Prospective Observation Study on Hyperthyroidism Patients Treated with Korean Medicine

Objective This is a prospective clinical case study that includes the administration of Ahnjeonbaekho-tang (AJBHT) to patients who have suffered from Graves’ disease for the 8 weeks of the clinical research. Methods Without administration of an antithyroid drug, AJBHT was administered 3 times a day for 8 weeks. In Case 1, AJBHT without modification was administered and in Case 2, in accordance with the patients’ symptoms, a dose of Gypsum Fibrosum was increased by 4g from the beginning of week 2, and further increased by 16 g, for a total of 20 g between week 6 and week 8. Body mass index (BMI), thyroid function test (TFT), thyroid autoantibody test, complete blood cell count (CBC), and blood chemistry (BC) tests were conducted at an interval of 4 weeks, for a total of 3 times during the study. The clinical manifestations, a spectrum of symptoms of the patients, was observed by Wayne’s Index, Euro-QOL-5 Dimension (EQ-5D), and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). Results In both cases, an acceptable significance of reduction of value in T3, fT4, Thyroid stimulating antibody (TSAb) and Thyroid stimulating hormone receptor antibody (TSH-R-Ab) was observed. After treatment, in TFT, T3 decreased by 31.66%, fT4 decreased by 32.82% in Case 1, and T3 decreased by 43.42%, and fT4 decreased by 37.32% in Case 2. In the thyroid autoantibody test, TSAb decreased by 7.59%, and TSH-R-Ab decreased by 53.19% in Case 1, and TSAb decreased by 33.45%, TSH-R-Ab decreased by at least 7.75% in Case 2. Besidesthis, there was a decreasing trend of Wayne’s index, and a loss of typical symptoms of hyperthyroidism also declared the efficacy. Conclusion From these results, AJBHT is very effective in the regulation of TFT and improving the symptoms of hyperthyroidism, and is also expected to be an effective alternative to antithyroid drugs for patients who have side effects or drug intolerance. Keywords: Graves’ disease, Thyroid function test, prospective observation study, Ahnjeonbaekho-tang, Korean medicine treatment