• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.390-400
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• 2021

Background: We recently showed that gintonin, an active ginseng ingredient, exhibits antibrain neurodegenerative disease effects including multiple target mechanisms such as antioxidative stress and antiinflammation via the lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) receptors. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a spinal disease characterized by neurodegenerative changes in motor neurons with subsequent skeletal muscle paralysis and death. However, pathophysiological mechanisms of ALS are still elusive, and therapeutic drugs have not yet been developed. We investigate the putative alleviating effects of gintonin in ALS. Methods: The G93A-SOD1 transgenic mouse ALS model was used. Gintonin (50 or 100 mg/kg/day, p.o.) administration started from week seven. We performed histological analyses, immunoblot assays, and behavioral tests. Results: Gintonin extended mouse survival and relieved motor dysfunctions. Histological analyses of spinal cords revealed that gintonin increased the survival of motor neurons, expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factors, choline acetyltransferase, NeuN, and Nissl bodies compared with the vehicle control. Gintonin attenuated elevated spinal NAD(P) quinone oxidoreductase 1 expression and decreased oxidative stress-related ferritin, ionized calcium-binding adapter molecule 1-immunoreactive microglia, S100β-immunoreactive astrocyte, and Olig2-immunoreactive oligodendrocytes compared with the control vehicle. Interestingly, we found that the spinal LPA1 receptor level was decreased, whereas gintonin treatment restored decreased LPA1 receptor expression levels in the G93A-SOD1 transgenic mouse, thereby attenuating neurological symptoms and histological deficits. Conclusion: Gintonin-mediated symptomatic improvements of ALS might be associated with the attenuations of neuronal loss and oxidative stress via the spinal LPA1 receptor regulations. The present results suggest that the spinal LPA1 receptor is engaged in ALS, and gintonin may be useful for relieving ALS symptoms.

• Archives of Reconstructive Microsurgery
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.121-127
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• 1996

Peripheral nerve injury occurs mostly by trauma and is usually associated with fracture of bone and joint, muscular injury and tendon injury and it also evokes paralysis and anesthesia. When treatment of peripheral nerve injury is considered,, the modality of treatment is decided by the general condition of the patient, type of injury, associated injuries and the condition of wound. To get the maximum results, surgical treatment and reconstruction and rehabilitation should all go in hand-in-hand. From January 1985 to December 1994, we observed 61 patients that had operation without reconstruction due to peripheral nerve injury with a follow-up period of more than 1 year. Among the 61 patients, 44 were men(72%) and 17 were women(28%). Follow-up period was average 19 months. Age distribution was mostly in their twenties with a mean age of 28 years. Time interval of operation after injury was average 11 months. Trauma was the main cause of peripheral nerve injuries with a proportion of 87%. 31 patients had neurorrhaphy, in which case 14 patients had stay suture and 17 patients did not. 14 patients had nerve graft, and 16 patients had neurolysis. We used our scales to compare the results of surgery on the basis of British Research Council System. We gave scores to every sensory and motor scale to estimate functional improvement and emphasized on motor functional improvement. The total score = sensory score + ($2{\times}motor$ score). We considered 8-9 points as excellent, 6-7 points as good, 2-5 points as fair, 0-1 points as poor result. We considered excellent and good as much improved. Excellent and good results were obtained in 13 out of 14 neurorrhaphy with stay suture(93%), 12 out of 17 neurorrhaphy without stay suture(71%), 6 out of 14 nerve graft(43%), 12 out of 16 neurolysis(75%). Among the patients with neurorrhaphy done within 3 months, 11 out of 14(86%) showed improvement, but among the patients after 4 months 3 out of 17(76%) showed improvement. 84% of improvement was observed in the patients with time interval from injury to surgery within 3 months, and 64% in the patients with time interval after 4 months. In the aspect of age, 77% with the age below 20 years, 70% with the age between 21 and 30 years, 66% with the age above 31 years showed improvement. We conclude that considering degree of injury, time interval from injury and age with the adequate method of treatment, we can obtain good results from surgery.

• The Journal of Korea Assosiation for Disability and Oral Health
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.39-44
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• 2006

Cerebral palsy(CP) is one of the most common motor disease, due to brain injury during fetal and neonatal development which results in neuromotor paralysis and associated neuromuscular symptoms. Features of CP include motor disability due to the lack of muscle control, often accompanied by sensory disorders, mental retardation, speech disorders, hearing loss, epilepsy, behavior disorders, etc. There are increasing chances of treatment of dental patients with cerebral palsy, as the occurrence of CP is increasing with the decrease in infant mortality and an increase in immature birth and premature birth and also, there is a trend to pursue of higher quality of life. Reports on the relationship between CP and maxillofacial deformity are uncommon, but it is well known that the unbalance and discontrol of the facial muscles, lip, tongue and the jaws leads to malocclusion and temporomandibular joint disorders, and statistics show that class 2 relationship of the jaws and open bite is frequently reported. However, it is difficult to perform maxillofacial deformity treatment, which consists of orthodontic treatment, maxillofacial surgery and muscle adaptation training, due to difficulties in communication and problems of muscle adaptation caused by difficulties in motor control which leads to a high recurrence rate. This case report is to trearment of maxillofacial deformity in CP patient. A 26 year old female patient came to the department with the chief complaint of prognathism of the mandible and facial asymmetry. According to the past medical history, she was diagnosed as cerebral palsy 1 week after birth, classified as GMFC, classII accompanied with left side torticollis. The patient's intelligence was moderate, and there were no serious problems in communication. For two years time, the patient underwent lingual frenectomy, pre-operation orthodontic treatment and then bimaxillary orthognathic surgery to treat mandibular prognathism and facial asymmetry followed by rehabilitatory exercise of facial muscle. After 6 months of follow up, there was a good result. This is to report to the typical signs and symptoms of DFD in CP patient and the limitation of the usual method of the treatment of DFD in CP patient with literature review.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.39 no.5
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• pp.1075-1083
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• 2018

Objective: Facial nerve palsy is caused by damage to the seventh cranial nerve. It is the main symptom of facial muscle paralysis on the affected side. If the patient cannot receive proper treatment, severe permanent impairments, both physical and mental, may result, so this disease must be treated appropriately. In this study, a patient with facial nerve palsy was admitted to a Korean medicine hospital for treatment. This case study reports on the patient's progress and the effects of the treatment. Methods: We treated the patient with herbal medicines, acupuncture, herbal acupuncture therapy, and physical therapy. The House-Brackmann Grading System and a weighted regional grading system were used to assess symptom changes. Results: The patient with facial nerve palsy was hospitalized for 50 days and recovered from symptoms without significant problems in the face or to motor function. Conclusion: This case report demonstrates the possibility of treating facial nerve palsy using Korean medicine.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.12-20
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• 1994

Generally, the totally paralyzed face can never be made normal by any of the current methods of reconstruction. Careful selection of patients based on sound judgment of what can and cannot be achieved by the proposed surgical technique is paramount to a successful operation and a satisfied patient. The results are related to time of delayed between injury and repair ; the shorter the delay the better are the results. The objectives in correcting facial paralysis are to achieve normal appearance at rest ; symmetry with voluntary motion ; control of the ocular, oral, and nasal sphincter ; symmetry with involuntary emotion and controlled balance when expressing when expressing emotion ; and no significant functional deficit secondary to the reconstructive surgery. It must be employed a number of concepts, for treatment of the paralyzed face by surgeon, depending on the cause, time interval, and wound characteristics, as well as the availability of and necessity for neuromuscular substitution. Nerve grafts, crossovers, muscle transfers, free muscle and nerve-muscle grafts, micronuerovascular muscle transfers, and regional muscle transposition are the principal methods being developed. We applied the temporal musle transposition for reanimation of unilatrally paralyzed faces for long times on two patients. The results of muscle transposition can be enhanced by the patient's learning to activate the transposed muscle by voluntary effort, and are best in patients who are motivated to learn the necessary motor-sensory coordination techniques.

• Annals of Clinical Neurophysiology
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.81-88
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• 2000

Background : Guillain-$Barr{\acute{e}}$ syndrome(GBS) is characterized clinically by acute flaccid paralysis, areflexia, and albumino-cytologic dissociation. Based on electrophysiology and pathology, GBS can be divided into either predominantly demyelinating or predominantly axonal patterns. Objectives : The clinical and laboratory status of probable acute axonal GBS occurring at a mental hospital was evaluated. Methods : Eight schizophrenia patients with probable acute axonal GBS were analyzed. Results : The mean age of the patients was 38 years old. Most of the patients were men. All patients showed an acute ascending paraparesis and/or quadriparesis with areflexia, and all have a history of schizophrenia for 3~20 years. The diseases occurred predominantly in the summer and electrodiagnostic studies revealed axonal patterns. The patients were treated by supportive care, except one patient with intravenous immunoglobulin. The prognosis was improved in 3 ; no change in 4 and 1 became aggravated. One patient with acute motor-sensory axonal neuropathy had a recurrence after 10 months of the first attack. Conclusions : Axonal GBS has been considered uncommon clinically or electrophysiologically, but 8 probable acute axonal GBSs occurring at a mental hospital have been diagnosed in 3.5 years.

• Journal of Dental Rehabilitation and Applied Science
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2017

Botulinum toxin (BoNT) injections have been used not only in the field of cosmetic surgery such as forehead and eye wrinkle treatment but also in the treatment of chronic migraine, dystonia, spasticity, temporomandibular disorders (TMD). BoNT injections are the only approved therapies to date for prophylactic treatment of chronic migraine patients. Unlike the previously known paralysis of motor neurons, the mechanism of action for migraine is to block the release of non-cholinergic neurotransmitters such as substance P, CGRP, and glutamate, which are associated with peripheral sensitization and neurogenic inflammation in the sensory nerve, it is hypothesized that the signal is blocked. This review focuses on the analgesic effects of BoNT and suggests the direction for the development of injection methods for chronic migraine patients.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.399-405
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• 2012

The brain is the body's most organized and controlled organ, and it governs various psychological and mental functions. A brain abnormality could greatly affect one's physical and mental abilities, and consequently one's social life. Brain disorders can be broadly categorized into three main afflictions: stroke, brain tumor, and dementia. Among these, stroke is a common disease that occurs owing to a disorder in blood flow, and it is accompanied by a sudden loss of consciousness and motor paralysis. The main types of strokes are infarction and hemorrhage. The exact diagnosis and early treatment of an infarction are very important for the patient's prognosis and for the determination of the treatment direction. In this study, texture features were analyzed in order to develop a prototype auto-diagnostic system for infarction using computer auto-diagnostic software. The analysis results indicate that of the six parameters measured, the average brightness, average contrast, flatness, and uniformity show a high cognition rate whereas the degree of skewness and entropy show a low cognition rate. On the basis of these results, it was suggested that a digital CT image obtained using the computer auto-diagnostic software can be used to provide valuable information for general CT image auto-detection and diagnosis for pre-reading. This system is highly advantageous because it can achieve early diagnosis of the disease and it can be used as supplementary data in image reading. Further, it is expected to enable accurate medical image detection and reduced diagnostic time in final-reading.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.252-264
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• 2005

This concerns three patients diagnosed as lateral medullary infarction from cerebral infarction of the brain stem and hospitalized. They were diagnosed and treated for 手足??(paralysis of extremities), 痺症(bi syndrome), 麻木(numbness), 不仁(akinesia), 眩暈(Vertigo) through Oriental Medicine. Improvement in both sense disorder and motor disorder was seen and is therefore reported here. To detect symptoms of a brain stem disorder clinically, pathological symptoms must be isolated and the patient must be screened through radiological and neorological examination. If this is properly and carefully done from the first stage, and according to this diagnosis, with the cycle of the disease considered, a treatment plan can be laid. Modem Medicine offers easy diagnosis for cerebro-vascular disease, but the treatment is less effective than that offered by Oriental Medicine. This report is given with a plea for further research and more reportage of clinical cases of cerebro-vascular disease treated through Oriental Medicine.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.28 no.1 s.69
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• pp.126-136
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• 2007

Objectives : Bell's palsy in an acute peripheral facial nerve paralysis that usually affects only one side of the face. The seventh cranial nerve carries predominantly motor fibers, but also supplies some autonomic innervation, sensation to park of the ear, and taste to the anterior two thirds of the tongue. The aim of this study is to provide evidence of differences between facial skin temperature of the paralyzed side and normal side in Bell's palsy patients. Methods : the author studied 68 patients with Bell's palsy whose facial nerve function had been documented by the House-Brackmann grading system. We measured skin temperature of the forehead, zygoma, lower lip, temple and lower jaw area of the paralyzed side and those of the normal side. Results : there were significant facial skin temperature differences between the forehead area of paralyzed side and that of normal side of GrII(P<0.05) and III(P<0.05). The result also showed that the facial skin temperature difference according to the aflection period vanished when air temperature was calibrated (F=1.700, P=0.178). Conclusions : Thermography is a useful diagnostic tool in Bell's palsy if the air temperature is low enough to cool the facial skin temperature and the forehead area is evaluated as the sampling zone.