Lee Je-ma's Sasang constitutional medicine
Medicina constitucional Sasang de Lee Je-ma
- Date
- 1894 · confidence high
- Place
- Hamhung, North Korea
- Credited to
- Lee Je-ma
- People
- 👤 Yi Je-ma1837–1900
- Field
- Life & health
What was discovered
A medical system that classifies people into four constitutions (Taeyang, Soyang, Taeeum and Soeum) and tailors diet and drugs to each. Lee Je-ma set it out in his 'Dongui Suse Bowon' (1894) and it is traditional Korean medicine's original contribution to medical theory.
It is a traditional diagnostic theory; clinical trials to validate it remain limited and there is no scientific consensus on its efficacy.
What it led to
- constitutional medicine in Korean Eastern medicine
- tailoring diet and treatment by constitutional type
- current studies correlating it with genetics and metabolic traits