Complementary Medicine of Atopic Dermatitis

Lee, Soo Hyoung; Yum, Hye Yung

Abstract

PURPOSE
The prevalence rate of atopic dermatitis which is a common disease as is 10-20%. By the questionnaire survey, many patients used or have been used complementary medicine which has not been verificated. We review to look around the studies in complementary medicine of atopic dermatitis.
METHODS
We searched the journals through Entrez Pubmed within the limits: recent 5 years and atopic dermatitis complementary/alternative medicine. And then, we selected and reviewed the journals which introduced treatment for atopic dermatitis by drugs or herbs within terms which was not overlapped.
RESULTS
There were 4 randomized clinical trials about Chinese herbs that had possible effects on relieving symptoms and self-satisfaction, but they were inconsistent. Examinations would be required through well-designed and clinical trials with a large sample size. There were relatively a lot of studies of homeopathy in the foreign countries, but had no consistent and definite effects. Especially, there were few studies of homeopathy in atopic dermatitis patients. In addition, experimental studies in extracts from plants such as flavonoids have proceeded mostly (ex. chemical experiment), but there were few clinical trials which were well-designed or sufficient sample size.
CONCLUSION
Complementary medicine has been used by many people for scientific verification, and economic costs for it were so considerable that systematic approaches from experimental trials to clinical trials would be needed.