Pemberton R W
Aquatic Plant Management Laboratory, US Department of Agriculture, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33314, USA.
J Ethnopharmacol. 1999 Jun;65(3):207-16. doi: 10.1016/s0378-8741(98)00209-8.
Insects and other arthropods appear in pharmacopoeias of Korean traditional medicine, but little was known about their use in modern South Korea. Interviews were conducted with 20 traditional medicine doctors at clinics in South Korea's Kyeong Dong Shijang in Seoul--one of the world's largest traditional drug markets--to learn about current patterns of usage. Seventeen products are prescribed and the use of arthropod drugs is stable or increasing. Centipedes (Scolopendra spp.) used primarily to treat arthritis and the silk moth fungus (Beauveria bassiana, which infects silk moth larvae) used mostly to treat stroke, are the most frequently prescribed and medically important arthropod drugs. Most of the arthropod drugs were traditionally collected or reared on the Korean Peninsula, but now they are imported, mainly from China. Folk logic appears to be the basis for some arthropod drug uses (i.e. centipedes, which have many legs, are used for leg problems). But many of the arthropods have venom and other defensive chemicals which are biologically active. The South Korean use of arthropods as drugs (as well as for food and enjoyment) is due, in part, to more positive attitudes towards these animals compared to many cultures. Arthropods appear to be an unexplored and unexploited source of drugs for modern medicine.
昆虫和其他节肢动物出现在韩国传统医学药典中，但在现代韩国，人们对它们的用途了解甚少。在首尔世界最大的传统药品市场之一——韩国京东市场的诊所，对20名传统医学医生进行了访谈，以了解当前的使用模式。有17种产品被开出处方，节肢动物药物的使用稳定或呈上升趋势。蜈蚣（少棘蜈蚣属）主要用于治疗关节炎，白僵菌（感染蚕蛾幼虫）主要用于治疗中风，是最常被开出处方且在医学上最重要的节肢动物药物。大多数节肢动物药物传统上是在朝鲜半岛采集或养殖的，但现在主要从中国进口。民间逻辑似乎是一些节肢动物药物用途的基础（例如，有许多腿的蜈蚣用于治疗腿部问题）。但许多节肢动物含有毒液和其他具有生物活性的防御性化学物质。韩国将节肢动物用作药物（以及用于食品和娱乐），部分原因是与许多文化相比，对这些动物的态度更为积极。节肢动物似乎是现代医学尚未探索和开发的药物来源。
