• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.325-333
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• 2021

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is one of the most prevalent neurodegenerative disorders. Enhancing hippocampal neurogenesis by promoting proliferation and differentiation of neural stem cells (NSCs) is a promising therapeutic strategy for AD. 20(S)-protopanaxadiol (PPD) and oleanolic acid (OA) are small, bioactive compounds found in ginseng that can promote NSC proliferation and neural differentiation in vitro. However, it is currently unknown whether PPD or OA can attenuate cognitive deficits by enhancing hippocampal neurogenesis in vivo in a transgenic APP/PS1 AD mouse model. Here, we administered PPD or OA to APP/PS1 mice and monitored the effects on cognition and hippocampal neurogenesis. Methods: We used the Morris water maze, Y maze, and open field tests to compare the cognitive capacities of treated and untreated APP/PS1 mice. We investigated hippocampal neurogenesis using Nissl staining and BrdU/NeuN double labeling. NSC proliferation was quantified by Sox2 labeling of the hippocampal dentate gyrus. We used western blotting to determine the effects of PPD and OA on Wnt/GSK3β/β-catenin pathway activation in the hippocampus. Results: Both PPD and OA significantly ameliorated the cognitive impairments observed in untreated APP/PS1 mice. Furthermore, PPD and OA significantly promoted hippocampal neurogenesis and NSC proliferation. At the mechanistic level, PPD and OA treatments resulted in Wnt/GSK-3β/β-catenin pathway activation in the hippocampus. Conclusion: PPD and OA ameliorate cognitive deficits in APP/PS1 mice by enhancing hippocampal neurogenesis, achieved by stimulating the Wnt/GSK-3β/β-catenin pathway. As such, PPD and OA are promising novel therapeutic agents for the treatment of AD and other neurodegenerative diseases.

• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.19-32
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• 2022

Objectives This scoping review aimed to investigate the domestic clinical research trends of motion-style acupuncture treatment (MSAT), identify diseases and symptoms for which MSAT is used, summarize specific methods of MSAT, and suggest the direction of future studies. Methods The study was conducted in accordance with a previously specified methodology, using the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses extension for scoping reviews (PRISMA-ScR) checklist. We searched nine electronic databases for studies on MSAT reported till March 21, 2022. The search terms were 'kinematic acupuncture,' 'MSAT,' 'motion style acupuncture,' and 'motion style treatment.' Results A total of 29 studies were included in our analyses; of them, 23 (79.3%) were before-after studies. Lumbosacral disease was the most common for which MSAT was applied (n=16). The frequency and duration of treatments differed depending on the researchers, and local acupoints (including ashi points) were used in 22 (75.9%) studies. In most cases, the method of mobilizing the joint or stretching the muscle in the disease area was used after inserting the acupuncture; however, in 7 studies, gait exercise was used. Most studies used MSAT in combination with other treatments. Conclusions This study supports the direction of future research by presenting the methodological applications of MSAT. To increase its clinical applicability, studies with a high level of evidence investigating the application to various body part, standardization and safety of MSAT are necessary.

• Journal of Naturopathy
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.63-70
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• 2019

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether Qihyul-therapy was effective against subjects of bad Qihyul circulation who had narrowed muscles of the buttocks, a distorted body shape, or pain. Methods: Qihyul-therapy used. Results: The muscles of the buttocks remained almost untouched. The elasticity of the muscles restored. The skin tone brightened, and the anal muscle strengthened after Qihyul-therapy. The subject's body was shifted to the right by -7°. The right arm was about 6 cm longer than the left arm. But after correction, the right arm was about 5 cm shorter. The distorted body was almost balanced. After neck and shoulder correction, the distance between the collarbone and neck was 7~10 cm wider. After the pelvic correction, the pain in the buttocks was relieved, and the position of the hip joint returned correctly. The right leg that was turned 45° to the left was corrected, and the length became the same. Subjects had no knees attached, their right knees were up 5 cm above the left, and their ankles bent at an angle of 30 ° relative to the left, but after correction, the knees of the two legs stably attached. The height of the knee became the normal angle. Conclusion: If the Qihyul-therapy, the spine correction Qihyul-exercise and the pelvic correction Qihyul-exercise performed steadily, the deformed body shape restored adequately, and it is useful to prevent and cure related diseases by alleviating the pains.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.14-20
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• 2024

Objectives: Frozen shoulder (FS) is one of the most challenging shoulder disorders for patients and clinicians. Its symptoms mainly include any combination of stiffness, nocturnal pain, and limitation of active and passive glenohumeral joint movement. Conventional treatment options for FS are physical therapy, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, injection therapy, and arthroscopic capsular release, but adverse and limited effects continue to present problems. As a result, pharmacoacupuncture (PA) is getting attention as an alternative therapy for patients with FS. PA is a new form of acupuncture treatment in traditional Korean medicine (TKM) that is mainly used for musculoskeletal diseases. It has similarity and specificity compared to corticosteroid injection and hydrodilatation, making it a potential alternative injection therapy for FS. However, no systematic reviews investigating the utilization of PA for FS have been published. Therefore, this review aims to standardize the clinical use of PA for FS and validate its therapeutic effect. Methods: The protocol was registered in Prospero (CRD42023445708) on 18 July 2023. Until Aug. 31, 2023, seven electronic databases will be searched for randomized controlled trials of PA for FS. Authors will be contacted, and manual searches will also be performed. Two reviewers will independently screen and collect data from retrieved articles according to predefined criteria. The primary outcome will be pain intensity, and secondary outcomes will be effective rate, Constant-Murley Score, Shoulder Pain and Disability Index, range of motion, quality of life, and adverse events. Bias and quality of the included trials will be assessed using the Cochrane handbook's risk-of-bias tool for randomized trials. Meta analyses will be conducted using Review Manager V.5.3 software. GRADE will be used to evaluate the level of evidence for each outcome. Results: This systematic review and meta-analysis will be conducted following PRISMA statement. The results will be published in a peer-reviewed journal. Conclusion: This review will provide scientific evidence to support health insurance policy as well as the standardization of PA in clinical practice.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.85 no.1
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• pp.240-246
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• 2024

Epithelioid angiosarcoma is a rare variant of angiosarcoma characterized by an epithelioid morphology that mimics carcinoma. Therefore, multicentric epithelioid angiosarcoma is easily misdiagnosed as bone metastasis from carcinoma and has an aggressive clinical course. Here, we present a rare case of a 61-year-old male with multicentric epithelioid angiosarcoma of the bone. Plain radiography, CT, and MRI revealed multiple osteolytic lesions in both femurs; some lesions showed soft tissue extension with cortical bone destruction. Interestingly, PET-CT revealed that the lesions were only distributed along the bones of the lower extremities, including the pelvic bones, femurs, and tibiae. Despite histological analysis initially suggesting metastatic carcinoma, after additional immunohistological staining, including that for vascular markers (CD31 and ERG), the final diagnosis was epithelioid angiosarcoma. A better understanding of the clinicoradiological features of this disease may help eliminate diagnostic confusion and provide better management.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.155-165
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• 2006

The purpose of this study was to evaluate treatment outcome and prognosis of the patients with orofacial pain disorders who visited for treatment in the Department of Oral Medicine, Dankook University Dental Hospital from January 2002 to December 2004. Orofacial pain disorders were categorized into TMD(myogenous, arthrogenous and muscle-joint combined TMDs), neuropathic pain disorder, oral soft tissue disease and complex condition simultaneously having more and two aforementioned categories and treatment period, method and treatment outcome were evaluated. The results of this study were as follows; 1. Average longevity of treatment period was the longest in the neuropathic pain, followed by soft tissue disease, complex conditions, arthrogenous TMD, muscle-joint combined TMD and myogenous TMD in order. 2. When treatment methods were largely categorized into pharmacologic, physical and oral appliance therapy, pharmacologic therapy was used the most frequently for the patients with neuropathic pain or oral soft tissue diseases, oral appliance therapy for those with arthrogenous TMD and physical therapy for those with myogenous TMD. 3. Of physical therapeutic methods used in our clinic, EAST and microwave was employed the most frequently in the patients with myogenous TMD, ultrasound for those with arthogenous TMD and LLLT for those with neuropathic pain or oral soft tissue disease. 4. In comparison with change of pain after treatment, there existed a tendency that pain from neuropathic pain disorders persisted while pain from TMD was getting better or totally disappeared. 5. Concerning the change of mouth opening range in the TMD subgroups, there was no significant difference among the subgroups but significant difference existed among opening ranges, indicating comfortable maximum mouth opening increased the most following treatment. Improvement of active range of mouth opening was the most considerable in those with disc displacement without reduction. It can be said on the basis of the findings from this study that various treatments currently used for the orofacial pain showed good results with TMD in regards with pain control and improvement of function, suggestive of favorable prognosis, while neuropathic pain or soft tissue disease was the clinical conditions difficult to resolve, requiring a long and persistent treatment.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.57-71
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• 1998

This study purports to examine sociodemographic characteristics and those factors associated with osteoarthritis in women experiencing the disease in order to make suggestions for the prevention and management of osteoarthritis in women. The subjects were 143 women who were diagnosed to have osteoarthritis and under follow-up care at an outpatient department of a university-affiliated hospital. The data were collected through personal interviews by using the structured questionnaire between October 6 and October 24, 1997. The degree of daily living activities was measured with 24 items, which were made based upon Katz Index, Barthel Index and Functional Status Index. Each item has 4 response categories : (1) being able to do alone with any difficulty, (2) being able to do alone with some difficulty, (3) being able to do alone with the help of a person or an instrument, (4) not being able to do at all. The data was analyzed with correlation analysis, t-test, ANOVA, and regression analysis. The results are summarized as follows : 1. As for the age of the subjects, 59.4% were between 45 and 64 years, while 28% were 65 years and above. The subjects having religion were 71.7% and 44.1% of the subjects were protestants. The educational level was low : 31.5% graduated from elementary school, while 30.1% had no formal education. Those married subjects were 72%. Fifty nine percent of the subjects evaluated their economic status as middle class. 2. Those people from whom the subjects currently receive some help were spouses in 35.8% of the subjects. Likewise, 50% of the subjects indicated spouse as the people from whom they want to receive help. 3. The score of the ability of daily living activities ranged between 48 and 96, with the mean of 78.94. Those means of physical activity, ADL(activities of daily living) and IADL(instrumental activities of daily living) were 14.89, 13.97 and 50.09, respectively. Except for the items of carrying heavy stuff and of washing clothes in the sitting position the subjects showed independence in more than 90% of the items, where Independence is defined as being able to do alone or with the help of a person or an instrument. 4. The increase in age was a significant predictor of the decrease in the ability of daily living activities. Those graduated from middle school and above showed a significantly higher degree in the ability of daily living activities than those with less educational level. The married women revealed significantly higher scores in physical activity, ADL, and IADL than the unmarried ones. The ability of daily living activities was not significantly related to having religion, economic status and living with family. 5. The average duration of experiencing osteoarthritis was 4 years and 7 months. Regarding the site of the onset, 65% of the subjects indicated knees. The women with osteoarthritis for less than 3 years were 65%. The ability of daily living activities was significantly different by the duration of illness : the longer the duration of illness, the less the ability of activities. The above findings suggest the need for developing those programs for prevention disabilities in performing daily living activities and for managing diseases targeting the women of middle and old age, with low educational level, and with unmarried status. In addition, there should be developed an instrument for measuring the ability of daily living activities which reflects daily lives of Korean women with osteoarthritis in order to examine comprehensive effects of osteoarthritis on women's daily lives in this country.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.375-380
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• 2009

The purpose of this study was to help improve oral health care planning for the elderly in an effort to promote the oral health of elderly people in preparation for aging society. The subjects in this study were 200 elderly people who were selected by random sampling from senior centers in Seoul. An interview was conducted to gather data from June to September 2008, and the data collected were analyzed.: 1. The mean number of residual tooth was 13.71. 2. Concerning connections between gender and subjective oral symptoms, gender had a statistically significant relationship to temporomandibular joint dysfunction(p=0.000), dry mouth(p=0.001) and halitosis(p=0.006). The men underwent more oral symptoms than the women. 3. As for the relationship of mastication(p=0.000), oral pain(p=0.010), temporomandibular joint dysfunction(p=0.010) and dry mouth(p=0.001) to subjective oral health state, the elderly people who were not in a good oral health suffered more oral symptoms, and the gap between them and the others was statistically significant. 4. A larger number of tooth led to less mastication difficulties, less dry mouth and more gingival diseases, and the relationship between the factors was statistically significant. A better oral health state led to less mastication difficulties, less oral pain, less dry mouth and less bad breath, and the relationship between the factors was statistically significant. Through this study the oral health the elderly people perceive wss concerned with oral symptom, and the number of residual teeth also had links to subjective oral symptoms. Therefore, to maintain original teeth of the elderly people, the management system of oral health and the education program for oral health in order to prevent disease relateded with oral and enhance the perception standard of oral state are indispensably necessary to the elderly people.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.17-40
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• 1995

Rheumatoid arthritis is the one of the chronic diseases, one of its major symptoms is a chronic pain. Despite developing medical treatment and surgical techniques, it is suggested that to control the pain is the goal of the treatment. But pain is an inner experience and even those closest to the patient cannot truly observe its progress or share in its suffering. The National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine's report on Pain and Disability concluded that there is no objective measure of pain-(exactly) no pain thermometer-nor can there ever be one, because the experience of pain is inseparable from personal perception and social influence such as culture. To explore chronic pain experience is to understand the process and property of the patient's perception of pain through the response to pain, the coping with pain, and the adaptation to pain. Therefore a qualitative study was conducted in order to gain an understanding of pain experience of patients with RA in korea. I used naturalistic inquiry as a research methodology, which had 5 axioms, the first is that realities are multiple, constructed, and holistic, the second is that knower and known are interactive, inseparable, the third is only time and context bound working hypotheses(idiographic statements) are possible, the forth is all entities are in a state of mutual simultaneous shaping, so that it is impossible to distinguish causes from effects and the last is that inquiry is value-bound. Purposive sampling was conducted as a sampling. 20 subjects who experienced pain over 10 years, lived in middle-sized city and big city in Korea, and 17 women and 3 men. The subject's age was from 32 to 62 (average 48.8), all were married, living with their spouse and children, except two-one divorced and the other widow before they became ill. I collected data using In depth structured interview. I had interviews two or three times with each subject, and the interviews were conducted at each subject's home. Each interview lasted about two hours an average. A recording was taken with the consent of the subject. I used inductive data analysis-such as unitizing and categorizing. unitizing is a process of coding, whereby raw data are systematically transformed and aggregated into units. Categorizing is a process wherby previously unitized data are organized into categories that provide descriptive or inferential information about the context or setting from which the units were derived. This process is used constant comparative method. The pain controlling process is composed of behavior of pain control. The behaviors of pain control are rearranging of ADL, hiddening role conflict, balancing treatment, and changing social relation. Rearranging of ADL includes diet management, sleep management, and the adjustment of daily life activities. The subjects try to rearrange their daily activities by modified style of motions, rearranging time span & range of activities, using auxillary facilities, and getting help in order to keep on the pace of daily life. Hiddening role conflict means to reduce conflicts between sick role and their role as a family member. In this process, the subjects use two modes, one is to control the pain complaints, and the other is to internalize the value which is to stay home is good for caring her children and being a good mother. To control pain complaints is done by 'enduring', 'understanding' the other family members, or making them undersood in order to reduce pain. Balancing treatment is composed of two aspects. One is to keep the pain within the endurable level, the other is to keep in touch with medical personnel in order to get the information of treatment and emotional support. Changing social relation is made by information seeking and sharing, formation of mutual support relation, and finally simplification of social relationships. The subjects simplify their social relationships by refraining from relations with someone who makes them physically and psychologically strained. In particular the subjects are apt to avoid contact with in-laws, and the change of relation to in-laws results in lessening the family boundary. In the course of this process, they confront the crisis of family confict result in family dissolution. This crisis is related to the threat of self-existence. Findings from this study contribute to understanding the chronic pain experience. To advance this study, we should compare this result with other cases in different cultural contexts. I think to interpret these results, korean cultural background should be considered. Especially the different family concept, more broader family members and kinship network, and the traditional medical knowledge influences patients' behavior.

• The Journal of the Korean bone and joint tumor society
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.18-23
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• 2003

Purpose: Delay in the diagnosis of the primary malignant bone tumors may critically influence the chance of the patients' survival and the limb sparing, but the primary malignant bone tumors are so rare that most doctors have little experience in these challenging diseases. The purpose of the current study is to examine the initial symptoms of osteosarcoma and chondrosarcoma, and to shorten the delay of diagnosis. Materials and Methods: The data was based on the questionnaires and the medical records from 139 patients whose histological diagnoses were confirmed in the authors' institution. There were 108 patients of osteosarcoma and 31 patients of chondrosarcoma. Eighty-six were male and fifty-three were female. The mean age of the patients was 20.2 years in osteosarcoma, and 42.4 years in chondrosarcoma. Results: The most common symptom that the patient consult the doctor was pain (93.5% of osteosarcoma patients and 61.3% of chondrosarcoma patients). Among them, 76.2% of osteosarcoma and 57.8% of chondrosarcoma patients complained the night pain. The history of trauma was evident in 48.5% of osteosarcoma patients and one patient of chondrosarcoma. At the first medical visit, the malignant bone tumor was suspected in 61.1% of osteosarcoma and 64.5% of chondrosarcoma patients. Fracture was the most common misdiagnosis in osteosarcoma (16.7%), and the osteomyelitis in chondrosarcoma (19.4%). Initial radiographic examination and the adult age were shown to increase the rate of correct diagnosis of both diseases (p<0.05). Patient's delay and doctor's delay were significantly longer in chondrosarcoma patients than in osteosarcoma. Initial radiography led to shorten the doctor's delay, and the axial location of the tumor lengthened the doctor's delay. Trauma and the young age were believed to shorten the patient's delay. Conclusion: Careful history taking, including the night pain and trauma, would be mandatory for the early diagnosis of the primary malignant bone tumors, and the initial radiographic examination and periodic follow-up can increase the rate of correct diagnosis.