• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.30-36
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• 2013

The aim of this review was to assess the effectiveness of ginseng as a treatment option for managing menopause symptoms. We searched the literature using ll databases from their inception to 26 September 2012 and included all randomised clinical trials (RCTs) that compared any type of ginseng to a placebo controls in postmenopausal women. The methodological quality of all studies was assessed using a Cochrane risk of bias tool. Four RCTs met our inclusion criteria. Most RCTs had high risk of bias. One RCT showed that Korean red ginseng (KRG) significantly improved sexual arousal and global health compared with placebo. Another RCT reported the superiority of KRG over placebo for treating menopause symptoms on Kupperman's index and menopausal rating score. The third RCT failed to show a significant effect of KRG on hot flash frequency compared to placebo. The fourth RCT found beneficial effects of ginseng compared to placebo on depression and well-being. In conclusion, the evidence on ginseng as an effective treatment for managing menopause symptoms is limited. Most of the RCTs are burdened with a high risk of bias. Thus firm conclusions cannot be drawn. Rigorous studies seem warranted.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.7
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• pp.3363-3367
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• 2016

Background: Breast cancer (BC) is a major health issue worldwide as well as in Pakistan. All women belonging to any race, ethnicity or lineage are in danger of developing breast cancer. Significant factors influencing the development of breast malignancies are the genetic background, environmental conditions, reproductive parameters, the consequences of female hormones both intrinsic and extrinsic, alteration of immune status, and biologic determinants. Materials and Methods: Overall 150 biopsy proven patients were included in the study. Samples were submitted for histopathology and determination of estrogen and progesterone receptor expression and HER-2/neu status. Associations with other characteristics like age, tumor stage, node involvement, histological grade were also studied. Results: Mean age at presentation was 46.7 years. The majority had invasive ductal carcinoma, 100 (84.7%), and were in stage pT3, 54 (45.7%). Important relationships (P<0.05) were found among ER, PR positivity, and Her 2 neu overexpression. However, no noteworthy link was identified amongst ER, PR, Her 2 neu and tumor grade, stage, age, lymph node involvement except for the menopausal status. Conclusions: In summary, breast cancer patients featured an advanced stage of disease, more lymph node involvement, and moderately high grade tumors and with more estrogen, progesterone receptor and HER-2 positive tumors.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.549-561
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• 2018

Ginseng has been traditionally used for several millennia in Asian countries, including Korea, China, and Japan, not only as a nourishing and tonifying agent but also as a therapeutic agent for a variety of diseases. In recent years, the various effects of red ginseng including immunity improvement, fatigue relief, memory improvement, blood circulation improvement, antioxidation, mitigation of menopausal women's symptoms, and anticancer an effect have been reported in clinical as well as basic research. Around the world, there is a trend of the rising consumption of health functional foods on the level of disease prevention along with increased interest in maintaining health because of population aging and the awareness of lifestyle diseases and chronic diseases. Red ginseng occupies an important position as a health functional food. But till now, international ginseng monographs including those of the World Health Organization have been based on data on white ginseng and have mentioned red ginseng only partly. Therefore, the red ginseng monograph is needed for component of red ginseng, functionality certified as a health functional food in the Korea Food and Drug Administration, major efficacy, action mechanism, and safety. The present red ginseng monograph will contribute to providing accurate information on red ginseng to agencies, businesses, and consumers both in South Korea and abroad.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.80-87
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• 2008

Purpose: Hypoestrogenism caused by ovariectomy, disease, or menopause is associated with increased obesity in women. Altered fat distribution and weight gain are consequences of menopausal hypoestrogenism, but the mechanisms responsible are not completely known. This study examined the effect of estrogen on obesity in ovariectomized rats. Method: The groups of female rats were 4 weeks post ovariectomy (OVX) or, 4 weeks post-sham operation (SHAM), and 2 weeks post ovariectomy followed by 2 weeks replacement with estradiol benzoate (ER-$16{\mu}g$/kg, subq, qd). Serum ghrelin level was measured by radioimmunoassay (RIA). The expression of adrenergic receptors in adipose tissue was measured by Western blotting assay. Result: OVX significantly increased body weight, serum cholesterol. Two weeks estrogen replacement reduced body weight accompanied by the increment of serum ghrelin and the reduction of the receptor ratio of adrenergic ${\alpha}_{2A}/{\beta}_1$, and ${\alpha}_{2A}/{\beta}_3$. Conclusion: We provide evidence that estrogen reduces obesity through the altered receptor ratio of adrenergic ${\alpha}_{2A}/{\beta}_1$, and ${\alpha}_{2A}/{\beta}_3$ in adipose tissue in ovariectomized rats.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.99-106
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• 2015

Purpose: To investigate factors influencing the evaluation of background parenchymal enhancement (BPE) at follow-up breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) after adjuvant endocrine therapy. Materials and Methods: One hundred twelve women with breast cancer and MRI of the contralateral unaffected breast before and after endocrine therapy were identified. Two readers in consensus performed blinded side-by-side comparison of BPE (minimal, mild, moderate, and marked) before and after therapy with categorical scales. Age, body mass index, menopausal status, treatment regimen (selective estrogen receptor modulator or aromatase inhibitor), chemotherapy, follow-up duration, BPE at baseline MRI, MRI field strength before and after therapy, and recurrence were analyzed for their influences on decreased BPE. Results: Younger age, premenopausal status, treatment with selective estrogen receptor modulator, MRI field strength, and moderate or marked baseline BPE were significantly associated with decreased BPE. In multivariate analysis, MRI field strength and baseline BPE showed a significant association. Conclusion: MRI field strength and baseline BPE before and after therapy .were associated with decreased BPE at post-therapy, follow-up MRI.

• Journal of Menopausal Medicine
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.169-175
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• 2018

Objectives: The rate of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in women diagnosed as they age is one of the main concerns of health cares. Recently new strategies used to prevent progressions of MetS toward the diagnosis of diabetes have focused on plant flavonoids. This study was aimed to investigate the beneficial effects of flavonoids fraction of Mespilus germanica leaves (MGL) on MetS in ovariectomized (OVX) rats. Methods: Twenty-four adult female Wistar rats, weighing 200 to 250 g, were divided into 3 groups: Sham surgery, OVX + Salin, or OVX + Flavonoid. Three weeks after ovariectomy, animals displayed MetS criteria received flavonoid injection (10 mg/kg, intraperitoneally) for 21 days. Then the body weight, body mass index, waist circumference, visceral fat, fasting blood glucose, serum insulin, lipid profiles and tumor necrosis $factor-{\alpha}$ ($TNF-{\alpha}$) were measured. Results: Treatment with flavonoids fraction of MGL significantly decreased serum level of insulin (P = 0.011), glucose (P = 0.024), $TNF-{\alpha}$ (P = 0.010), also MetS Z score (P = 0.020) and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (P = 0.007). Lipid profiles and visceral fat showed insignificant reduction. Conclusions: Flavonoids of MGL attenuates some of the MetS components possibly via reduction in $TNF-{\alpha}$ inflammatory cytokine.

• Journal of Menopausal Medicine
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.146-155
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• 2017

Postmenopausal women aged 50s generally experience gradual changes in body such as decline in antioxidant and estrogen levels as the body ages. To overcome these aging-associated changes, the needs for health functional foods are increasing. Dendropanax morbifera (DM) have antioxidant effects, anti-inflammatory against cancer cells, antidiabetic, and antiatherogenic effect which are associated with postmenopausal symptoms. We analyzed clinical effects of DM on aging-related symptoms by reporting their antioxidant, anticancer and inflammatory activity, etc. and their bioactivity. Data sources EMBASE, SCOPUS, PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar databases were searched up to August 2016 for studies investigating medicinal plants in prevention and treatment of diabetes. The search terms were "Dendropanax morbifera". The reference lists of articles were also reviewed for additional relevant studies. Extracts of DM have various efficacy such as antioxidant, anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory activity and anti-thrombotic effect.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.361-372
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• 2018

The purpose of this study was to develop an assessment scale for healthy aging of middle aged women. The data were collected from 385 middle aged women in two large cities in Korea. The development processes of the scale were followed: Development of preliminary items; Verification of content validity and reliability; Factor analysis and criterion validity of final items. Results: Factor analysis resulted in the creation of the final scale, which consisted of 38 items that were grouped into 9 factors: self achievement, physical change adaptation, psychological change adaptation, interpersonal relationships, menopausal symptom adaptation, economic stability, physical health, social support, social change adaptation. The explanatory variance was 64.03%. The reliability of the scale was Cronbach's ${\alpha}=.90$. Correlation of the scale with healthy aging and depression, established its construct and concurrent validity was r=-.69, p<.001. The scale was confirmed to have a relatively high validity and reliability. The findings of the study can be useful as a measurement to evaluate healthy aging of middle aged women. Future researches with the scale will be helpful for basic data for the program development to support healthy aging of middle aged women.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.103-108
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• 1996

Through the previous studies(I,II), it was observed that human follicular fluid(HFF) was more effective than human fetal cord serum(HFCS) on promoting meiotic resumption of oocytes and improving embryonic development of mouse in vitro. On the basis of these results, we have gradually exchanged HFCS with HFF as protein supplement in human ART. This study was performed to investigate the efficiency of HFF on improving the pregnancy rate in ART. Oocytes were retrieved transvaginally from patients treated with pituitary suppression with GnRH-agonist and ovarian stimulation with human menopausal gonadotro-pin(HMG) and pure follicle stimulating hormone(FSH). Aspirated oocytes were rinsed and cultured in TCM-199 containing HFF, and the concentrations of HFF were adjusted to 10, 20, and 30% according to the use for insemination, embryo growth and embryo transfer, respectively. As possible as, we tried to do embryo transfer into fallopian tube to mimic the coincidence of the cell stage with the place of sojourn in vivo, so we performed various ART programs(IVF & ET; in vitro fertilization, ZIFT; zygote intra fallopian-tube transfer, ZIFT & ET) according to the tubal conditions of patients. On the while, intra cytoplasmic sperm injection(ICSI) was used to assist IVF of the patients who had shown poor standard IVF results by immunological or severe male factor. Of the 255 cycles of ART programs using HFF as protein supplement, 118 cycles were turn out to be succeeded in pregnancy(46.2%, per cycle, p<0.05), while 21 pregnancies were achieved in the 69 cycles using HFCS(30.4%). The 255 cycles using HFF were subdivided into cycles with the type of ART programs, and each pregnancy rate of the ART programs were 44.7% (IVF & ET, 76/170 cycles), 53.4%(ZIFT, 31/58 cycles) and 40.7% (ZIFT & ET, 11/27 cycles), respectively. In the 61 ICSI cycles using HFF, 28 cycles succeed in pregnancy(45.9%), while 7 pregnancies were obtained in the 17 ICSI cycles using HFCS. Also the ongoing pregnancy rate in the group using HFF(78.8%, 93/118 cycles) was higher than that in the group using HFCS(61.9%). Therefore, we found that the use of HFF as protein supplement was more suitable and effective than the use of HFCS to improve the pregnancy rate in ART.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.440-448
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• 2007

The objective of this study is to determine the effectiveness of 16-month milk consumption as a part of the health promotion community program for women in Asan. Subjects included 313 women belonging to the milk group (mean age = 69.1, range $47{\sim}89 y$) and 66 women to the control (mean age=43.6, range $20{\sim}69 y$) group. For those in the milk group, one cup (200 ml) of partially lactose-digested low-fat milk was provided everyday for 16 months. Each subject was interviewed to assess calcium intake by a 24-h recall after fasting blood was obtained for analyzing bone turnover markers, and calcaneus broadband ultrasound attenuation (BUA) was measured by quantitative ultrasound (QUS) on the left heel before and after the milk supplementation. After 16 months, the calcium intake levels changed from 55% of recommended dietary allowance (RDA) to 85% RDA in the milk group and from 73% RDA to 84% RDA in the control group. BUA were reduced from $67.9{\pm}8.1$ to $64.7{\pm}17.5$ dB/MHz for milk and from $90.4{\pm}13.0$ to $87.2{\pm}15.2$ dB/MHz for control groups. Paired t-test showed the changes of BUA for both groups (-3.24 and -3.15 dB/MHz for milk and control groups, respectively) were significant, but the two groups did not show any differences in absolute changes. When post-BUA was analyzed after age, initial BUA and menopausal status were controlled as covariates in ANCOVA model, the milk group showed significantly (p < 0.05) smaller changes than the control group (-3.50 vs -6.71 dB/MHz, respectively). According to a multiple regression analysis, milk consumption and initial BUA showed significant interaction meaning that those with lower initial BUA showed higher milk effects. We conclude that one-cup a day milk consumption for 16 month can prevent further bone loss and significantly improve calcium intake.