Parkinson’s disease is the most common degenerative brain disease along with dementia.
According to the National Health Insurance Service, the number of patients with Parkinson’s disease in Korea has nearly doubled in 10 years from 61,565 in ’10 to 116,504 in ’21. Parkinson’s disease is a disease in which a variety of symptoms are common, ranging from tremors, muscle stiffness, and postural instability to pain, depression, anxiety, and sleep disorders, significantly reducing the quality of life.
Incurable disease, quality of life improvement is the top priority
In this regard, Professor Park Seong-wook (Department of Internal Medicine, Gangdong Kyunghee University Hospital) said, “Parkinson’s disease, which occurs when neurons in the midbrain substantia nigra that secrete dopamine are gradually destroyed, does not secrete dopamine due to the destruction of neurons in the substantia nigra. Tremors, stiff muscles, slow movements, and unstable posture make it difficult to walk,” he said. In addition, symptoms not related to exercise, such as pain, depression, anxiety, cognitive impairment, sleep disorders, constipation, and orthostatic hypotension, are also common, reducing the patient’s quality of life.”
Parkinson’s disease is a disease that cannot be cured so far, and the goal is to improve the quality of life of patients by controlling symptoms. Levodopa supplementation therapy, which is currently used as a standard therapy for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease, is also used in this respect.
Nevertheless, there are many uncontrolled symptoms such as postural instability, frozen gait, language disorder, fatigue, pain, and autonomic nervous disorder, and there are many cases where drugs cannot be used for a long time due to side effects of drugs. Reflecting this situation, it is reported that many Parkinson’s disease patients around the world are using various complementary and alternative therapies in addition to conventional drug treatment, and among them, the most widely used treatments worldwide are acupuncture and herbal medicine. These are Chinese medicine therapies.
Korean medicine treatment to delay disease progression and improve symptoms
Professor Park said, “When considering the latest research results of oriental medicine in an integrated manner, the role of oriental medicine treatment in managing Parkinson’s disease can delay the progression of the disease and improve motor and non-motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.” “In addition, when used simultaneously with dopamine, it shows a synergistic effect, which can be summarized as improving the quality of life of patients,” he emphasized.
According to Professor Park, first of all, oriental medicine treatment delays the progression of Parkinson’s disease by preventing the destruction of dopaminergic neurons in the midbrain substantia nigra. As a result of a five-year study on Parkinson’s disease patients, it was found that patients who received acupuncture treatment delayed the progression of Parkinson’s disease compared to patients who received only drug treatment. In addition, various herbal medicines such as bee venom acupuncture, wonji, cheonma, astragalus, root root, golden, peony, and ginseng, and prescriptions such as cheonghyeoldan, ukgansan, and cheonggan-tang have been found to inhibit the progression of Parkinson’s disease by protecting brain nerve cells. .
In addition, oriental medicine treatment can improve the quality of life of patients with Parkinson’s disease by improving various symptoms. Through the study, it was confirmed that acupuncture and pharmacopuncture treatment improved motor function, daily living ability, balance, and walking speed. In particular, falls, which occur at 46-68% each year due to balance disorders and gait disorders, have a significant impact on the decrease in quality of life and increase in mortality in patients with Parkinson’s disease. have. In addition, herbal medicine treatments such as Army Ja-tang and Banhahu-bak-tang have been confirmed to relieve various non-motor symptoms such as digestive disorders, swallowing disorders, cognitive dysfunction, depression, and sleep disorders.
What is the step-by-step Korean medicine treatment for Parkinson’s disease?
In addition, dopamine, the standard treatment for Parkinson’s disease, and oriental medicine treatment can have a synergistic effect. According to a recently published study, if you take dopamine and receive acupuncture or herbal medicine treatment such as Cheonma or Cheonggan-tang at the same time, even a small amount of dopamine It was confirmed that the same degree of symptom improvement can be expected, and the side effects of dopamine supplementation therapy, such as dyskinesia, can be reduced. This explains that if you receive oriental medicine treatment together, you can see the same effect with less dopamine medication, so you can take medication for a long time and reduce side effects caused by the medication.
Professor Park Seong-wook said, “Korean medicine treatment for Parkinson’s disease varies from suppressing the progression in the initial state to controlling various symptoms that plague the patient as well as improving the condition in which balance control or walking becomes difficult as the disease progresses. “Therefore, in order to effectively manage Parkinson’s disease, it is necessary to establish and implement an appropriate plan for each patient by comprehensively considering the state of the disease, daily life patterns, and quality of life,” he stressed. .
In addition, Professor Park said, “First of all, the first stage treatment is for patients whose symptoms are well controlled through the standard treatment, dopamine supplementation therapy, or whose symptoms are not severe, visit treatment once every 1 to 2 weeks, and progress the disease “In the second stage, we actively improve symptoms for patients suffering from symptoms such as tremors, stiffness, constipation, fatigue, lethargy, and pain caused by Parkinson’s disease,” he said. Treatment is conducted 2-3 times a week with the goal of relieving discomfort through inpatient treatment, and in the 3rd stage treatment for patients with gait disturbance due to balance control disorder and risk of falling, hospitalized intensive treatment is required, and following hospitalization, balance and walking We will proceed with treatment to improve function.”
