• The Journal of the Society of Stroke on Korean Medicine
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.25-32
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• 2005

Background and purpose: Arterial stiffness is an important, independent determinant of cardiovascular risk. Pulse wave velocity (PWV) has been used as a valuable index of arterial stiffness and as a surrogate marker for atherosclerosis. The Framingham risk score was developed using categorized risk factors to predict the 10 year absolute risk of developing coronary heart disease (CHD). This algorithm is established using recommended guidelines for blood pressure, total cholesterol, and high density lipoprotein cholesterol in addition to age, smoking history and history of diabetes. Tongxinluo(TXL) has been shown to have anti hyperlipidemic activity and anti atherogenic effects. To determine its efficacy and safety, we examined whether TXL improves PWV, ABI, Framingham score, blood pressure, and lipid profile in high risk group of cardiovascular diseases. Subjects and methods: 49 subjects with the high risk of cardiovascular diseases were recruited. Subjects were administered TXL with the dose of 1110mg three times a day for 8 weeks. baPWV, ABI, Framingham risk score, Blood pressure and serum lipid profile were assessed at baseline and after 4 and 8weeks. Results: Total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, triglyceride, total lipid and phospolipid significantly decreased after 4 weeks of medication. Total cholesterol, total lipid and phospolipid significantly decreased after 8 weeks of medication. There were no significant changes in Framingham risk scores, ABI, PWV and blood pressure. On safety assessment, there were no adverse effects, hepatic or renal toxicity. Conclusion: We suggest that TXL is a safe and useful herbal medicine for hyperlipidemia and as for anti-atherognic effects, further research would be necessary.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.146-155
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• 2008

Objectives : This study was to assess the effectiveness of oriental medical therapy (OM) on acute Bell's palsy, comparing its outcome with that of oriental-western medical therapy (OWM). Methods : Subjects were enrolled atKyung Hee Medical Center from March 2007 to December 2007. We prescribed Igigeopung-san and acupuncture therapy to both the OM and OWM groups, and prednisolone only to the OWM group. Effectiveness was assessed by the House-Brackmann facial nerve grading system (HBGS) and Yanagihara's unweighted grading system (YUGS) every week. Results : There were 31 patients in the OM group and 34 in the OWM group. About grading system scores and weekly score gaps, no significant differences were revealed between the two groups, but statistical significant difference was detected at recovery time. After 2 weeks of treatment, the OM group's HBGS score showed significant difference from baseline score, but the OWM group showed it after 1 week. After 3 weeks of medication, pain was reduced in 22% of OM group patients, but 50% in the OWM group (p=0.028). We made the same comparison study for patients treated within 4 days from onset, but there was no significant difference between the two groups. 3 cases of adverse effect of hyperglycemia were found in the OWM group, which could be due to hyperglycemic side-effect of prednisolone. Conclusion : This work could help us to understand the effectiveness of OM compared to OWM on acute Bell's palsy.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.629-640
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• 2008

Objective : The purpose of this study was to investigate the neuroprotective effect of Jukryuk on 4-vessel occlusion(4-VO) and middle cerebral artery (MCA) ischemia. Method : After administration of Jukryuk, we compared the Jukryuk-treated group, the control, and the sham groups, in view of several points as follows 1) We evaluated the damage characterized by coagulative cell change of pyramidal neurons and pronounced gliosis in each group 2) We counted the number of normal pyramidal shapes after ischemia in each group 3) Immunohistochemistry (cyclooxygenase-2) 4) In focal ischemic injury model, we measured the volume of ischemic area Results : In this experiment, the effect of Jukryuk was determined to be protecting neuron cell shape, reducing the number of neuron cells damaged by ischemia and the volume of the ischemic area. In immunohistochemistry, Jukryuk reduced cyclooxygenase-2 expression Conclusions : According to this study, Jukryuk can protect neuron cells from injury by cerebrovascular ischemia.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.28 no.1 s.69
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• pp.87-93
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• 2007

Objectives : This study was to assess the effectiveness of Oriental medical treatment on carpal tunnel syndrome, comparing its outcome with that of Western medical treatment. Methods : After being diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome by electromyography, subjects were enrolled in Kyung Hee Medical Center from March 2006 to January 2007. We prescribed Kejibokryung-hwan to the Oriental medical therapy group (OM group) and NSAIDS to the Western medical therapy group (WM group). Effectiveness was assessed by degree of pain using visual analog scale (VAS) before and after 3 weeks' treatment. Adverse effects were also monitored. Results : There were 21 patients in the OM group and 19 in the WM group. No statistical significant difference was detected at the baseline assessment. After 3 weeks of medication, pain was reduced about 26% in the OM group and 46% in the WM group. These findings might be explained by that more than half of the WM group received local steroid injection, which has been known to have more rapid analgesic effect that oral medication. Although pain reduction rate was higher in the WM group than in the OM group, we suggest that Oriental medical treatment is still effective, faking into consideration the fact that completely recovered cases were found only in the OM group. No adverse effect was found in either of the groups. Conclusion : This work could help us to understand the effectiveness of Oriental medical treatment on carpal tunnel syndrome.

• The Journal of the Society of Stroke on Korean Medicine
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.41-48
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• 2018

■ Objectives The purpose of this case report is to show the effect of Traditional Korean Medicine (TKM) on a patient with horizontal eye movement disorder due to Foville syndrome. ■ Methods A patient with horizontal eye movement disorder as Foville syndrome was treated with herbal medication, acupuncture, electro-acupuncture and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation. Then we evaluated the improvement with mobility impairment, length of movement and House-Brackmann scale before and after treatment ■ Results Improvements of mobility impairment, distance at left gaze and House-Brackmann scale were observed after the TKM treatment. ■ Conclusion This case report shows the effect of TKM treatment on horizontal eye movement disorder due to Foville syndrome.

• The Journal of the Society of Stroke on Korean Medicine
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.52-57
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• 2007

Drug eruption is a relatively commin dermatological disorder and may cause significant problems. The treatment is to stop using a drug that may cuase a drug eruption. In some cases, steroids and antihistamines can be used supportively. According to some reports, Onchungeum(溫淸飮) has steroid-like effects and antihistaminic effects. We administered Onchungeum(溫淸飮) a patient with severe itching because of a drug eruption. After administration of Onchungeum(溫淸飮), itching decreased to much degrees. It can be suggested that Onchungeum(溫淸飮) can be used to treat symptoms of allergic skin disease like a drug eruption.

• The Journal of the Society of Stroke on Korean Medicine
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2005

Objectives: Chungpyesagan-tang is a famous oriental Objectives: medicine treatment frequently used to stroke in Korea. The objective of this study is to evaluate the mechanism of the therapeutic effect of Chungpyesagan-tang on stroke in rat. Methods: We compared the difference in regional cer Methods: ebral blood flow, nitric oxide (NO) synthesis between the control and the Chungpyesagan-tang-treated group after ligating middle cerebral artery. Results: In our study, cerebral blood flow increased more in the stroke rats which had been fed by Chungpyesagan-tang than in the control. Chungpyesagan-tang induced vascular NO synthesis, but had no effect on neuronal NO synthesis. Conclusion: The mechanism of Chngpyesagan-tang's therapeutic effect on ischemic stroke could be explained by increasing cerebral blood flow and vascular NO synthesis.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.162-169
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• 2011

The mixture of Ginseng Radix and Crataegi Fructus (Gen-CF) was developed to increase the pharmacological effect of ginseng in the treatment of hypercholesterolemia and prevention of cardiovascular disease. This study evaluated the effects of Gen-CF on serum lipids of hypercholesterolemic rats in vivo, as well as its antioxidant activities in vitro, and explored its clinical effects on patients with hypercholesterolemia. In vitro, Gen-CF displayed 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrasyl and superoxide radical scavenging activities, and inhibited hemolysis induced by 2,2'-azobis-2-amidinopropane dihydrochloride in a dose-dependent manner. In vivo, Gen-CF significantly inhibited the increases of total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglyceride in high cholesterol-diet and Triton WR-1339 models. It also significantly inhibited the decrease of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in these models. In the clinical trial, Gen-CF significantly lowered total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglyceride, total lipid and phospholipid, with no adverse events, including hepatic or renal toxicity. The data suggest that Gen-CF has the potential to treat hypercholesterolemia and prevent cardiovascular disease.

• Journal of Cardiovascular Imaging
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.25-34
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• 2022

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to assess the utility of a handheld device (HH) used during common daily practice and its agreement with the results of a standard echocardiography study (STD) performed by experienced sonographers and echocardiographer. METHODS: A prospective follow-up was conducted in an adult outpatient echocardiography clinic. Experienced sonographers performed the STD and an experienced echocardiographer performed the HH. STD included 2-dimensional images, Doppler and hemodynamics analysis. Hemodynamic assessment was not performed with the HH device because the HH does not include such technology. The images were interpreted by blinded echocardiographers, and the agreement between the reports was analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 108 patients were included; and the concordance for left ventricle (LV) ejection fraction (EF), wall motion score index, LV and right ventricle (RV) function, RV size, and mitral and aortic stenosis was excellent with κ values greater than 0.80. Wall motion abnormalities had good concordance (κ value 0.78). The agreement for LV hypertrophy, mitral and aortic regurgitation was moderate, and tricuspid and pulmonary regurgitation agreements were low (κ values of 0.26 and 0.25, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: In a daily practice scenario with experienced hands, HH demonstrated good correlation for most echocardiography indications, such as ventricular size and function assessment and stenosis valve lesion analyses.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.30 no.7
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• pp.573-584
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• 2021

To analyze the effects of PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 on daily mortality cases, the relations of death counts from natural causes, respiratory diseases, and cardiovascular diseases with PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 concentrations were applied to the generalized additive model (GAM) in this study. From the coefficients of the GAM model, the excessive mortality risks due to an increase of 10 ㎍/m³ in daily mean PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 for each cause were calculated. The excessive risks of deaths from natural causes, respiratory diseases, and cardiovascular diseases were 0.64%, 1.69%, and 1.16%, respectively, owing to PM₁₀ increase and 0.42%, 2.80%, and 0.91%, respectively, owing to PM_2.5 increase. Our result showed that particulate matter posed a greater risk of death from respiratory diseases and is consistent with the cases in Europe and China. The regional distribution of excessive risk of death is 0.24%-0.81%, 0.34%-2.6%, and 0.62%-1.94% from natural causes, respiratory diseases, and cardiovascular diseases, respectively, owing to PM₁₀ increase, and 0.14%-1.02%, 1.07%-3.92%, and 0.22%-1.73% from natural causes, respiratory diseases, and cardiovascular diseases, respectively, owing to PM_2.5 increase. Our results represented a different aspect from the regional concentration distributions. Thus, we saw that the concentration distributions of air pollutants differ from the affected areas and identified the need for a policy to reduce damage rather than reduce concentrations.