• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.95-108
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• 2005

Objective : In the present study, the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) applied to several acupoints and non-acupoint in CFA-induced knee arthritis was examined. Methods : A common source of persistent pain in humans is arthritis. Arthritis was induced by injection of CFA $125\;{\mu}l$ into knee joint cavity under enflurane anesthesia. The rat subsequently showed swelling of the ankle and a reduced stepping force of the affected limb for the next several days. The reduced stepping force of the limb was presumably due to a painful knee. EA was applied to either of $LR_2,\;LI_4$, or non-acupoint on the contralateral forelimb for 30 min under gaseous anesthesia. After the termination of EA, behavioral tests measuring stepping force were periodically conducted during the next 4 h. Results : EA applied to $LR_2$ point produced a significant improvement of stepping force of the affected foot lasting for at least 2 h. However, neigher $LI_4$ point nor non-point produced any significant increase of weight bearing force. The improvement of stepping pressure was interpreted as an analgesic effect. The analgesic effect was specific to the acupuncture point since the analgesic effect on CFA-induced knee arthritic pain model could not be mimicked by EA applied to a point, $LI_4$ or non-acupoint. In addition, both NO production and iNOS protein expression increased by arthritis were suppressed by EA applied to $LR_2$ point. Conclusion : These data suggest that EA produces a potent analgesic effect in the rat model of CFA-induced knee arthritis. This analgesic effect is produced by applying EA to an acupoint at opposite side from the painful area in a stimulus point-specific way.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.187-195
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• 2009

The purpose of this study was to identify the effect of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation(TENS) and electroacupuncture(EA) after sciatic nerve crush injury in rats. Subjects were classified TENS group with TENS application, EA group with EA application and Control group which is not applicated electrical stimulation. TENS and EA stimulations were applied post-injury day(PD) 1 to 14 after sciatic nerve injury. This study observed c-fos expression in rat lumbar spinal cord. In addition, the paw withdrawal latency(PWL) and sciatic function index(SFI) were measured. The results were as follows: At PD 1, control group had higher c-fos immunoreactivity than experimental groups. At PD 7 and 14, control group had higher c-fos immunoreactivity than experimental groups. The PWL of experimental groups were significantly lower than control group. The SFI had not significant difference in all groups. But the average of experimental groups were higher than control group. These results suggest that TENS and EA applications increasing sensory and motor nerve recovery while decreasing c-fos immunoreactivity after sciatic nerve crush injury.

• Journal of Korean Clinical Nursing Research
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.455-466
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• 2011

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a structured preoperative PCA education on the knowledge and attitude regarding PCA usage, level of pain, and the consumption of analgesics after operation for colorectal surgery patients. Methods: This study was conducted from 18 Feb to 2 May, 2008. Participants were 80 colorectal cancer patients who would use the IV-PCA after colorectal surgery in a cancer hospital in Gyeonggi-do, Korea. Two groups, experimental and control were consisted of 40 patients each. The 20-minute structured education regarding PCA usage was applied to each patient individually in the experimental group but only the routine anesthetic consultation was given to each patient in the control group the day before the surgery. The SPSS/PC 10.0 program was introduced to analyze the collected data on frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, $x^2$-test, t-test and paired t-test. Results: The experimental group with the structured preoperative PCA education showed higher knowledge and more positive attitudes regarding the PCA usage than the control group. Also the experimental group showed better pain control and lower consumption of analgesics at 4, 8 and 24 hours after than the control group. Conclusion: The structured preoperative PCA education is an effective nursing intervention for improving the knowledge and attitude of the colorectal surgery patients on the PCA usage, and enabling the patient to take the analgesic more effectively with lower consumption, while reducing the patients' pain after operation.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.33-45
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• 2024

Purpose : This study aimed to compare the effects of spinal manipulation combined with medication on low back pain (LBP), range of motion, and disability in patients with chronic LBP. Methods : Twenty patients with chronic LBP were included in this study. The participants were randomly assigned to the spinal manipulation with medication group (n=10) or the medication only group (n=10). The intervention group received spinal manipulation for 15 minutes, twice a week, and took medication twice a day for eight weeks. The control group received the medication twice daily for eight weeks. Pain intensity assessed using the visual analog scale (VAS), range of motion, and disability due to LBP assessed using the Oswestry disability index were measured before and after the intervention. Results : The intervention group showed a significant improvement in pain intensity compared to the control group (p<.05), and the intervention and control groups significantly improved low back pain after the intervention (p<.05). The intervention group showed a significant improvement in the range of motion in flexion, extension, right lateral flexion, left lateral flexion, and right rotation (p<.05). The intervention group also showed a significant improvement in the change of disability in total score, pain intensity, personal care, lifting and standing compared to the control group (p<.05). Conclusion : This study showed that the combination of spinal manipulation and medication can benefit patients with chronic LBP, as evidenced by significant improvements in pain intensity, ROM, and disability. These findings suggest that utilizing both spinal manipulation and medication can positively affect individuals with chronic LBP. The results of this study should be applied in clinical settings to optimize treatment outcomes in patients with chronic LBP.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.57-71
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• 2004

Objective : Physiological evidence regarding acupuncture's effect in human patients is not yet well established, despite considerable evidence for its therapeutic efficacy. Besides target or disease specificity of acupuncture, acupuncture analgesia (AA) appears to be another large subclass that poses many questions, such as whether there is point specificity with respect to which acupoint is most effective for a particular condition. Methods : We observed brain activation with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) using a set of stimuli that consist of pain, pain following Meridian acupuncture, and pain following Sham acupuncture. Results : Among the new observations, the most interesting fact is that data sets of both Meridian acupuncture and Sham acupuncture show decreased activation of the same brain areas related to the pain processing signals. Present functional MRI study demonstrate two important biological observations that could elucidate AA mechanism in human participants: the effects of acupuncture occur through mediation of the higher brain areas. Sham acupuncture stimulation appears to be almost as effective as traditional Meridian acupoint stimulation, suggesting that acupuncture is not entirely point specific. Decreased activation in the limbic paleo cortical areas appears to be the probable neurological manifestation of AA and strongly implies that acupuncture stimulation inhibits the transmission of ascending pain signals to the higher cortical areas by the previously known descending pain inhibitory circuit. Conclusion : We, therefore, a hypothesized that this pain inhibitory circuit is initiated and mediated via the broad sense Hypothalamus Pituitary Adrenal (BS HPA) axis in conjunction to the "sensory stimulation."

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.215-219
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• 2013

The descending control system is composed of a group of structures in the midbrain, medulla oblongata and pons that form a network of descending inhibitory projections. In the clinical setting, it has been shown that the application of a electrical counterirritant to these structures and diminishes the pain in patients. Thus, depression and anxiety have been shown to predict the development of chronic neuropathic pain state. These factors could influence pain might also involve descending controls. Interestingly, reduced descending controls are seen in patients with irritable bowel syndrome and theses patients had greater anxiety, depression compared to controls. And, the influence of anxiety on the chronicity of pain and on the descending control pathways should be tested in animal models, using modern techniques. Given this Knowledge, it is no wonder that pain is a highly personal experience that is susceptible to a variety of biologic, pharmacologic, and environmental influences.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.238-247
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• 2004

Purpose: Pain management is often needlessly suboptimal. Health care professionals are seldom trained in pain management, may not realize the importance of pain management or recognize that a patient is in pain, and may fear prescribing opioid medications. Noting that one of the problems related to health care professionals is poor assessment of pain, we studied a trend of pain severity and satisfaction with pain controls after using TTS-fentanyl in order to determine whether a regular pain assessment was effective for controlling cancer pain. Methods: We assessed the pain as a $5^{th}$ vital sign after using TTS-fentanyl in 471 hospitalized cancer patients during 4 days. The data were collected from September, 2003 to December, 2003. Pain severity was assessed by using a numeric pain intensity scale($0{\sim}10$) by ongoing pain assessment. Results: Pain assessment as a $5^{th}$ vital sign had led to reduce patient's pain scores. High degrees of satisfaction scores in both patients and doctors with TTS-fentanyl were observed. They were also negatively correlated with the pain severity. Conclusion: Regular pain assessment was effective in the management of cancer pain.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.15 no.6 s.73
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• pp.948-954
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• 2005

In this study, we investigated antimicrobial and cytotoxicity effects to each fraction extracted from Solanum lyratum (SL), which were extracted methanol (SLM) and then the extract was fractionated into five different types : hexane (SLMH), ethyl ether (SLMEE), ethylacetate (SLMEA), butanol (SLMB) and aqueous (SLMA). The antimicrobial activity was analyzed by the paper disc method. Among the various solvent fractions, SLMEA showed the strongest antimicrobial activies. The cytotoxicity of SL fractions on HeLa, MCF-7, HT-29 and HepG2 cells was evaluated by MTT assay. Among various partition layers, SLMEE showed the strongest cytotoxic effects to all cancer cell lines. We also observed that quinone reductase (QR) was induced by all fraction layers of SL to HepG2 cells. Since the QR-induced effects of SLMEE on HepG2 cells at $160{\mu}g/ml$ concentration showed 2.1 when compared with a control value of 1.0, inducer of QR for cancer protection may be contained in this fraction.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.175-180
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• 2008

진행된 암환자에서 피로는 70% 이상이 경험하게 되는 흔한 증상이며 삶의 질을 저하시키는 주된 요인이다. 피로에 대한 선별검사는 "피곤하거나 지친감이 있나요?"라는 단순한 질문으로 가능하며 이미 개발된 평가도구를 사용하여 평가할 수 있다. 동반 질환이나 피로의 원인을 알기 위한 병력청취와 검사실 검사가 필요할 수 있으며 결과에 따라 가역적 인자를 치료하는 과정이 우선되어야 한다. 적절한 약물치료를 시행하여 증상을 호전시킬 수 있으며 이중 methylphenidate는 암 연관 피로를 호전시키고 마약성 진통제에 의한 진정에 효과가 입증되었다. 환자의 여명에 따라 부신 피질 호르몬제도 사용할 수 있고, 운동 및 환자의 교육과 영양관리 또한 중요하다.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.334-338
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• 2007

Roots of Rumex crispus (Rc) (Polygonaceae) has been used as therapeutic agents of acute and chronic cutaneous diseases, cathartics, fever and jaundice in folk medicines. Recently, Seeds of Rc has known as a digestive, an anticancer agent and a remedy of acute hepatitis, among many traditional folk medicines. So far it isn't reported about pharmacological effects of Rumecis Semen. The present study describes the preliminary evaluations of biological activities, anti-inflammatory activity (AA, Carrageenan) analgesic activity (writhing test), and hepatoprotective activities ($CCl_4$), of its methanol extract, ethyl acetate fraction and butanol fraction. Among them butanol fraction showed the highest activity in analgesic acivity.