Seonjong Kim is the director of Mokpo Korean Medicine Hospital of Dongshin University in Republic of Korea. He has completed his PhD at the age of 35 years from Wonkwang University and He is currently a professor of Korean medicine at Dongsin University. With support from the Ministry of Health & Welfare, Republic of Korea, he is developing a new drug of arthritis medicine composed of oriental herbs

Ganghwaljetongyeum (GHJTY) has been used as a standard treatment for arthritis for approximately 15 years at the Korean Medicine Hospital of Dongshin University. GHJTY is composed of 18 medicinal herbs, of which five primary herbs were selected and named new Ganghwaljetongyeum (N-GHJTY). The purpose of the present study was to observe the effect of N-GHJTY on arthritis and to determine its mechanism of action. After confirming arthritis induction using complete Freund’s adjuvant (CFA) in rats,N-GHJTY (62.5, 125, and 250mg/kg/day) was administered once a day for 10 days. In order to determine pathological changes, edema of the paws and weight were measured before and for 10 days after N-GHJTY administration. Cytokine (TNF-𝛼, IL-1𝛽, and IL-6) levels and histopathological lesions in the knee joint were also examined. Edema in the paw and knee joint of N-GHJTYtreated rats was significantly decreased at 6, 8, and 10 days after administration, compared to that in the CFA-control group, while weight consistently increased. Rats in N-GHJTY-treated groups also recovered from the CFA-induced pathological changes and showed a significant decline in cytokine levels. Taken together, our results showed that N-GHJTY administration was effective in inhibiting CFA-induced arthritis via anti-inflammatory effects while promoting cartilage recovery by controlling cytokine levels.

LI, M. K. is the Associate Professor of School of Nursing and Health Studies, The Open University of Hong Kong (OUHK). She is the Programme Leader of the Master of Nursing (Chinese Medicinal Nursing) Programme in OUHK

Background Chinese people constitute the major population in Hong Kong. They believed that Chinese dietary therapy (CDT) helps them to bring about a balanced state which is regarded as healthy from the perspective of Chinese medicine. Such therapeutic effects can only be maximized with food taken appropriately according to factors such as types of body constitution, age, climates and so on. Otherwise, the body’s balanced state may be changed to an imbalanced state. This study aimed to investigate the knowledge on CDT among the Chinese people in Hong Kong. Methodology It was a cross-sectional survey using a self-developed questionnaire. Chinese people of aged 18 or above were recruited in this study. Knowledge on CDT was assessed from five categories with 7 questions in each category and one score for one correct answer. Higher scores indicated better knowledge of CDT. Results A total of 384 respondents participated in this study with 100% response rate. Of which, 380 questionnaires were valid for analysis (99%). The overall mean score of the knowledge on CDT was 18.49±6.46. Knowledge on “Compatibility of food consumption with different types of body constitution” was the best (3.95±1.79) whereas knowledge on “Compatibility of food consumption with various age groups” was the worse. Conclusion The findings reflected that the knowledge on CDT among Chinese people in Hong Kong was rather weak. A series of health education on CDT should be organized to enrich people’s related knowledge to achieve a balanced state through appropriate CDT in order to maintain health.

P. Y. Lun has completed Master of Nursing (Chinese Medicine Nursing) from The Open University of Hong Kong (OUHK) in 2017. She is currently an Honorary Clinical Tutor and Assessor of School of Nursing and Health Studies of OUHK

Background Drinking herbal tea to treat the body conditions has become popular in Hong Kong. Inappropriate consumption of herbal tea may be harmful to health. Therefore, knowledge on drinking suitable herbal tea according to the body condition is crucial to promote health. Nurses play a significant role in public health promotion. This study was to investigate the consumption of herbal tea and related knowledge among nurses in Hong Kong. Method This was a cross-sectional survey with participants recruited by convenience sampling. A self-administered questionnaire developed by the authors was used to assess the consumption of herbal tea and related knowledge. Results A total of 366 nurses participated in this study with response rate 100%. Over ninety percent (90.7%) of participants had history of drinking herbal tea in the past 12 months. Two common reasons of drinking herbal tea were at the time when they felt “Heat” (66.4%) and caught “Cold/Flu” (23.4%). The participants (64%) reported that drinking herbal tea was mostly occurred in summer. The overall mean score of knowledge was 5.59±1.75. Participants at the age group 20-30 were found to have the poorest knowledge (3.89±2.15). Significant differences in the consumption of herbal tea within the recent one year were found among age groups (χ2=10.285, p=0.016). Conclusion The findings indicated herbal tea was commonly consumed among Hong Kong nurses and their related knowledge was rather weak. As nurses play a significant role in public health promotion, it is recommended to provide nurses more formal education related to fundamentals of Chinese medicine and consumption of herbal tea.

Ng Sin Chuen has completed the Master of Nursing (Chinese Medicinal Nursing) from the Open University of Hong Kong. She is currently working in Hospital Authority in Hong Kong as Registered Nurse. She is specialized in respiratory nursing in rehabilitation

Background: Insomnia, a global health problem, was poorly managed by hypnotics and psychological therapy. Promising results in relieving insomnia were reported by using auricular acupressure (AA) of Chinese medicine. Such studies mainly targeted at older people in Hong Kong. Insomnia was also common among the undergraduate nursing students as they were stressful with heavy workload especially in handling “life and death” situations during their clinical practice. Insomnia adversely affected their health and increased the risk of committing medical incidents during clinical practice. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effects of AA in managing insomnia among undergraduate nursing students in Hong Kong. Methodology: This was an interventional study adopting one group pretest-posttest design. The participants were recruited from one local university when they met the inclusion criteria. The intervention was to apply AA using the auricular plasters with Semen Vaccariae onto seven auricular acupoints for two weeks. Insomnia Severity Index Scale (ISI) was collected on Day 0 and 14. Results: Forty-two participants were recruited with 38 participants completed the intervention (attrition rate=9.5%). Only 18 participants (47.4%) reported mild local itchiness which was subsided shortly. It was found that insomnia improved significantly after receiving AA as reflected by the overall ISI scores (t=9.61, p<0.001) and its seven sub-scores (t=4.95 to 10.25, p<0.001). Conclusions: AA was regarded as a safe and effective therapy of Chinese medicine in managing insomnia among undergraduate nursing students in Hong Kong. It was recommended to conduct a large-scale study to provide more empirical evidence in this regard.

W. M. Lee has completed Master of Nursing (Chinese Medicinal Nursing) from The Open University of Hong Kong in 2017. He has been working in different specialty of mental hospital over past 28 years and introduced acupressure in caring psychiatric patients with constipation in clinical settings

Background: Insomnia is a common health problem among the undergraduate nursing students in Hong Kong. It adversely affects their general health and increases the risk of committing medical incidents in clinical settings. Auricular acupressure (AA), one common therapy of Chinese medicine, had been reported to have promising results in managing insomnia. However, little studies reported the experience on receiving AA. This study aimed to examine the perceptions and acceptance of receiving AA in managing insomnia among the undergraduate nursing students in Hong Kong. Methods: It was a survey conducted after a pretest-posttest study using AA as the intervention for 2 weeks in undergraduate nursing students who were suffering from insomnia. The respondents were the participants who had completed the 2-week intervention. A self-administered questionnaire was used to assess the participants’ perceptions and acceptance on receiving AA in managing their insomnia. Results: Thirty-eight respondents were recruited. It was found that 36 respondents (94.7%) experienced no or mild local itchiness, 27 respondents (71.1%) did not have any feeling of inconvenience when replacing the auricular plasters, 24 respondents (63.2%) reported that receiving AA did not affect their outlook and daily life, and 36 respondents (94.7%) would refer AA to friends with insomnia. Majority of them (94.7%) accepted AA as the therapy in managing insomnia. Conclusions: The findings indicated that AA was accepted as a safe and effective therapy in managing their insomnia among the undergraduate nursing students. However, it was recommended to conduct a qualitative study to have more in-depth exploration in future.

Hsuan-Shu Shen is an experienced Chinese medicine physician in Hualien Tzu Chi hospital. I am interested in the effect of the traditional Chinese medicine, especially in treating patients with rheumatoid arthritis and cancer. I am the principal investigator of the project about the efficacy of combined using traditional Chinese medicine among patients with rheumatoid arthritis and willing to make contributions for treating rheumatic disease.

Objective Few studies have explored the association between risk of ischemic stroke (IS) and usage of Chinese herbal products (CHP) in combination with western medicine among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We performed a retrospective cohort study to investigate the protective effect of CHP against IS in patients with RA. Method The data was sourced from the registry for beneficiaries, ambulatory and inpatient care claims, and Registry for Catastrophic Illness from the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) in Taiwan between 1997 and 2011. Patients who were newly diagnosed with RA between 1997 and 2010 were classified as CHP group or non-CHP group based on adjunctive use of CHP after diagnosis of RA. Cox proportional hazard model was used to estimate Hazard Ratio (HR) for IS after 1:1 matching. Results There were 4,148 RA patients in both CHP and non-CHP groups. Patients in CHP group had a significantly lower risk of IS compared to patients in non-CHP group (adjusted HR [aHR]: 0.67, 95% CI: 0.52–0.86). In the CHP group, patients who used CHP for more than 30 days had a lower risk of IS than their counterparts (aHR: 0.61, 95% CI: 0.40–0.91). Moreover, Kuei-Chih- Shao-Yao-Chih-Mu-Tang, Tang-Kuei-Nien-Tung-Tang, Shu-Ching-Huo-Hsieh-Tang, Tu-Huo- Chi-Sheng-Tang exhibited a protective effect against IS. Conclusion Use of CHP in combination with western medicine decreased the risk of IS in patients with RA, especially among those who used CHP for more than 30 days. Further randomized control trial is required to clarify the casual relationship of these results.

Chan Sau Ling Windy had completed Master of Nursing (Chinese Medicinal Nursing) from The Open University of Hong Kong in 2017. She is a registered nurse (General) working at the Team of Integrated Discharge Support Program for the Elderly Patients in an acute hospital in Hong Kong

Background Primary dysmenorrhea had high incidence rates (56% - 85%) across countries. It seriously affected young women’s quality of life and academic performance. Previous studies reported that primary dysmenorrhea and Chinese medicine (CM) body constitution were closely related. So far, no such study had been conducted in Hong Kong (HK). This study aimed to examine the relationship between primary dysmenorrhea and CM body constitution among final-year undergraduate nursing students in HK. Methodology This was a cross-sectional survey on final-year undergraduate nursing students. The Participant suffering from primary dysmenorrhea for the recent three consecutive menstrual periods were identified as“dysmenorrhea cases”. Constitution in Chinese Medicine Questionnaire (CCMQ) (HK Version) was used to assess the CM body constitution of the “dysmenorrhea cases”. Goodness-of-fit test was used for data analysis. Results A total of 257 participants completed the questionnaires (response rate 98.5%) with 254 valid questionnaires for data analysis. The prevalence rate of primary dysmenorrhea was 73.2%. Among the “dysmenorrhea cases”, 88.8% possessed more than one types (complex type) of CM body constitution and 89.8% belonged to abnormal type. Yang-deficiency (X2=9.484, p=0.02) and Qi-deficiency (X2=4.839, p=0.028) were significantly found to be the two susceptible types of CM body constitution among the“dysmenorrhea cases”. Conclusion This study found that Yang-deficiency and Qi-deficiency were two susceptible types of CM body constitution among final-year undergraduate nursing students with primary dysmenorrhea. Therefore, nurses should identify these two high-risk groups and provide appropriate health advice from the perspective of Chinese medicinal nursing to relieve their suffering from dysmenorrhea.