AKOM News
Contributed by Dr. Jewon Lee, Director of BM Korean Internal Medicine Clinic
: Peering into Internal Medicine, 29th
2026. 3. 18.
"The doctor of the future will give no medicine but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease."
- Thomas Edison
More than 120 years after inventor Thomas Edison's prediction in 1903, what should a true 'primary care physician' look like in the modern healthcare system?
1. "I want to correct my bad eating and lifestyle habits"
A female patient in her 20s visited our clinic.
Despite her young age, she was suffering from various symptoms including periodic enteritis, overwhelming postprandial somnolence (food coma), chronic fatigue, persistent adult acne, and severe ovulation pain.
The patient correctly recognized that the root cause of all these symptoms was her 'bad eating and lifestyle habits' and sought out our clinic's lifestyle improvement program.
2. Objective Examination: Unexplained Elevation of Liver Enzymes (AST)
To objectively evaluate her condition, we conducted diagnostic blood tests and body composition analysis.
While her weight, body fat percentage, and kidney function (eGFR) were within normal ranges, her liver function test showed an AST level of 99 IU/L, more than double the normal range.
(She had no recent history of alcohol consumption or medication use, and ultrasound and hepatitis tests showed no specific findings.)
Table 1. Changes in Liver Function, Kidney Function, and Body Composition During the Treatment Period. The AST level, which was elevated to 99 IU/L before treatment, went through natural fluctuations during the treatment process and eventually recovered to a stable normal range of 16 IU/L. In terms of body composition, it showed a positive metabolic recovery pattern where weight was lost and maintained without significant loss of muscle mass.
3. The Holistic View of Korean Medicine Piercing Through the Inner Disease
Our body is not an assembly of localized parts but an organically connected unified whole.
Based on the holistic concept of Korean Medicine (Jeong-che-gwan-nyeom / 整體觀念), the root cause penetrating the seemingly unrelated chronic fatigue, skin troubles, menstrual pain, and abnormal liver enzymes was 'metabolic imbalance caused by irregular meal times, frequent sugar intake, and repeated dining out and late-night snacking.'
The patient's own judgment was highly accurate.
4. 'Comprehensive Intervention' Beyond Medication and the Non-Face-to-Face Ward System
To correct this, we started a 'Comprehensive Intervention' alongside prescribing customized herbal medicine (Cheob-yak / 貼藥) tailored to her constitution.
It is not just ending with a simple "be careful with your food" in the consulting room.
The medical staff operated a kind of 'non-face-to-face ward' system, sharing photos of the patient's meals every day, giving feedback, checking sleep and physical activity, and accompanying her in her daily life.
5. Treatment Results: Normalization of Values and Improvement in Quality of Life
Thanks to the patient's active participation, her AST level completely normalized to 16 IU/L after about 4 months of treatment.
This proves that, contrary to popular misconceptions, proper Korean Medicine intervention plays a positive role in recovering liver function.
1. Trend of Body Composition Changes During the Treatment Period. Shows the changes in Body Weight, Skeletal Muscle Mass, Body Fat Mass, and Percent Body Fat from baseline to approximately the 17th week (end of treatment) in a patient who received internal medicine intervention (lifestyle correction and herbal medicine treatment) by a Korean Medicine physician.
Her weight was also healthily maintained in the 54kg range without significant loss of muscle mass.
Above all, her subjective symptoms disappeared.
She reported that her enteritis, postprandial somnolence, and chronic fatigue cleared up, saying her "head became clear," and her adult acne and ovulation pain also vastly improved.
The patient left the following feedback:
"Making and eating detox meals made me feel like I was treating myself every day, which was really nice. At first, I came to fix my body, but through lifestyle improvements, I was able to find peace of mind as well. I feel reassured having you support me so I can manage my health for the rest of my life."
6. Cultivation (Lifestyle Correction) is Best, Medicine is Secondary
In the preface of Donguibogam (Principles and Practice of Eastern Medicine / 東醫寶鑑), there is a passage that says, "All human diseases arise from the failure to properly regulate one's regimen, so cultivation is the best, and medicine is secondary."
The 'medicine of the future' predicted by Edison already existed within the deep-rooted philosophy of Korean Medicine hundreds of years ago.
Beyond fragmentary medication prescriptions to suppress symptoms, letting patients know how to take care of themselves and fundamentally correcting their life environment to find peace of mind.
A Korean Medicine physician equipped with both objective data and a holistic perspective is indeed the 'true primary care physician' who will take responsibility for the public's lifelong health.
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Peering into Internal Medicine 28 - AKOM News29
"I Visited the Clinic Because I Wanted to Correct My Bad Eating and Lifestyle Habits"
Going beyond treating diseases to coordinate patients' lives and assist in their lifelong health—this is the true role of a primary care physician, and it is what Korean Medicine does best.
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