.5 g/kg, and 5 g/kg for 12 weeks.

Results: No significant differences were observed in the relative organ weights for mice treated with Altan Arur 5 compared with those in the control group. Furthermore, no macro- or microstructural changes were noted in the organs of any group.

Conclusion: Our toxicity testing revealed that the traditional medicine Altan Arur 5 has no toxic effects in vivo.

Our study purpose was to report the clinical application of five different pharmacopunctures (Sweet BV, Scolopendrae Corpus, Chukyu, Cervi Parvum Cornu, and Hominis Placenta) for trigger finger. A patient was admitted to Ba-reun-mom S Korean Medicine Clinic and diagnosed with trigger finger. Because the effects of each pharmacopuncture have been confirmed in various acute to chronic cases, we treated a patient diagnosed with trigger finger using pharmacopunctures Sweet BV and Scolopendrae Corpus at the acute phase, Chukyu pharmacopuncture at the acute to chronic phase, and pharmacopunctures Cervi Parvum Cornu and Hominis Placenta at the chronic phase. This case was measured and assessed by Quinnell's classification of triggering and visual analogue scale (VAS) scores. After treatment, the patient's fifth finger pain and function were improved. The VAS score decreased from 5 to 0. The Quinnell's classification of triggering score decreased from 2 to 0. This case indicated that a patient with trigger finger could be treated by five pharmacopuncture treatments according to the treatment regimen and disease progress.

Objectives: The coronavirus disease 2019 has deteriorated mental health, particularly in mothers with elementary school children. Although the country has developed several health promotion programs to preserve mental health, no program has incorporated Korean medicine. Thus, this study focuses on developing vital Korean medicine mental health care programs.

Methods: The program follows the Korean medicine health promotion program principles. Guidelines, reports, research, and previous programs were analyzed to form interventions and lecture content.

Results: Pellets, hot packs, meditation, lavender oil, and green tea were selected as final intervention strategies. Mental health-related guidelines were analyzed to produce stress management lecture materials. In addition, an operational methods and evaluation tool manual was created.

Conclusion: We designed a health promotion program capitalizing on Korean medicine to improve mental health. This program will be assessed and accordingly improved through practical applications.