title: Clinical study on constitutional herbal tea for treating chronic fatigue.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy and the safety of constitutional herbal tea for treating chronic fatigue with no diagnosed cause, which is called Mibyeong in Korea.
  
  
  METHODS
  Males and females with ages between 40 and 59 years who had complained of fatigue for 1 month consistently or for 6 months intermittently without a definite cause were recruited. At the same time, a Chalder fatigue scale (CFS) score of 19 was essential for participation in this study. Sixty five subjects completed the entire process, including blood tests and tests with medical devices. Five assessments of health status were accomplished over 8 weeks by using the CFS and the visual analogue scale (VAS). To ensure that the constitutional herbal tea was being safely used, we conducted and analyzed renal function and liver function tests. For the diagnosis of the Sasang constitution, the Sasang Constitutional Analysis Tool (SCAT) was used, and a specialist in Sasang constitutional medicine made the final diagnosis based on the SCAT result. Constitutional herbal tea was served four weeks after the first visit. The subjects took the constitutional herbal tea twice a day for one month.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results are as follows: The CFS and the VAS scores were significantly improved for the subjects in the constitutional herbal tea. No abnormalities were found on the blood tests to evaluate safety after taking the constitutional herbal tea. The improvements in the CFS and the VAS scores due to the constitutional herbal tea had no significant differences according to the Sasang constitution.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Constitutional herbal tea may be used to reduce fatigue and improve health and has no adverse effect on either the kidney or the liver.
authors.affiliation: Department of Sasang Constitutional Medicine, Wonkwang University Jeonju Korean Medicine Hospital, Jeonju, Korea.
authors.forename: Soo-Jung
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Sasang Constitutional Medicine, Wonkwang University College of Korean Medicine, Iksan, Korea.
authors.forename: Young-Chun
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Bae
authors.affiliation: Department of Sasang Constitutional Medicine, Wonkwang University College of Korean Medicine, Iksan, Korea.
authors.forename: Na-Rae
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Department of Sasang Constitutional Medicine, Wonkwang University College of Korean Medicine, Iksan, Korea.
authors.forename: Seung-Yeob
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Ryu
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Wonkwang University College of Korean Medicine, Iksan, Korea.
authors.forename: Young-Mi
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.affiliation: Department of Sasang Constitutional Medicine, Wonkwang University Jeonju Korean Medicine Hospital, Jeonju, Korea.
authors.forename: Jong-Cheon
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Joo
keywords: Sasang constitutional medicine; chalder fatigue scale; herbal tea; visual analogue scale