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Correlation between Chinese Medicine Constitution and Skin Types: A Study on 187 Japanese Women

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Abstract

Objective

Chinese medicine (CM) is widely applied in cosmetics and dermatology. The theory of CM believes that skin characterizations reflect the internal status of balance which can be represented by body constitution, but relevant studies are few. This study aims to analyze the relationship between body constitution of CM and skin condition.

Methods

Participants were recruited from a private health and beauty clinic in Tokyo, Japan from June 2013 to January 2015. Each participant was assessed using Constitution in Chinese Medicine Questionnaire (CCMQ) for body constitution and the Baumann Skin Type Questionnaire for skin type. Spearman’s rank correlation and stepwise multiple linear regression were used to investigate the effect of body constitutions on skin types.

Results

A total of 187 Japanese females were recruited in this study. Higher dampness-heat and phlegm-dampness scores were associated with oilier skin while higher qi-depression and blood-stasis were associated with drier skin. Higher score in Inherited Special and yin-deficiency constitutions tended to have more sensitive skin, and higher score in blood-stasis was associated with more pigmented skin and wrinkles.

Conclusions

Our findings supported the “Constitution-Skin Correlated theory” in CM. Understanding of the association between skin conditions and the body constitutions might be helpful to explore more individualized treatment options for skin care and dermatological diseases through modifications of the unique body constitutions using CM modalities.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. BHY Corporation Limited, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, 151-0063, Japan

    Seika Kanezawa

  2. School of Management, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, 100029, China

    Yan-bo Zhu

  3. Center for Studies in Constitution Research of Traditional Chinese Medicine, School of Basic Medicine, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, 100029, China

    Seika Kanezawa & Qi Wang

Authors
  1. Seika Kanezawa
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  2. Yan-bo Zhu
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  3. Qi Wang
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Contributions

Seika KZ and Wang Q conceived and designed the study. Seika Kanezawa performed the study. Seika KZ and Zhu YB analyzed the data. Seika KZ wrote the paper. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Qi Wang.

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Conflict of Interests

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this paper.

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Kanezawa, S., Zhu, Yb. & Wang, Q. Correlation between Chinese Medicine Constitution and Skin Types: A Study on 187 Japanese Women. Chin. J. Integr. Med. 26, 174–179 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11655-019-2709-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11655-019-2709-3

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