Text and Practice in East Asian Medicine: The Structure of East Asian Medical Knowledge Examined by Donguibogam Currents in Contemporary South Korea / 의사학

How do classical texts, such as Hwangdi Neijing and Shanghanlun, continuously play significant roles in medical practices in the history of East Asian medicine? Although this is a significant question in interpreting the position of written texts in the medical history and even for understanding the structure of East Asian medical knowledge, it has been conspicuously underexamined in the studies of East Asian medicine. In order to explore this underrepresented question, this study focuses on currents of tradition in contemporary South Korea. Drawing on anthropological fieldwork at three Donguibogam (Treasured Mirror of Eastern Medicine) currents, it delves into the interaction of text and practice in East Asian medicine. Even though all three currents (Hyun-dong, Byeong-in, Hyung-sang) are based on Donguibogam, their ways of reading the text and organizing clinical practices are diverse. Each current sets up a keyword, such as pulse diagnosis, cause of disease, and appearance-image, and attempts to penetrate the entire Donguibogam through the keyword. This means that the classical medical text is open to plural approaches. This study found that there is a visible gap between a medical text and the reader of the text in East Asia. Masters and currents of tradition are the actors who fill up the gap, continuously interpreting and reinterpreting classical texts, and guiding medical practices of new readers. Adding the history of practice to the body of literature that have focused on the history of written texts, this study will contribute to the history of East Asian medicine.

A systematic review of herbal medicines for the treatment of cancer cachexia in animal models / 浙江大学学报（英文版）（B辑：生物医学和生物技术）

OBJECTIVE@#The aim of this study is to summarize preclinical studies on herbal medicines used to treat cancer cachexia and its underlying mechanisms.@*METHODS@#We searched four representing databases, including PubMed, EMBASE, the Allied and Complementary Medicine Database, and the Web of Science up to December 2016. Randomized animal studies were included if the effects of any herbal medicine were tested on cancer cachexia. The methodological quality was evaluated by the Collaborative Approach to Meta-Analysis and Review of Animal Data from Experimental Studies (CAMARADE) checklist.@*RESULTS@#A total of fourteen herbal medicines and their compounds were identified, including Coptidis Rhizoma, berberine, Bing De Ling, curcumin, Qing-Shu-Yi-Qi-Tang, Scutellaria baicalensis, Hochuekkito, Rikkunshito, hesperidin, atractylodin, Sipjeondaebo-tang, Sosiho-tang, Anemarrhena Rhizoma, and Phellodendri Cortex. All the herbal medicines, except curcumin, have been shown to ameliorate the symptoms of cancer cachexia through anti-inflammation, regulation of the neuroendocrine pathway, and modulation of the ubiquitin proteasome system or protein synthesis.@*CONCLUSIONS@#This study showed that herbal medicines might be a useful approach for treating cancer cachexia. However, more detailed experimental studies on the molecular mechanisms and active compounds are needed.

A systematic review of herbal medicines for the treatment of cancer cachexia in animal models / 浙江大学学报（英文版）（B辑：生物医学和生物技术）

Objective: The aim of this study is to summarize preclinical studies on herbal medicines used to treat cancer cachexia and its underlying mechanisms. Methods: We searched four representing databases, including PubMed, EMBASE, the Allied and Complementary Medicine Database, and the Web of Science up to December 2016. Randomized animal studies were included if the effects of any herbal medicine were tested on cancer cachexia. The methodological quality was evaluated by the Collaborative Approach to Meta-Analysis and Review of Animal Data from Experimental Studies (CAMARADE) checklist. Results: A total of fourteen herbal medicines and their compounds were identified, including Coptidis Rhizoma, berberine, Bing De Ling, curcumin, Qing-Shu-Yi-Qi-Tang, Scutellaria baicalensis, Hochuekkito, Rikkunshito, hesperidin, atractylodin, Sipjeondaebo-tang, Sosiho-tang, Anemarrhena Rhizoma, and Phellodendri Cortex. All the herbal medicines, except curcumin, have been shown to ameliorate the symptoms of cancer cachexia through anti-inflammation, regulation of the neuroendocrine pathway, and modulation of the ubiquitin proteasome system or protein synthesis. Conclusions: This study showed that herbal medicines might be a useful approach for treating cancer cachexia. However, more detailed experimental studies on the molecular mechanisms and active compounds are needed.

What could ‘integrative' medicine mean: Social science perspectives on contemporary Ayurveda.

The paper attempts to critically engage with the idea of integrative medicine as a marker of pharmaceuticalization of Ayurveda in the recent decades. It examines what it means to say ‘integrative’ medicine using the metaphor of language from philosophy of science. Drawing upon fieldwork with Ayurveda practitioners, the paper also discusses the ramifications of integrative medicine in the current scenario in which there is no organizational parity between Ayurveda and biomedicine. The paper calls for a focus on Ayurveda for public health rather than the global health market.

The Publication of Hyangyakjipseongbang and the Chosnization of the Chinese medicine / 의사학

This article explores the Hyangyakjipseongbang, which was published in 1433, in view of the Chosnization of the Chinese medicine. This study discusses the structure of combination between the Chosn medicine and the Chinese medicine by analyzing the process of publication, the transmission of the Korean traditional medical books, the diseases and the prescriptions of Hyangyakjipseongbang. Most prescriptions of Hyangyakjipseongbang had been collected from the Chinese medical books. And the editors of Hyangyakjipseongbang, Chosn medical scientists, made an intensive investigation into the Chinese medicine and reconciled the official names of the Hyangyak(Korean traditional herbs) with the Chinese herbs. With the acception of the Chinese disease system including gynecology and pediatrics, Hyangyakjipseongbang was similar to the Chinese medical books such as Seonghyebang and Seongjechongrok. So Hyangyakjipseongbang became a general medical book which aimed to treat all kind of the East Asian diseases with the Hyangyak. However Hyangyakjipseongbang was one of the famous Chosn medical books. This book was regarded as the revised edition of Hyangyakjesaengjipseongbang, which was published in 1399. The list of chapters, formation of texts of Hyangyakjipseongbang and Hyangyakjesaengjipseongbang were much alike, besides some sentences of two books were coincided. An important point is that new diseases were created with the Publication of Hyangyakjipseongbang. Various symptoms like jaundice and nonstop runny nose of the Chinese medicine were recognized as the diseases in Chosn, and the proper treatments should be needed. Even though the formation of Hyangyakjipseongbang complied with that of the Chinese medical books on the whole, Chosn medical scientists chosen the prescriptions and decided the chapter order. And some diseases of Hyangyakjipseongbang were related with the infectious diseases and diabetes which were rampant in the late Kory period and the early Chosn period. It's certain that the Chinese medicine was adopted in accordance with the real state and demand of the Chosn society. So it can be said that new diseases had been created with the acception of the Chinese medicine and chosen with the circumstances of the Chosn society. It was the way of the Chosnization of the Chinese medicine.

A Study of Okada Shoshun Documents: Biographies of Okada Family Members and Annotations to Some Documents / 日本東洋医学雑誌

This article analyzes the Okada Documents that were kept by the descendents of Okada Shôshun (1827-97) for over a hundred years and recently became available for scholarly use. In the existing scholarship, Okada Shôshun was considered merely one of many practitioners of East Asian medicine in the early Meiji period. His family background was obscure. This study of the newly emerged documents shows that his family practiced medicine for six generations-from the mid-Edo until the Meiji period-and produced medical administrators in the Bakufu. Also, a book on pharmaceuticals preserved in the Documents and written by his adoptive father, Shôseki, reveals that the family originally specialized in surgery. In addition, because Shôshun studied at the Bakufu's official medical school, Igakkan, under the guidance of the Taki family, the Documents include rare books such as Taki Motonori's “Rankei sensei yakushitsu kijô” (draft), Taki Motoyasu's “Isekikô” (the first draft), “Byômei san, ” and “Qianjin yueling.” Since the mid-1870s, Shôshun participated earnestly in the movement to preserve East Asian medicine and was particularly close to Asada Sôhaku (1815-94). The Documents include Sôhaku's medical essay (untitled), a book manuscript written by Shôshun with commentary by Sôhaku, and sixty-two letters that were exchanged between Shôshun and Sôhaku.