Current update on allergic rhinitis for Korean Medicine management

Abstract

Objectives : The purpose of this review is to introduce the recent advance in allergic rhinitis and to provide help in establishing strategy and selection of drugs for Korean medical treatment of allergic rhinitis.Methods : We searched articles about allergic rhinitis comprehensively in PubMed, CNKI, JStage, KISTI. And in order to reflect clinical situation, we also reviewed some profession's writing for practitioners.Results : This review discussed allergic rhinitis's epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, treatment, prognosis. We found many standardized clinical practice guideline have been published in this field. And some guideline reflected accumulation of medical evidence on interventions in Korean medicine. It suggested that acupuncture, herbal medicine, herbal patch are useful to prevention and alleviate allergic symptoms. But some interventions have heterogeneity due to each nation's medical background.Conclusions : Acupuncture therapy is now recommended world widely for treating allergic rhinitis. But other interventions of Korean medicine are not well recognized in the same manner. We need more research to identify mechanism and rigorous clinical trials to clarify efficacy and safety of Korean medicine intervention.