• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.525-533
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• 2015

Objectives: Alongside smoking, occupational exposure is an important risk factor for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The purpose of this study was to evaluate factors associated with occupational pulmonary function decline that can be used to create guidelines for the health management of shipyard workers Materials: This study analyzed spirometry from 10,597 male shipbuilding workers. Functional decline in spirometry was defined as FEV1/FVC <70% and logistic regression for work duration and occupational hazard exposure was performed Results: Among the subjects, 4.2% showed an obstructive pattern in pulmonary function. The odds ratios for hazard exposure were 1.67(indirect) and 3.54(direct), and for work duration 1.97(10-18 years), 2.29(19-27), and 5.02(28+). After adjusting for smoking and work-related factors, the odds ratios for work durations of over 10 years were 1.73(10-18 years), 1.99(19-27), and 4.09(28+), but for hazards exposure was 1.71(direct) alone after adjustment. Conclusions: Occupational COPD is insidious and chronic, and thus long-term hazard exposed(especially over 10 years) shipyard workers with functional decline in spirometry need to prevent and manage COPD. This study is important for establishing guidelines to manage hazard exposure among shipyard workers and prevent COPD.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.62 no.1
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• pp.11-18
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• 2007

Background: Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have often been reported to suffer from depression and anxiety possibly due to the exacerbation, hospitalization and mortality of COPD. However,scarce data are available in Korea. This study assessed degree of depression and anxiety, and evaluated the factors associated with depressive symptoms in COPD. Methods: The cross-sectional data on the lung function measurements, smoking behavior, body mass index (BMI), age, gender, depressive symptoms using Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and anxiety using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) were evaluated in 72 outpatients with COPD and 50 controls without underling lung diseases from September, 2005 to October, 2006 in the Ewha medical center. Results: 1) The age, body mass index (BMI) and serum albumin levels were similar in the patients and controls. The BDI scores (16(0-37) vs. 12(1-30), p=0.001) and the prevalence of depression (36% vs. 6%, p<0.0001) were higher in the COPD patients than in the controls. In the COPD group, the prevalence of depression increased with increasing GOLD stage (p=0.008). The prevalence was 18%(4/22), in mild cases, 30%(6/20) in moderate cases, 52%(13/25) in severe cases and 60%(3/5) in very severe cases. 2) The SAI and TAI scores were higher in the COPD patients (44(20-67) and 47(20-66)) than in the healthy controls (39(26-65) and 44(33-90)). There were a significant correlation between the depression and anxiety scores (p<0.001). 3) A lower BMI, lower postbronchodilator $FEV_1$, current smoking behavior and severity of COPD were univariately associated with the depressive group in COPD, 4) while multivariate logistic analysis revealed only the severe-to-very severe group (OR 3.9, 95% CI 1.2 to 12.9) to be independently associated with depressive symptoms. Conclusion: COPD is strongly associated with depression and anxiety. Therfore, screening for psychological problems in COPD patients is essential, particularly in patients with severe-to-very severe COPD.

• Journal of Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.323-326
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• 2021

A cat who is a 15-year-old and spayed female visited an animal clinic with severe coughing symptoms. Since the cat's coughing symptoms had worsened from the age of 10 and X-rays showed a bronchial pattern in the lungs, it was diagnosed as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). She received three injections of stem cells isolated from the amniotic membrane on days 0, 7, and 23. Although there was no improvement in the clinical findings on the x-ray, the number of coughing was significantly reduced. In addition, even after long-term follow-up post treatment for a month, she was stable with almost no coughing.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.69 no.3
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• pp.171-176
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• 2010

Background: The object of this study was to assess the validity and reliability of the Korean versions of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease assessment test (CAT) and Dyspnea-12 Questionnaire for patients with chronic pulmonary obstructive disease (COPD). Methods: For the 127 COPD patients, we obtained the Korean versions of the 3 questionnaires being tested: St George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ), CAT, and Dyspnea-12 with spirometric measurements. To assess the validity of CAT and Dyspnea-12, their correlation with SGRQ was evaluated. To assess the reliability of CAT and Dyspnea-12, Cronbach's alpha coefficient was evaluated. Results: The mean age of patient participants was $68.6{\pm}7.5$ years; 97.6% were male. The SGRQ score was correlated with the scores of the Korean version of CAT (r=0.71, p<0.0001) and Dyspnea-12 (r=0.73, p<0.0001). The Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the CAT and Dyspnea-12 were 0.77 and 0.78, respectively. Conclusion: The Korean versions of CAT and Dyspnea-12 were shown to be valid and reliable for the Korean COPD patients.

• The Korean Journal of Rehabilitation Nursing
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.82-99
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• 2016

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to review systematically the effects of home based pulmonary rehabilitation in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients using qualitative synthesis. Methods: Studies designed randomized controlled trials were identified to extract data and to assess the quality of studies in 8 domestic and 3 foreign search engines, and hand search reference reviews. Results: A total of 9 studies met the inclusion criteria. Overall, the methodological quality of the studies ranged from average to poor. Home based pulmonary rehabilitation consisted of exercise, education, and psychosocial interventions. Several exercises such as aerobic, strength, respiratory muscle training, and flexibility were used in home based pulmonary rehabilitation for COPD patients. Upper muscle exercise and walking were the most frequently used exercises. The most common topics for education were 'knowledge of the illness' and 'drug management'. Walking distance test (WDT) and quality of life (QoL) were the most frequently measured as the dependent variables to evaluate rehabilitation outcomes, followed by pulmonary function test (PFT) and dyspnea. WDT was the most effective outcome, followed by dyspnea, QoL and PFT. Conclusion: This study informed about the details of scientific and effective home based rehabilitation programs in COPD patients for future researchers and clinicians. These findings can help expand the recognition and accessibility of home based rehabilitation in COPD patients.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.732-745
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• 2009

Objectives : This study analyzed the contents of research papers of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) concerning chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) published in PubMed during the last 5 years. This study was conducted to help clinical studies for treating COPD with Oriental medicine. Materials and Methods : We inspected 31 theses and scrutinized their objectives, periods, participants, materials and methods, methods of assessment, results and Jadad score. Results : The treatments in the studies were supplements, physical training, acupuncture, acu-TENS, Bojungikgi-tang (Buzhongyiqi-tang), counseling, breathing training, osteopathic manipulative treatment, reflexology, and distractive auditory stimuli. The aims of treatment were improvement of exercise capacity, lung function, quality of life, oxidative status, nutrient status, systemic inflammation, and cessation of smoking. The median for treatment period of study was 8 weeks, the median number of participants was 35 and the differences between mean $FEV_1$ from groups were less than 10% in 22 studies. The methods of assessment were lung function test, exercise capacity test, muscle strength test, questionnaire of QoL, laboratory studies, and measurement of nutrient state. The mean of Jadad score was $2.4\;{\pm}\;1.03$, and 24 treatment were assessed as effective. Conclusion : Recent CAM studies of COPD have focused on various topics in alternative and complementary medicine, and it is necessary to provide objective studies for treatment of this disease with Oriental medicines.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.21 no.7
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• pp.880-890
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• 2020

Objective: Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are known to be at risk of osteoporosis. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between thoracic vertebral bone density measured on chest CT (D_Thorax) and clinical variables, including survival, in patients with COPD. Materials and Methods: A total of 322 patients with COPD were selected from the Korean Obstructive Lung Disease (KOLD) cohort. D_Thorax was measured by averaging the CT values of three consecutive vertebral bodies at the level of the left main coronary artery with a round region of interest as large as possible within the anterior column of each vertebral body using an in-house software. Associations between D_Thorax and clinical variables, including survival, pulmonary function test (PFT) results, and CT densitometry, were evaluated. Results: The median follow-up time was 7.3 years (range: 0.1-12.4 years). Fifty-six patients (17.4%) died. D_Thorax differed significantly between the different Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease stages. D_Thorax correlated positively with body mass index (BMI), some PFT results, and the six-minute walk distance, and correlated negatively with the emphysema index (EI) (all p < 0.05). In the univariate Cox analysis, older age (hazard ratio [HR], 3.617; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.119-6.173, p < 0.001), lower BMI (HR, 3.589; 95% CI, 2.122-6.071, p < 0.001), lower forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV₁) (HR, 2.975; 95% CI, 1.682-5.262, p < 0.001), lower diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide corrected with hemoglobin (DL_CO) (HR, 4.595; 95% CI, 2.665-7.924, p < 0.001), higher EI (HR, 3.722; 95% CI, 2.192-6.319, p < 0.001), presence of vertebral fractures (HR, 2.062; 95% CI, 1.154-3.683, p = 0.015), and lower D_Thorax (HR, 2.773; 95% CI, 1.620-4.746, p < 0.001) were significantly associated with all-cause mortality and lung-related mortality. In the multivariate Cox analysis, lower D_Thorax (HR, 1.957; 95% CI, 1.075-3.563, p = 0.028) along with older age, lower BMI, lower FEV₁, and lower DL_CO were independent predictors of all-cause mortality. Conclusion: The thoracic vertebral bone density measured on chest CT demonstrated significant associations with the patients' mortality and clinical variables of disease severity in the COPD patients included in KOLD cohort.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.81 no.3
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• pp.198-215
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• 2018

Bronchodilators provide improvements in lung function and reductions in symptoms and exacerbations, and are the mainstay of pharmacological management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease strategy recommends the use of a combination of long-acting ${\beta}_2-agonist$/long-acting muscarinic antagonists (LABA/LAMA) as the first-line treatment option in the majority of symptomatic patients with COPD. This review provides an indirect comparison of available LABA/LAMA fixed-dose combinations (FDCs) through discussion of important efficacy and safety data from the key literature, with the objective of providing physicians with a framework for informed decision-making. LABA/LAMA FDCs provided greater benefits compared with placebo and similar or greater benefits compared with tiotropium and salmeterol/fluticasone in improving lung function, dyspnea, health-related quality of life, reducing rescue medication use and preventing exacerbations, although with some variability in efficacy between individual FDCs; further, tolerability profiles were comparable among LABA/LAMA FDCs. However, there is a disparity in the amount of evidence generated for different LABA/LAMA FDCs. Thus, this review shows that all LABA/LAMA FDCs may not be the same and that care should be taken when extrapolating individual treatment outcomes to the entire drug class. It is important that physicians consider the efficacy gradient that exists among LABA/LAMA FDCs, and factors such as inhaler devices and potential biomarkers, when choosing the optimal bronchodilator treatment for long-term management of patients with COPD.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.129-134
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• 2018

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the changes in pulmonary function, gait ability, and quality of life when NMES is applied along with CBE and to provide basic clinical data to be used in pulmonary rehabilitation guidelines for patients with COPD to treat patients with severe COPD. Methods: For this study, CBE and NMES of quadriceps femoris on both sides were applied to the experimental group (n=10), and only CBE was applied to the control group (n=10). For a pre-test, a 6-minute walk test was performed, and pulmonary function and health-related quality of life were measured. Moreover, an exercise program was applied to each group for 30 minutes per session, 5 times a week, for 6 weeks. After that, a post-test was conducted the same way as the pre-test. Results: In the within-group comparison, there were significant differences in forced expiratory volume in one second, 6-minute walk test and health-related quality of life between the experimental group and the control group (p<0.01)(p<0.05). In the between-group comparison, the experimental group showed an increase in forced expiratory volume in one second and 6-minute walk test (p<0.05) and showed a decline in health-related quality of life (p<0.05). Conclusion: The 6-weeks NMES program improved health-related quality in patients with severe COPD by increasing expiratory volume by reinforcing the function of quadriceps femoris. This finding implies that NMES could be an alternative mode for improving physical functions of patients with severe COPD, who cannot participate in a breathing exercise program or are reluctant to participate.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.89-102
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• 2013

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the effects of root of Curcumin longa (RCL) on LPS-induced COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) model. Materials and Methods: Extract of RCL was treated to RAW 264.7 cells and LPS-induced COPD mouse model. Then, various parameters such as cell-based protective activity, airflow limitation, accumulation of immune cells and histopathological finding were analyzed. Results: RCL showed a protective effect on LPS-induced cytotoxicity in RAW 264.7 cells. RCL treatment also revealed a protective effect on LPS-induced lung injury in a COPD mouse model. This effect was demonstrated via the reduction of accumulation of immune cells and pathophysiological regulation of caspase 3, elastin and collagen in lung tissue. Conclusions: These data suggest that RCL has a pharmaceutical property on lung injury. This study provides scientific evidence for the efficacy of RCL for clinical application to COPD patients.