• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Applied Pharmacology
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• 1998.11a
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• pp.122-122
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• 1998

Propentofylline (PPF), a xanthine derivative, has been reported to be effective for the treatment of both vascular dementia and Alzheimer's disease. The elimination half-life of PPF was ranged from 15 to 45 min in rabbit and human, and PPF was rapidly disappeared from the blood. The objective of this experiment is to investigate whether xanthine analogues have effects on the profile of plasma concentration and metabolism of PPF. Caffeine (50 mg/kg, ip) was treated to Sprague-Dawley rats for consecutive 7 days and PPF was intravenously administered to rats 2 hr after the last dose of caffeine. In the other group, PPF was intravenously administered to rats 1 hr after a single dose of pentoxifylline (50 mg/kg, iv). Control group was treated with saline vehicle for the same period as in treatment groups. Blood was withdrawn at specific time intervals. PPF and one of its metabolite (POH) in plasma were determined by gas chromatography/nitrogen phosphorus detector. Plasma concentrations and pharmacokinetic parameters were compared between groups. The area under the curve (AUC) of PPF in rats treated sub chronically with caffeine was significantly decreased compared to control rats. Caffeine treatment results in a significant increase of total body clearance. The AUC of POH was significantly decreased in the caffeine-treated group. A single dose of pentoxifylline has no effect on the phramacokinetics of PPF. Reduction of the AUCs of PPF and POH both suggests that caffeine may increase the excretion of PPF with no affecting the metabolism of PPF to POH.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.42-57
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• 2020

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is indicated for various mental disorders (e.g., major depressive disorder, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder) and the behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia in elderly patients. Furthermore, ECT is a useful first-line treatment in emergency and crisis situations such as suicide risk, violent behavior, catatonia, and food refusal, which are more frequent in elderly patients. ECT is also effective in the treatment of the motor symptoms of neurological disorders, such as Parkinson's disease and Huntington's disease. Due to the high risk of various physical diseases, the comorbid physical conditions of elderly patients should be individually controlled to optimize ECT treatment. Compared to young adults, in elderly patients the seizure threshold is higher, the seizure duration is shorter, and the anesthetic dose is lower. On the contrary, the response rate in the elderly is both faster and higher. Considering potential cognitive decline and the prevention of further deterioration of cognitive function in elderly patients, in the absence of significant comorbidities, twice weekly sessions and right unilateral electrode placement with a lower seizure threshold and less cognitive effect are preferred to bilateral electrode placement, which has a high risk of adverse cognitive effects. After an acute course of ECT, continuation and maintenance of ECT, combined with prescription of therapeutic drugs, may prevent possible relapse or recurrence of mental disorders. In conclusion, ECT can be used to treat mental disorders in elderly adults, with safety and effectiveness comparable to that in young adults.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.138-142
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• 2022

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common age-related neurodegenerative disease in industrialized countries. It is estimated that about 47 million people living with dementia and the number of cases will be tripled by 2050. However, the exact mechanism of AD is not known, and full therapy has still not been found. Various tryptophan-derived alkaloids have been reported as promising agents for the treatment of AD. In the present study, a series of tryptophan-derived alkaloids were isolated and characterized from the methanol extract of Hedera rhombea fruit. Based on the analysis of their observed and reported spectroscopic data, their structures were identified as N-[4'-hydroxy-(E)-cinnamoyl]-L-tryptophan (1), N-[3',4'-dihydroxy-(E)-cinnamoyl]-L-tryptophan (2), N-[4'-hydroxy-(E)-cinnamoyl]-L-tryptophan methyl ester (3), and N-[3',4'-dihydroxy-(E)-cinnamoyl]-L-tryptophan methyl ester (4). These compounds were screened for anti-Alzheimer activity via their inhibition of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) enzymes in vitro. As a result, compounds 3 and 4 showed moderate BChE inhibition with IC₅₀ values of 86.9 and 78.4 μM, respectively, compared to those of the positive control [berberine (IC₅₀ = 11.5 μM)]. However, all four compounds did not show significant inhibition of the AChE enzyme. This is the first time, the AChE and BChE inhibitory activities of these tryptophan-derived alkaloids were investigated and reported.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.41 no.9
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• pp.1253-1258
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• 2012

In the present study, we investigated the effects of Rubus coreanus Miquel (RCM) on memory ability of senescence-accelerated mice (SAM). Prone 8 strains of SAM mice (SAMP8), which is a useful animal for investigating the mechanism of brain aging and senile dementia, were fed a diet containing 100 mg/kg body weight/day of RCM for 8 weeks. Memory ability of mice was examined by using passive avoidance test and Morris water maze test. SAMP8 mice showed remarkable memory impairment compared with senescence-resistant 1 strains of SAM (SAMR1). RCM significantly improved memory ability of SAMP8 mice. In addition, acetylcholineasterase activities decreased in the brain of SAMP8 mice treated with RCM. Taken together, these results suggest that RCM may act as an acetylcholineasterase inhibitor, thereby improving senescence-related memory impairment.

• The Journal of the Society of Stroke on Korean Medicine
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.21-30
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• 2018

■ Objectives This case study is to report the two cases of Gami-Guibitang on cognitive impairment after stroke with improved recall memory. ■ Methods We used Korean medicine treatments including Gami-guibitang, acupuncture and moxibustion to treat patients who had cognitive impairment after stroke for at least two months. We observed the changes of symptoms by measuring Korean version of Mini-mental status examination (MMSE-K), Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) and Global Detration Scale (GDS). ■ Results After treatment, the patient's symptoms were improved including MMSE-K, CDR and GDS. Improvement appeared to be prominent in recall memory. The general condition were also improved after treatment. ■ Conclusion This clinical case study suggests that Korean medicine including Gami-guibitang could be used to treat patients who had cognitive impairment after stroke especially suffering from degraded recall memory.

• The Journal of Korean Academic Society of Nursing Education
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.260-269
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• 2005

The purpose of this study was to examine what types of physical, psychological, and social problems elderly and what sort of education they were in want of to tackle their problems. The subjects in this study were 109 elderly who used Lifelong Education Center and social welfare agencies in Suwon. The data were gathered from September 1 through the 30th day, 2004. The instrument was questionnaires prepared by this researcher after reviewing relevant literature. The collected data were analyzed with SPSS(Ver. 11.0) program. The major findings were as follows: 1. Among different types of problems with the elderly people investigated, 42.2%, found economic problems most serious, followed by health problems with 33.9%. 2. They got a 4.36, 4.02 and 4.70 in needs for physical, psychological, and social education respectively. 3. Regarding physical area, the elderly people were most in want of education about the prevention of dementia. As to psychological area, they attached the meaning of death and preparation for that. Social area, they wanted to learn about problems with the elderly. Based on the findings of the study, I suggest that More educational programs geared toward the elderly should be developed in response to their needs for education.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.344-354
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• 2002

This study is a fact-finding research to understand the status of visiting nursing services operated by health centers in Korea and it aims to provide basic information for policy development on operation and management of visiting nursing services in health centers. Method: This study investigates the results of visiting nursing services in 242 health centers from Jan. 10 through Dec. 30, 2000, where 3,106 visiting nurses were employed by the public work program. Result: In 2000, 129,401 new household as service recipients was identified and that was 0.9% of Koreas total households (15,137,000), and 5.8% of low income households (2,242,000). The highest high risk group was dementia patients(aver. 55.2/1,000 person). Average number of households visited by visiting nurse were 4.5 households per day and the first-visited houses per visiting nurse were 1.1 households per day. The re-visiting rate was 71.3%. Total 4,059,130 service items were provided and assessment ranked the highest with 33.7%. The satisfaction level of clients on the nurses was an average of 3.17 points in the scale of 4 and the nursing service was a 2.60 points in a scale of 3. Conclusion: Visiting nursing service should continue to provide comprehensive healthcare services in cost-effective ways while cooperating with others

• 제어로봇시스템학회:학술대회논문집
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• 1988.10b
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• pp.885-890
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• 1988

This is a successive study of the development and application of an electronic safeguard system for elderly men (senile dementia patients) who wander without purpose because of declined mental capability, while retaining their physical ability. The new safeguard system is designed with some additional functions on the basis of the previously developed system. Firstly, alarms are designed not to disturb other patients at night, so that informations about doors from which the patients go out may be transmitted to helpers individually by radio paging system. Secondly, the system hardware can be set up anywhere without laying particular signal transmission cables, provided that there exist AC power distribution lines for the utilization as a transmission line of signals to alarm indicators. Thirdly, it is possible to have a grasp of the whole states of the safeguard systems at the center of operation by monitoring the operational state of each system with a necessary data acquisition according to its instruction through telecommunication network. Thus, each safeguard system can be economically supplied to the special nursing homes and the helpers are ensured more released from physical and psychological burdens so that they can devote themselves to the care of senile elderly men, thereby improving their patients' comfort and human dignity.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.34-45
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• 2014

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of laughter therapy and cognitive reinforcement program on self-efficacy, depression and cognitive functions of the elderly with mild cognitive impairments (MCI). Methods: The study design was a non-equivalent control group pre and posttest design. Thirty-six subjects over the age of 65 with a diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment were assigned either to a treatment or a comparison group. Data were collected from February 7 to March 27, 2012 in the dementia supporting center. An eight week treatment program that included laughter therapy coupled with a cognitive reinforcing program including hand exercise, laughter dance routine, laughter technic and cognitive training for attention, memory, orientation and execution skill. Results: MoCA-K (t=-6.86, p<.001) and Stroop test CW correct (t=-2.54, p=.008), self-efficacy (t=-3.62, p=.001) in the treatment group were significantly higher than those of the comparison group. Reported depression (t=2.29, p=.014), Stroop test CW error (U=53.50, p<.001) in the treatment group was significantly less than the comparison group. Conclusion: In this study, the treatment was effective in improving self-efficacy, cognitive function and reducing depression in the elderly with MCI.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Rural Health Nursing
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.38-46
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• 2019

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to analyze differences in the needs of primary health care posts before 2008 and after 2009. Methods: For the final analysis data on 1,905 public health centers and 1,521 public health practitioners were analyzed. The chi-test was used to examine differences between the employees before and after 2008 in general, and T-test for differences in core competencies and job training needs. The test was carried out during June and July, 2017. Results: There were statistically significant differences in general characteristics, future health clinic function, necessity for core competency education, and for job education. Conclusion: Information on the need for new job training should include information the use of public health center information systems, drug mechanisms, medication guidance, discrimination of major symptoms, treatment for common diseases, patient referral and follow-up, health management for elders, dementia management, and chronic disease management. In future job training, it is necessary to elaborate intensively details and evaluate effectiveness.