미각 장애 환자 5례를 대상으로 한 대한 한방 치료의 효과

【Objectives: The purpose of this study was to report the effect of traditional Korean medical therapy such as acupuncture, electroacupuncture and herbal medicine in taste disorder patients. Methods: We surveyed 5 taste disorder patients visiting the Oral Diseases Clinic in the Kyung Hee University Oriental Medicine Hospital from January, 2014 to June, 2014. Before starting traditional Korean medical therapy such as acupuncture, electroacupuncture and herbal medicine, the subjects were evaluated on severity of discomfort using visual analogue scale (VAS), salivary flow rate (SFR), quality of life about oral health (based on the 14-item Oral Health Impact Profile-14) and qi-stagnation condition (based on the 23-item qi-stagnation Questionnaire). Visual analogue scale was re-evaluated during the treatment period. Results: There was no relationship between diminished SFR and severity of discomfort. Also change or loss of taste did not influence the quality of life about oral health. However, stress which refers to qi-stagnation could be one of the reasons taste disorder occurs. After receiving traditional Korean medical therapy, all 5 patients' visual analogue scale score decreased. Conclusions: Traditional Korean medical therapy may potentially be an option for taste disorder. Further evaluations including pre-post comparison with larger number of cases will be needed in the future.】