This research was intended to delve into the diversity of life phenomenon and its characteristics. First of all, this research gave real examples to compare the differences in men's health, disease, and longevity in order to confirm the existence of diversity of life phenomenon. In addition, it also studied the process and mechanism of manifestation of life phenomenon, as well as the influence and problems of existing studies' results and implications. The results are as follow. 1. Differences in health, diseases, and longevity were very big and diverse in researches on different races, nations, ages, socioeconomic status, positions, and even (monozygotic) twins. 2. The basic foundation of all organisms is DNA, and environmental factors change DNA methylation and the structure of chromatin by constantly influencing DNA. Due to this, the manifestation, control, and phenotype of DNA change, resulting in diversified life phenomenon. Therefore, it is the environmental factors, not DNA, that has more influence on the diversity of life. 3. Looking at available studies, the most reasonable perspective on human requires focusing on the diversity of life phenomenon, holistic thinking, and reversible change instead of irreversible determinism. Considerable differences in life phenomenon between entities require a change in malformed perspective on life. Public health and medicine deals with live human beings, a more precise and accurate perspective on life is very important. Because management methods of health and disease, such as structure and approaches of medical research, prevention and cure, must be different by life perspectives.

Objectives : This study aimed to investigate the current job-related characteristics coordinators in East-West Collaborative Medical Practices(EWCMP) and to develop activation plans for them. Method : The participants were 51 personnel who were supporting EWCMP in the 28 institutions. Data were collected with self-administered questionnaires and analyzed with descriptive statistics. Results : The major role of the participants was educating and consulting patients(74.5%) and followed by supporting collaborating physician(70.6%). They assumed to be helpful to make the patients easy to use EWCMP(98%) and to give patients full information what they asked(96%). However, participants responded lack of adequate educational programs and role ambiguity as chief complaints(91.7%). They showed relatively high level of job importance(78.7points on 100points) and job satisfaction(72.8points on 100points). Coordinators were expected to have bachelor and more than 8 years clinical career, and communication skill. Conclusions : Coordinators have played key roles in giving information for the patients and coordinating EWCMP. However their roles and job description was not clear, and educational programs was insufficient as required. Therefore, it is needed to clarify their roles and job description and establish professional educational programs for supporting coordinators.

Objectives : This study was aimed to investigate attitude of western medicine(WM), Korean medicine (KM), and nursing school students toward the east-west collaborative medical practices(EWCMP). Methods : The participants were 185 WM students, 123 KM students, and 230 nursing students belonging to two universities (P and D) in Busan metropolitan city, Korea. Data were collected with self-administered questionnaires and analyzed with descriptive statistics, $X^2$ test, t-test and ANOVA with SPSS win 14.0. Results : Of 538 participants, overall 87.1% has heard EWCMP. Preferred type of EWCMP was significantly different by participants' backgrounds. WM students preferred (western) medical treatment with minor supportive Korean medical care(85.5%). However, KM students emphasized EWCMP with the same weight in both medical and Korean medical treatment(59.0%), and nursing students were in between two schools. Intention to recommend EWCMP for the consumer was 67.4%, and also showed very different between WM students and others, 37.3% of WM students, 89.4% of KM students, and 83.9% of nursing students. WM students showed more negative opinion on the EWCMP than KM and nursing students, Conclusions : The attitude of WM, KM, and nursing school students toward EWCMP was very similar to that of WM doctors, KM doctors, and nurses, respectively. WM students showed big difference in the overall attitude toward EWCMP from that of KM and nursing students. It is recommended to introduce the joint curriculum or exchange programs between WM and KM schools.

Objective : The purpose of this research was to provide basic data for developing the collaborating care of Korean traditional medicine and western medicines by analyzing the perceptions of residents visiting local health centers on the collaborating care. Method : To this end, a self-administrated questionnaire was surveyed to 417 participants from March 10 to March 19, 2005. The questionnaires were regarding medical preferences, effectiveness, co-operative treatment types, and the demographic characteristics of the study population. The main statistical methods employed for analysis were frequency chi-square test analysis, using SPSS system 12.0 software for Windows. Result : First, the perceptions of collaborating care, such as preference and effectiveness, were better for residents who had experienced Korean traditional medicine(p < 0.05). Second, the most favorable collaborating care type was the neuromuscular disease and rehabilitation, and in particular, the preference of the patient who had experienced Korean traditional medicine was much higher than those who had not experienced it(p < 0.05). Third, as for recognizing the future of collaborating care, respondents insisted that collaboration care has to be conducted under evidence-based research. The reasons why collaborating care has not been active were reported as "difference in solving disease problems between oriental medicine and western medicine." The most important role of the Korean traditional medicines in the public sector was to provide specialized service for the elderly and low income households. Conclusion : Most respondents expected the positive effects of the collaborating care and wanted it to develop, particularly for neuromuscular diseases. As for the health promotion program in health centers, it was more popular than the home visiting program for the elderly and preventive rehabilitation for stroke. Now we must plan to balance between the need of the community and the medical provider on collaborating care.

Objective : The purpose of this study is to examine safety of herbal medicine on liver function and compare with western medicine. Method : 303 subjects of skin disease(vitiligo and psoriasis) were chosen at a local oriental medical clinic, and tested with a spot liver function test from Sept 1, 2006 to Dec 31, 2006. Subjects were grouped into untreated, herbal medicine, western medicine, and combination group by treatment record. Total bilirubin, AST, ALT and LDH was compared in each group, odds ratio and regression coefficient was calculated. Results : Subjects comprised of 116 individuals receiving western medication(38.28%), 54 receiving herbal medication(17.82%), 107 receiving combined forms of medication(35.31%), and 26 individuals without any types of medication(8.58%). With the mean age of 37.0 yr. 204 were male(67.3%), 99 were female(32.7%). Comparing variables of liver functions, there was no significant difference between the control and experiment groups. After adjusting potential confounders, monthly $\beta$(SE) of multiple regression -0.009~0.000 for the herbal group, -0.005~0.000 for the western group, and -0.001~0.001 for the combination group. No significant difference between the groups. OR of T-bilirubin were 1.02, 1.05, and 1.04. AST were 0.92, 0.94, and 0.98. ALT were 0.85, 0.99, and 0.97. LDH were 0.96, 1.06, 1.00 for the herbal, western, and combination group, respectively. Conclusion : Comparing with western medication, herbal medication did not cause special ill-effect on the liver function based on liver function tests.

Background : The system for collecting and managing the terminologies of Korean oriental medicine is essential to facilitate researches of developing intelligent information architecture based on ontology. Objectives : The purpose of this paper is to develop system for collecting and managing system for terminologies of Korean oriental medicine. Methods : First we defined roles of users used in this system, and define the system workflow based on them. Then we developed web-based collecting and managing system in which multiuser can work simultaneously, and it is compose of relational database system. Results : The terminologies of Korean Oriental Medicine can be efficiently collected, purified, inspected, and utilized by using proposed system. Conclusions : The system, proposed in this paper, can be used the whole field of oriental medicines for basic technology and has great contributions to make intelligent information architecture of oriental medicine based on ontology concept.

Objectives : This paper recommends a global budget based payment system for reimbursing oriental medical services in the national health insurance. Methods : We analyzed previous research outcomes related to oriental medical services and payment system We reviewed the experiences of other countries' global budget system in terms of their strength and weakness. In addition, we developed a reimbursement method for oriental medical services based on global budget. Results : Our reviews focused on global budget system of Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, and Taiwan. The estimation of global budget in the national health insurance was described in two scenarios. First scenario was to allocate oriental medical services in scale after signing a contract for global budget. In this case, 4.16% of the national health insurance expenditure was allocated for the oriental medical services. Second scenario was to estimate the global budget in a historical context. As a result, the first scenario in total budget was higher than the second, and we proposed a retrospective adjustment method for the gap between the budget and the actual expenditure Conclusions : The payment system for oriental medical services is recommended to shift from fee-for-service to global budget.

The wound healing process can be categorized as follows : inflammation, fibroplasia, neovascularization, collagen deposition, epithelialization, and wound contraction. During the healing process, various growth factors are secreted to accelerate wound healing. Previous studies have demonstrated that endogenous growth factors, such as vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) are the important regulatory polypeptides for coordinating the healing process. They are released from macrophages, fibroblasts, and keratinocytes at the site of injury and participate in the regulation of reepithelization, granulation tissue formation, collagen synthesis and neovascularization. Onchung-Um has been used clinically to treat various skin diseases. In addition, Onchung-Um has been also used for congestive inflammations. In the present study, we evaluated the effects of Onchung-Um on wound healing process and wound size reduction in rats. Full-thickness skin wounds ($15mm\;{\times}\;15mm$) were created on the back of rats. Rats were then divided into 2 groups : The Onchung-Um treated group that was orally administered with a dose of 193.9mg/100g of Onchung-Um extract per day for 15 days and Control group without Onchung-Um administration. Moreover, the histological changes and VEGF immunoexpressions of two groups were estimated. In results, wound closures were significantly accelerated by oral administration of Onchung-Um extract. Furthermore, in Onchung-Um treated group, there were significant increases in fibroblast migration, epithelialization compared with the Control group. VEGF expressions were also increased in Onchung-Um treated group. This study has therefore demonstrated the Onchung-Um can significantly improve the quality of wound healing and scar formation and the oral administration of Onchung-Um extract may increase early tissue angiogenesis in the incisional wound of an experimental animal model.

Backgrounds : Stroke is characterized by loss of brain functions due to a disturbance in the blood vessels supplying blood to the brain, and classified into hemorrhage and ischemia. Stroke is known to be affected by genetic factors and other diseases such as hypertension and cardiovascular diseases. However, the distinctive association between stroke and genetic variations has not discovered yet. Objectives : This study investigated the effects of fibrinogen level and genetic variations in FGA (Fibrinogen alpha chain) gene on stroke in Korean stroke patients and controls. Methods : DNA samples from 674 stroke patients diagnosed by Oriental medical hospitals and 267 controls were used in this study. Two common single nucleotide polymorphism(SNP) with high minor allele frequency(MAF), rs2070011G/A of promoter region and nonsynonymous rs6050A/G of exon 5 in FGA gene, were targeted for Taqman genotyping. Because the TOAST classification is important to the factors and symptoms of stroke, ischemic patients were further classified into five subtypes using diagnosis and clinical data. One-way ANOVA and chi-square test were used for clinical data and genetic association, respectively. Haploview v4.1 program was used for linkage disequilibrium(LD), haplotype and haplotype block analysis. Results : The levels of red blood cells and fibrinogen from clinical data were shown to be significant factors for the sub-groups of TOAST classification. No significant associations of stroke, hemorrhage, ischemic and subtypes of TOAST with rs2070011 and rs6050 of FGA gene were found(P > 0.05). However, rs2070011 in promoter region and nonsynonymous rs6050 in exon 5 which produce the amino acid change from threonine to alanine showed a haplotype block and three haplotypes of A-G, G-A, A-A, suggesting that rs2070011 and rs6050 might be co-segregated in generic recombination. Although A-A haplotype of stroke patients showed 64-69% low frequency compared to controls, there was no significant association between stroke and haplotype(P > 0.05). Conclusion : This study showed that there was no significant association between stroke and two SNP of rs2070011G/A and nonsynonymous rs6050A/G in FGA gene. However, these two SNP compose a haplotype block and three haplotypes of A-G, G-A, A-A. This finding suggests that rs2070011 and rs6050 are so close as to be positioned as linkage disequilibrium. Nevertheless, no significant association between haplotypes and stroke was found.

The aim of this study is to observe the spread and implementation of acupuncture as an official medical treatment in France. This research is based on the study of the scientific magazine produced by the Association of Acupuncturist Doctors of France from 1945 to 2008 as well as medical and sociological studies. Western medicine was introduced and spread in Korea about one hundred years ago and is the foundation of modern Korean medicine. Nowadays it is more commonly employed than traditional Oriental medicine. Oriental medicine was introduced in France in the 17th century but only acupuncture gained notoriety. The French Faculty of Medicine officially chose to legalize acupuncture after WWII but only allowed doctors to study acupuncture. It takes three years to obtain an Inter-University Degree(DIU) in acupuncture therapy. Why would the Faculty of Medicine make a holistic treatment system official that is in opposition to the systematic treatment method of the Western medicine? The second question posed is, does Western Academia still recognize acupuncture as a viable treatment method? The final question addressed is, has acupuncture any real impact on medical treatment of the French Society?

In recent decades, as the utilization of complementary and alternative medicine in the United State have been growing rapidly, regulatory controls surrounding complementary and alternative medicine(CAM) aims to ensure patient protection against unproven practices and to provide safe and effective treatments. Regulation and policy method on licensing CAM practitioners varies across the states. Over 85% of the states have the licensing system for acupuncturists, chiropractors, and naturopaths. For acupuncture, although the requirements for formal education are various across the states, a unified written examination has been adopted by almost entire states which have acupuncturist licensing law. Medicare, the public medical insurance, does not cover CAM practices except chiropractic and biofeedback. In some states, however, Medicaid programs cover some CAM therapies including acupuncture, naturopathy, and massage therapy. 67% of Health Maintenance Organizations, the private health plans, provide at least one modality of CAM services. In conclusion, government policies have been strengthened to ensure patient protection, and will continue to integrate CAM practices that are proven to be safe and effective into mainstream health care system.