title: Stroke in Traditional Korean Medicine: A Nine-Year Multicentre Community-Based Study in South Korea.
abstract: In Korea, patients with stroke are commonly treated using traditional Korean medicine (TKM). The aim of this study was to provide information on the clinical characteristics of the pattern identification (PI) of stroke used in TKM. Stroke patients admitted to 15 TKM university hospitals from April 2005 through December 2013 were evaluated. The measured variables included the following factors as they related to the PI: (a) stroke etiology; (b) distribution of symptoms/signs; (c) physical characteristics and lifestyle parameters; (d) medical history; and (e) stroke-related laboratory results. Among 4912 stroke patients, 3466 patients received the same PI by two experts with the following distribution: Qi-Deficiency pattern (n = 810), Fire-Heat (FH) pattern (n = 1031), Dampness-Phlegm (DP) pattern (n = 1127), and Yin-Deficiency pattern (n = 498). Approximately 89.9% of subjects enrolled in this study had cerebral infarction. Some of specific symptoms were related to each type of PI, and obese phenotypes and blood lipids were significantly related to DP and FH. These results showed the characteristics of each type of PI and should lead to the standardization of diagnosis for stroke in TKM.
authors.affiliation: KM Fundamental Research Division, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, Daejeon 305-811, South Korea.
authors.forename: Mi Mi
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Ko
authors.affiliation: KM Fundamental Research Division, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, Daejeon 305-811, South Korea.
authors.forename: Ju Ah
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: KM Fundamental Research Division, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, Daejeon 305-811, South Korea.
authors.forename: Min Ho
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Cha
authors.affiliation: KM Fundamental Research Division, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, Daejeon 305-811, South Korea.
authors.forename: Byoung-Kab
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Clinical Research Division, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, Daejeon 305-811, South Korea.
authors.forename: Myeong Soo
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002544:Cerebral Infarction / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D055670:Medicine, Korean Traditional; D008875:Middle Aged; D056910:Republic of Korea; D020521:Stroke / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*