• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
• /
• v.40 no.5
• /
• pp.747-755
• /
• 2010

Purpose: This study was conducted to investigate the degree of dry mouth and oral health-related quality of life and to identify factors contributing to oral health-related quality of life for community-dwelling elders. Methods: A descriptive correlational study design was used. Participants were 156 older adults from two senior welfare centers. Data were collected on February 21, 22 and 29, 30, 2009 using structured questionnaires. Enter type multiple regression analysis was used to identify factors influencing oral health-related quality of life according to general and oral health characteristics. Results: There were significant differences in oral health-related quality of life according to living arrangement, insurance, smoking, number of natural teeth, and denture type. The oral health-related quality of life had significant correlations with the number of chronic disease, number of medications, and dry mouth. Factors influencing oral health-related quality of life for community-dwelling older adults were dry mouth, number of chronic disease, and medical aid, which explained about 47.9% of total variance. Conclusion: These results indicate that in order to promote oral health-related quality of life for older adults, prevention or management of chronic diseases as well as oral health and dry mouth are needed for this population, and especially economically poor elders.

• Biomedical Science Letters
• /
• v.21 no.4
• /
• pp.198-207
• /
• 2015

ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and chronic total occlusion (CTO) of coronary artery are well-known atherosclerotic vascular diseases. However, the difference of intima-media thickness and plaque characteristics of carotid arteries between STEMI and CTO patients were not directly compared in previous studies. Medical records of a total of 158 (101 STEMI, 57 CTO) patients, who underwent carotid artery ultrasonography, were selected for the analysis. The baseline characteristics, ultrasonography findings, and clinical outcomes of the two groups were compared. The prevalence of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and dyslipidemia was significantly higher in CTO patients. Carotid intima-media thickness ($0.97{\pm}0.13$ vs. $0.78{\pm}0.17cm$, P < 0.0001) and number of plaques ($2.2{\pm}1.0$ vs. $1.7{\pm}1.2$, P < 0.0001) were greater in CTO than STEMI patients. Multiple (${\geq}3$) or echogenic plaques were more frequently observed in CTO patients. During the median follow-up duration of 27 months, major adverse cardiovascular events occurred in 31% of CTO and 14% of STEMI patients (P = 0.008). We found that, compared with STEMI, CTO patients have higher burden of carotid artery atherosclerosis associated with more comorbid diseases and poor clinical outcomes.

• Physical Therapy Korea
• /
• v.13 no.4
• /
• pp.16-22
• /
• 2006

Falling is a serious problem associated with aging. Unintentional injury, which most often results from falling, is one of the leading causes of death in elderly people. The purpose of this study is to investigate the risk factors of falls and to compare characteristics of people who fall with that of non-fallers among the rural community-dwelling elderly of Korea. A sample of 201 people, living in the community, aged 60 years and over was taken from the members of a center for seniors located in Jecheon city. The mean age of the participants was 70.5 years of age. The participants are comprised of 151 women and 50 men. Eighty four of the 201 participants (41.8%) fell during the previous year. Twenty two of the fallers (26.2%) fell down more than two times. It was found that fallers had poorer eyesight, multiple chronic diseases and a more difficult time walking than non-fallers. In the logistic regression analysis of falls, only the difficulty of walking one kilometer (OR=2.4) and chronic diseases (OR=2.5) have shown an increased risk of falls. The risk of recurrent falls is, in addition, influenced by the difficulty of walking one kilometer. The result of our study shows that the impairment of mobility was the strongest risk factor of recurrent falling.

• The Korean Journal of Health Service Management
• /
• v.12 no.4
• /
• pp.59-72
• /
• 2018

Objectives : This study was performed to investigate health care system recognition and influential factors using the data from the "2017 Health Care Experience Survey". Methods : Data on 7,000 participants in the Health Care Experience Survey were drawn and statistically examined using a t-test, ANOVA, and multiple regression analysis. Results : First, the significant factors of health care service satisfaction were education, income, region, chronic diseases, unmet medical needs, satisfaction with doctors and institutions, and the health care system's reliability and importance. Second, the influential factors of willingness to pay additional health insurance premium were age, occupation, income, health status, chronic diseases, unmet medical needs, satisfaction with health care institutions, limit to utilization of medical services, necessity of health care reform, and the health care system's reliability, satisfaction, importance. Conclusions : Since the additional burden for improving the health care has been negative to the socially disadvantaged, there should be efforts to provide stable health care funding for financial stability of the health insurances by considering public opinions and reaching social consensus.

• International Journal of Oral Biology
• /
• v.47 no.2
• /
• pp.25-31
• /
• 2022

Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) is a bioactive lipid messenger involved in the pathogenesis of chronic inflammation and various diseases. Recent studies have shown an association between periodontitis and neuroinflammatory diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, stroke, and multiple sclerosis. However, the mechanistic relationship between periodontitis and neuroinflammatory diseases remains unclear. The current study found that lysophosphatidic acid receptors 1 (LPAR1) and 6 (LPAR6) exhibited increased expression in primary microglia and astrocytes. The primary astrocytes were then treated using medium conditioned to mimic periodontitis through addition of Porphyromonas gingivalis lipopolysaccharides, and an increased nitric oxide (NO) production was observed. Application of conditioned medium from human periodontal ligament stem cells with or without LPAR1 knockdown showed a decrease in the production of NO and expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase and interleukin 1 beta. These findings may contribute to our understanding of the mechanistic link between periodontitis and neuroinflammatory diseases.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
• /
• v.20 no.1
• /
• pp.209-217
• /
• 2003

Background : Multiple Sclerosis is characterized by chronic inflammation, demyelinization and neurogliosis(plaque) in optic nerve, brain and spinal cord, which is recurrent visual disturbance, sensory disturbance, motor disturbance and sphincter disturbance, etc. Objective : This study was performed to evaluate the treatment of acupuncture therapy including Herbal Acupuncture and Bee venom Herbal Acupuncture in Multiple Sclerosis. Methods : We treated 5 cases of Multiple Sclerosis patients with mainly Bee venom Herbal Acupuncture therapy, and herbal Acupuncture, sa-am acupuncture form 18th september, 2001 to december, 2002. Results : 1 Of 5 cases who were treated with above, 3 patients were mildly reduced symptoms and 2 patients were no changes. 2. There are two patients who were definitely appeared the recurrent symptoms on treatment period, but decreased the remission period than before. 3. It has not shown noticeable recurrent symptoms of 3 patients. Conclusions : Bee Venom Herbal Acupuncture therapy and other acupuncture therapies were effective in reducing the recurrent symptoms and remission perod, but it was not evaluated the chief complaints on 5 cases of Multiple Sclerosis. We think that it need the further study and clinical trial for Multiple Sclerosis and other neurological diseases.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
• /
• v.7 no.2
• /
• pp.111-119
• /
• 2019

Purpose : The aim of this study was to investigate patterns of medical use among juveniles and adolescents, including for chronic disease, in Korea. The study sought to do the following: (a) investigate the extent to which chronic diseases account for medical expenditures, (b) investigate and the socio-demographic characteristics associated with medical use, and (c) identify the differences in medical use between juveniles and adolescents. Methods : We used data from the 2015 Korean Health Panel and selected 12 variables. The socio-demographic characteristics investigated included, growth period (juvenile, adolescents), gender, family income, national basic livelihood act status, disability registration, and degree of disability. There were five medical factors that were considered: emergency room use, hospitalization use, hospital outpatient use, chronic disease, and medical expenditure. Data were analyzed using stepwise multiple and logistic regression. Results : The prevalence of chronic disability in juveniles and adolescents was 31.1 % and 1 %, respectively. The factors affecting medical expenditures included hospitalization use, hospital outpatient use, family income, disability, gender, chronic disease, and emergency room use ($R^2=.160$, p<.05). For national basic livelihood act recipients, the probability of having chronic disease was about 1.6 times higher (OR=1.597, 95 % CI=1.092-2.335, p=.016), compared with non-national basic livelihood act recipients. People with disabilities were 6.6 times more likely than those without disabilities to suffer from chronic disease (OR =6.571, 95 % CI=2.776-15.556, p<.001). Hospital outpatient user was 2.3 times higher than non-user (OR=2.260, 95 % CI=1.702-3.001, p<.001). Juveniles had a 1.7 times and 6.2 times higher likelihood of emergency rooms user (OR=1.654, 95 % CI=1.270-2.155, p<.001), and hospital outpatient user than adolescents (OR=6.208, 95 % CI=4.443-8.676, p<.001). Conclusion : The findings of this study suggest that health care services for juveniles is needed to manage chronic diseases that have an effect on medical expenditures.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
• /
• v.20 no.1
• /
• pp.17-21
• /
• 2016

Periostin, a component of extracellular matrix (ECM) protein, is produced and secreted by the fibroblasts that are involved in chronic allergic inflammation diseases and various types of human cancers. Periostin protein is composed of multiple domains including four FAS1 domains which play important roles in cell adhesion and tumor metastasis by interacting with integrins. In spite of their important biological role, the structural information of periosin FAS1 domains was not revealed yet. Recently we systemically prepared various constructs of the FAS1 domains and tried to express them in E. coli. Of them, only single FAS1-II and -IV domains were highly soluble. Circular dichroism (CD) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) studies revealed that the FAS1-IV domain might be suitable for three-dimensional structure determination using NMR spectroscopy.

• Journal of the Health Care and Life Science
• /
• v.8 no.2
• /
• pp.135-142
• /
• 2020

The purpose of this study was to analyze the frequency of use of hospitalization/outpatient care of patients with addresses in Yeongbuk-gu, Gangwon-do to identify the medical demand and status of medical use in Yeongbuk-do. The National Health Insurance Corporation (www.data.go.kr) conducted an analysis of health insurance and medical benefits (inpatient/outpatient) claims data from 2003 to 2017. The order of the highest frequency of chronic disease was ranked from 1st to 60th according to 'Healing Case and %'. In addition, the use of patients at Sokcho Medical Center, the only hospital in the Yeongbuk region, was analyzed at the same time. According to the analysis, the use of outpatient treatment and In-patients in the Yeongbuk area of Gangwon-do is increasing due to chronic non-infectious diseases from the past acute diseases. In particular, it is necessary to expand the functions of schizophrenia and obstetrics and gynecology and to carry out specific health projects necessary for the health care of the local community. Through this, we should improve the quality of life in Yeongbuk, Gangwon Province.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
• /
• v.9 no.2
• /
• pp.231-267
• /
• 2008

Tobacco has become the world's leading cause of deaths and diseases. And !be tobacco use and dependence itself is a kind of diseases, so-called "mental and be-havioural disorders due to use of tobacco" in "International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems(ICD-10)" and "Korean Standard Classification of Diseases". The tobacco use and dependence is a chronic disease that requires repeated clinical interventions and multiple attempts to quit. But effective treatments to the tobacco use and dependence are developed and exist that can significantly increase the rate of long-tenn smoking abstinence. So the physicians should warn smoking patients about the dangers of smoking to the health and the life, and the clinicians ought to provide one of more of the treatments which have been proven effective in helping smokers quit to smoke. It has been concluded that if a doctor failed to provide effective treatment for smokers, and the smokers subsequently died of the smokers-related conditions(tobaccosis) or became incapacitated by the tobaccosis the smokers were considered in the medical malpractice. Thus the smokers could sue the physician for medical malpractice, claiming that the doctor's legal responsibility of appropriate treatments including smoking-cessation which the physician deliberately or negligently breached.