• CELLMED
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.67.1-67.3
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• 2024

Objective: A Case study on improvement of ICE syndrome through the use of OCNT. Methods: OCNT was performed on a 45-year-old Korean female who had difficulty in opening the eyes widely due to painful and xerophthalmias, and suffered inconvenience in daily life due to myodesopsia. Results: After the implementation of OCNT, the intraocular pressure (IOP) level was restored to normal, and the pain, dryness and myodesopsia symptoms were alleviated. This resulted in improvement in depressive symptoms and quality of life. Conclusion: For patients suffering from problems such as elevated intraocular pressure, myodesopsia, and xerophthalmia, OCNT can be helpful in improvement and treatment of symptoms.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.21-34
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• 2008

The purpose of present study was to analyze a tendency in childcare studies published in Korea. Specifically, this study investigated the amount of childcare studies and analyzed the main topic of childcare studies. Total 1,406 studies which include the term 'bo-yook' and/or 'tak-ah' as their keywords were gathered from internet database, and finally 973 studies were analyzed. First, the results from this study showed that childcare studies had gradually increased since 1990 and approximately one hundred studies had been published per year after 2004. The growing tendency of childcare studies might reflect social and political concern about childcare in contemporary Korean society. Second, childcare studies were mainly conducted within the topic of childcare policy, childcare worker, actual condition in childcare service, and childcare quality. Lastly, special types of childcare such as infant childcare, handicapped childcare, extended-time childcare, and after-school childcare were rarely studied. From these results, several future direction for childcare studies were suggested.

• Archives of Craniofacial Surgery
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.232-236
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• 2022

Post-traumatic enophthalmos and hypoglobus are common sequelae of facial bone fractures, even after reduction surgery. They are associated with functional and esthetic issues, which may lower the quality of life. These deformities frequently present late, and adequate correction is difficult. We report three cases of late inferior orbital rim reconstructions with three-dimensional printed implants to help resolve these problems. The average duration between the traumatic event and surgery was 3 years and 4 months. One patient was treated with a completely absorbable implant and exhibited satisfactory results until the implant started to biodegrade at 1 year and 9 months after surgery. Two patients were treated with a permanent implant and demonstrated satisfactory results. However, longer follow-up periods were needed. There were no complications such as infection, diplopia, or restriction of ocular motion and the patients were satisfied with the esthetic results.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.45-51
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• 2015

Background: The current study examined health-related quality of life (QoL) for patients with esophageal/gastric cardia precursor lesions or cancer before and after treatment to facilitate improved prevention and treatment. Materials and Methods: Patients with different stages of esophageal/gastric cardia lesions completed two QoL questionnaires, EORTC QLQ-C30 and supplemental QLQ-OES 18, before primary treatment, and at 1, 6 and 12 months after treatment. Results: Fifty-nine patients with precursor lesions, 57 with early stage cancer, and 43 with advanced cancer responded to our survey. Patients with precursor lesions or early stage cancer reported better QoL overall than those with advanced cancer before treatment (p<0.01). Global QoL scores before treatment and at 1 month after treatment were $71{\pm}9$ versus $69{\pm}9$ (p>0.01), $71{\pm}8$ versus $61{\pm}11$ (p<0.01), $67{\pm}11$ versus $62{\pm}9$ (p<0.01) for three stages of lesions. At 6 months after treatment, some QoL measures recovered gradually in precursor lesion and early cancer patients, while some continuously deteriorated in advanced cancer patients. At 12 months, all QoL scores were comparable to baseline for patients with precursor lesions (p>0.01), while global QoL, social, pain, and insomnia scores for early stage and advanced cancer were inferior to corresponding baseline levels (difference between means>5, p<0.01). At this time point, compared with patients with early stage cancer, those with advanced cancer showed worse QoL with all function and most symptom measures (p<0.01). Conclusions: Patients with precursor lesions or early stage esophageal/gastric cardia cancer show better QoL than those with advanced cancer. This indicates that screening, early diagnosis and treatment may improve the QoL for esophageal/gastric cardia cancer patients. Target intervention and counseling should be given by health care providers during treatment and follow-up to facilitate QoL improvement.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.814-821
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• 2018

Thyroid cancer is one of the most common cancers in Korea, and thyroidectomy is the first-line treatment. Hypoparathyroidism is a common complication of thyroidectomy and can cause symptoms such as numbness, spasm, and anxiety, but these issues have seldom been reported in the Korean medical literature. The present case was a 53-year-old thyroid cancer patient who complained of numbness caused by hypoparathyroidism, general weakness, fatigue, and postoperative pain after total thyroidectomy. The patient was treated with Korean medicine treatment, including herbal medicine, acupuncture, cupping, and moxibustion, and her changes in clinical symptoms were measured with a numeric rating scale (NRS), the Karnofsky performance status scale (KPS), and the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-Core 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30). After treatment, her clinical symptoms were improved, leading to an improvement in her quality of life. Therefore, Korean medicine may be effective in the treatment of thyroid cancer patients who experience numbness caused by hypoparathyroidism, general weakness and fatigue after total thyroidectomy.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.42 no.5
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• pp.976-981
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• 2021

Objectives: This study investigated the effectiveness of acupuncture for improving polycythemia-vera-related symptoms and quality of life. Methods: A 56-year-old woman diagnosed with polycythemia vera received acupuncture treatment between February 19, 2021, and August 26, 2021. We observed the changes in subjective symptoms and conducted myeloproliferative neoplasm symptom assessment form total symptom score (MPN-SAF TSS) questionnaire. Results: After 13 acupuncture treatment sessions over six months, symptoms of polycythemia vera, such as fatigue, bone pain, itching, and headache, improved. Conclusion: This study suggests that acupuncture may be a helpful treatment strategy for polycythemia vera patients suffering from significant symptom burdens and reduced quality of life.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.451-459
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• 2022

Objective: The purpose of this study was to report the effectiveness of modified Guibi-tang in a patient suffering from chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN). Methods: A 54-year-old Korean female patient diagnosed with recurrent ovarian cancer had CIPN with other symptoms, such as anorexia, dyspepsia, insomnia, etc. She was diagnosed with Simbiyangheo and hence treated with a modified Guibi-tang. Neuropathic symptoms were assessed using a numerical rating scale (NRS) and a sensory score. Quality of life was assessed using the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy/Gynecologic Oncology Group Neurotoxicity (FACT/GOG-Ntx). Results: After 14 days of treatment, the patients showed a decrease in NRS for bilateral limb pain and improvement in other symptoms, such as general weakness, insomnia, dizziness, and headache. Quality of life also increased. Conclusion: Modified Guibi-tang may be considered an optional treatment for CIPN if the patient is diagnosed with Simbiyangheo. Further studies are needed to confirm this finding.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.50 no.6
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• pp.519-523
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• 2007

Aplastic anemia is a rare disease, which is characterized by pancytopenia and hypocellular bone marrow without infiltration of abnormal cells or fibrosis. The incidence in Asia is higher than in the West and new cases are diagnosed at a rate of 5.1 per million pediatric populations per year in Korea. The pathophysiology is understood roughly by defective hematopoiesis, impaired bone marrow micro-environment and immune mechanism. Treatments are performed on basis of pathogenesis and selected depending on the severity. Immunosuppressive therapy with antilymphocyte or antithymocyte globulin and cyclosporine is effective in the majority of patients but has some problems including relapse or clonal evolution. Recently, there have been clinical trials of immunosuppression with hematopoietic growth factors or other drugs. Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is curative in children with severe aplastic anemia. The overall survival in HSCT from HLA-identical sibling is higher than alternative donor, including HLA matched unrelated donor or cord blood. We have to consider quality of life after HSCT because of high survival rate. However, chronic graft versus host disease and graft failure are important factors that affect the quality of life and overall survival. We need further investigation to make new regimens aimed at overcoming these risk factors and perform clinical trials.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.175-181
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• 2021

A 57-year-old female diagnosed with L5-S1 lumbar intervertebral disc herniation, suffering from severe pain despite taking tapentadol received combined Korean medicine treatment, including acupotomy, acupuncture, pharmacopuncture, and herbal therapies for 53 days. To assess pain, Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) and lumbar range of motion (ROM) were checked daily from the day of admission. Moreover, the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and European Quality of Life-5 Dimensions (EQ-5D) were used to evaluate function and quality of life. After combined Korean medicine treatment, reabsorptioin of intervertebral disc was confirmed by radiological examination; pain reduced from NRS 5~7 to NRS 1~2; lumbar ROM in extention increased from 20° to 30°; and function and quality of life improved. The results suggest the possibility that a combined Korean medical treatment, including acupotomy, can be used as an alternative to opioids for pain management of lumbar vertebral disc herniation.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.75-80
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• 2018

Background: The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of conducting a clinical study of using acupuncture for chronic pain in patients with osteoporotic thoracolumbar vertebral compression fractures (VCFs) in the outpatient setting. Methods: A prospective case-series attempting to recruit 20 participants was performed from February 11, 2016, to December 31, 2016. We provided Manual and electrical acupuncture was provided one 1 to three 3 times a week, for 6 weeks, up to 18 sessions. The primary clinical outcome was the average pain intensity as measured by the visual analog scale (VAS) at 6 weeks. Secondary outcomes included back-specific dysfunction (Oswestry disability index), quality of life (quality of life questionnaire-26), patient-reported improvement, use of other healthcare resources, and adverse events at 6 weeks. Use of healthcare resources and adverse events were additionally followed-up at 12 weeks by telephone. Results: Of 33 patients screened, a total of 7 were enrolled in the study. Manual and electrical acupuncture was provided 1 to 3 times a week, for 6 weeks, up to 18 sessions. We observed reduced pain intensity at 6 weeks in all participants. The change in the quality of life and back-specific dysfunction was inconsistent among participants. Mild, temporary adverse events were observed in three patients. Conclusion: In our clinical setting, it was not feasible to recruit sufficient participants and to assess the efficacy of acupuncture for chronic pain after osteoporotic thoracolumbar VCFs under a year. Strategies to improve recruitment and to identify barriers to participation are required for future clinical trials.