만성 소화불량증 환자에서 설 색상과 심박변이도의 경향성 파악

• Published in: 대한한방내과학회지 Vol. 36; no. 3; pp. 348 - 360
• Main Authors: 김지혜, 정창진, 김근호, Kim, Ji-hye, Jeong, Chang-jin, Kim, Keun-ho
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Korean
• Published: 대한한방내과학회 01.09.2015
• Subjects: 한의학; gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD); functional dyspepsia; tongue diagnosis; heart rate variability (HRV); chronic gastritis
• ISSN: 1226-9174

Objectives From observing the tongue of a patient, one can assess the health status; this method has been frequently used in traditional Korean Medicine (KM) clinics. In particular, KM posits that the color of the tongue is highly related to digestive functions. In this study, the color of tongue and heart rate variability (HRV) were compared between chronic dyspepsia (CD) patients and healthy subjects. Methods Healthy subjects and CD patients with functional dyspepsia (FD), gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), or chronic gastritis (CG) were enrolled for the study. Profile view images of the tongue were acquired by using a computerized tongue image acquisition system (CTIS). The color of the tongue body was extracted from the non-coated region on the tongue images. Results Color differences in CIE L*a*b* color space between the three sub-types of CD patients and healthy subjects were analyzed by using multiple linear regression analysis with age and sex as the factors. The variable b* was significantly lower in GERD patients than in the controls (p=0.017). Variable a* was significantly lower in CG than in the controls (p=0.03). No significant difference was seen between FD and controls. In GERD, the tongue body seems to be intense red in color; in CG, pale red. Frequency domain analysis showed that HF was significantly lower in GERD patients than in the controls (p=0.041). Conclusions The color of the tongue body and HF of HRV can be used for diagnosing digestive functions in health care.