A Comparative Study for World-wide Constitutional Theories including Sasang Constitutional Medicine

사상체질의학을 포함한 체질론적 의학이론의 비교 연구

Objectives: This study aimed at comparing Sasang constitutional medicine(SCM) with other constitutional theories of the world. Methods: From PubMed database, we first searched all papers using the term 'constitution', then filtered those having really constitution-focused papers. Then, they were analyzed to compare each constitutional theory and medicinal practice. Results: There were five constitution-related medicines which have been practiced in medical field: Sasang, iridology, somatotype, dermatoglyphics and Ayurveda. There was the largest number of scientific researches for dermatoglyphics while the smallest number of papers was for SCM. The other three constitutional theories were based on anatomic/histologic difference between types in contrast to SCM and Ayurveda, which relied on inherited functional differences of four or three internal organs. Conclusions: This study simultaneously compared five major constitutional theories currently practiced as medicines in the world. We found that even as SCM seems to have the most potential as therapeutic medicine it should be studied more using scientific methodologies to be a world-wide medicine.