E3 PreliminaryPreliminaryPEM ?Case-ControlPeer-reviewedMachine draft
A case of chronic fatigue syndrome improved by traditional Korean medicine.
Son, Chang-Gue · Integrative medicine research · 2013 · DOI
Quick Summary
This report describes one woman with ME/CFS who experienced significant improvement in her fatigue after receiving traditional Korean medicine treatments, including herbal medicine, acupuncture, and moxibustion over three months. Her fatigue severity scores were cut roughly in half during treatment. While this single case suggests these treatments may help some people, it does not prove they work for everyone with ME/CFS.
Why It Matters
Given that ME/CFS lacks proven conventional medical treatments and significantly impacts patients' quality of life and work capacity, exploring complementary and integrative medicine approaches may provide hope for symptomatic improvement. Documentation of potential benefits from traditional medicine systems encourages further rigorous investigation into mechanisms and efficacy.
Observed Findings
- Patient fatigue severity on NRS scale decreased from 70 to 37 over 3 months of treatment
- Patient fatigue severity on VAS scale decreased from 8.1 to 3.7 over 3 months of treatment
- Patient received combined herbal medicine, acupuncture, and moxibustion treatment
- Patient was unable to work due to fatigue symptoms prior to treatment
Inferred Conclusions
- Traditional Korean medicine may have therapeutic potential for reducing fatigue in CFS patients
- Combined herbal medicine, acupuncture, and moxibustion may be worthy of further investigation as a treatment approach for fatigue-associated disorders
Remaining Questions
- What is the long-term sustainability of symptom improvement after traditional Korean medicine treatment ends?
- Which specific component (herbal medicine, acupuncture, or moxibustion) contributed most to the observed improvement?
- How would these results generalize to other ME/CFS patients with different symptom profiles or disease severity?
- What are the mechanisms by which these interventions might reduce fatigue in ME/CFS?
What This Study Does Not Prove
This single case report cannot prove that traditional Korean medicine is an effective treatment for ME/CFS in general populations. It does not establish which specific intervention (herbal medicine, acupuncture, or moxibustion) was responsible for improvement, nor does it rule out natural recovery, placebo effect, or other confounding factors. The improvement in one patient cannot be generalized to predict outcomes in other patients.
Tags
Symptom:Fatigue
Method Flag:PEM Not DefinedWeak Case DefinitionNo ControlsSmall SampleExploratory Only
Metadata
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.imr.2013.01.002
- PMID
- 28664051
- Review status
- Machine draft
- Evidence level
- Early hypothesis, preprint, editorial, or weak support
- Last updated
- 8 April 2026