Blog & Columns
Useful information about health and Korean medicine.
Total 110 posts
Why Medicine Wakes Up Where It Hurts — What Happens at a Site That Has Turned Acidic
The medicine you take circulates through the whole body. So why does it come undone precisely where it hurts? A site of inflammation turns acidic, and that acidity does two things — it loosens the barrier, and it wakes a locked compound right there on the spot.
Why the Pungency of Herbs Acts on the Body — The Compounds That Open the Cell''s Door
Ginger, cinnamon, mint, Sichuan pepper. The taste and aroma of these familiar ingredients are not mere sensation. They are keys that open a "door" in the cell membrane. That door is called an ion channel.
Herbal Medicine Does Not Press One Spot — A Medicine That Works on Several Layers at Once
When we say "medicine," we picture pressing one spot precisely. Herbal medicine is not built that way. Several compounds move several layers at once, a little at a time. Here I gather those layers in one place.
The Exact Meaning of 'Your Tests Are Normal' — How Reference Ranges Are Made
The normal range is an interval cut from the middle 95% of healthy people. That's why kidney function can drop by half and still register as 'normal.' Tests look at items. And the place where you are struggling may be not an item but a chain formed by stringing items together.
The Medicine Your Gut Has to Switch On — Following a Single Herb, Gardenia, All the Way Through
Gardenia's main compound is in a locked form. Only when the bacteria living in the gut strip off its sugar does it become an active substance. What switches the medicine on is not the medicine, but that person's gut. And the very substance that produces the effect, in excess, damages the liver.
The medicine that does not press the brake for you — following magnolia bark down to its ingredients
People come after being told their breathing feels tight but the tests are normal. The lung is an organ; breathing is regulation. Tests look at the organ. The ingredients of magnolia bark do not manufacture a brake that isn't there — they help the brake the body already has work better.
The Term "Healing Crisis" — Is It a Process of Getting Better, or a Side Effect?
The term "healing crisis" (myeonghyeon) has a structural problem: whatever symptom appears, it can be explained away. I do not tell people to endure. Whether it is a recovery process or a side effect is not something to settle with words but something to verify and distinguish.
May I Take Herbal Medicine While Pregnant or Breastfeeding?
In the body during this period there are two people. Both "no herbal medicine during pregnancy" and "herbal medicine is natural, so it is fine" are wrong. There are materials that cannot be used, materials used with caution, and cases where they are used when needed.
The Claim That Herbal Medicine Has Not Been Scientifically Proven
The claim that 'herbal medicine has not been proven' contains both a correct part and a mistaken part. Having no research and being shown to have no effect are different things. I speak by separating what is established from my own interpretation.
They Say Rest Heals — But What If Resting Doesn't Heal You
Resting and recovering are not the same thing. Recovery is active work the body does, and for that work to run, the conditions must be right. Saying rest doesn't heal you is not a confession of laziness but important diagnostic information.
If the Name of Your Illness Changes Every Time You Switch Hospitals
The diagnosis changing from hospital to hospital isn't because there's something wrong with you, nor because the doctors are mistaken. A diagnosis is a label seen through each one's own window. Instead of adding one more name, I look at what tilted, and in what order.
If Sound and Light Grate on You Especially, and People Wear You Out
Being grated on by sound and light is not a personality problem. It is not that the senses have grown sharper, but that the power to filter has grown weak. A state of alertness does not come down by resolve; it comes down only when the conditions to come down are met.