Research Participant wanted at Genbiome: Acupuncture for Chronic Asthma Patients
Do you have chronic asthma issues that have persisted for more than 1 year and are currently managed through your General Practitioner (with an asthma action plan and asthma medications), but have been considering acupuncture as an adjunct support to your care?
Dr Hyonna Kang (Integrative Korean Medicine Practitioner) is conducting an Acupuncture research project for Asthma patients at GenBiome, an Integrative Medical Centre, for her PhD (Science) program at the University of Technology Sydney. Dr Kang is recruiting three patients for her patient-centric Asthma case study, for a 12-week period of treatment. If you're interested, here are more details about the research project:
Research has confirmed that not all asthma is the same. People present with different trigger factors, inflammatory responses, and signs & symptoms. Eight Constitution Medicine (ECM) recognises these differences as deriving from inherent physiological and psychological traits. ECM uses different acupuncture and dietary regimens to treat asthma on this basis.
ECM has seen wide adoption throughout Korea, and its effectiveness has been extensively investigated through clinical research. This project is the first ECM research in Australia. It will explore the experience of ECM, a patient-centred approach within an Australian context.
The promise of Eight Constitution Medicine is to move from a narrow focus on treating disease, to a broader approach to treating the person as a whole. For example, instead of treating only difficulty breathing, ECM treats the cause of functional issues of lungs which may lie in imbalance of kidneys and metabolic function, or lungs and liver function, depending on the individual. Treatment takes the form of acupuncture and prescribes practical ways of maintaining health that are specific to eight constitutions (or "body types"). Rather than a 'one size fits all' approach, ECM recognises that advice (e.g., eating meat or fish; root vegetables or green leafy vegetables; foods with warming effect or cooling property) that is beneficial to some may be harmful to others.
The lens of ECM allows a practitioner to give tailored acupuncture treatment and specific lifestyle advice to patients, including dietary recommendations. This changes the patient's role from a passive consumer of generic medical treatment, to a proactive participant equipped with the knowledge necessary to take ownership of maintaining their own health and avoiding illness.
If you decide to participate, you will undergo free 24 personalised acupuncture treatments, 2 times a week over a period of 12 consecutive weeks, from a qualified and registered health practitioner at GenBiome, an integrative medical centre, located at Edgecliff Court, Suite 2/2 New McLean St, Edgecliff NSW 2027.
Although this is research, the primary focus of your treatment is to help you with asthma control and address your health issues.
If you are interested in participating or have any questions about the project, please contact us on 0422 372 073 or hyonna@sageacupuncture.com.au.
The project has UTS Human Ethics Research approval (REF NO ETH20-4694; ETH21-6272).
The researcher is a qualified and registered health practitioner (AHPRA:CMBA).
Hyonna is going to present clinical outcome cases studies on her research at the Asia Pacific Society of Respirology congress 2022 in Seoul in November this year.
Patient recruitment for the research is resuming in 2023.
