• Journal of Korean Philosophical Society
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• v.141
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• pp.287-311
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• 2017

The major purpose of this article is to analyze Lee Jema's idea of 'cultivating the self,' and therefore reveal a difference between his idea and 'cultivating and nurturing (the mind)' shown in traditional medicine and Neo-Confucianism. For this purpose, I first analyzed 'cultivating and nurturing (the mind)' of traditional medicine and Neo-Confucianism and showed Lee Jema's originality by studying philosophical foundations of Sasang constitutional Medicine. The idea of 'cultivating and nurturing (the mind)' is transcendental in that it pursues the unity between humans and the principle of natural changes or the Heaven. However, Lee Jema developed his own medical theory by analyzing an ontological structure of human beings and nature and life, and reinterpreting four beginnings on the basis of experience. He reinterpreted humans as a being in the structure of time and space, and relationships with others. In addition, he reinterpreted nature and life and four beginnings as the capability of wisdom and action and the function of mind and body. Therefore, he tried to overcome a transcendental thinking to aim for the unity of humans with the Heaven. Also, he discovered that the most important reason for disease is biased emotions (moral/private) because biased emotions influenced the function of mind and body. The causal relationship is the basis of his medical theory. Therefore, his idea of cultivating the self is focused on being careful not to make emotions biased. This reveals that even though Sasang constitutional theory came from the traditional medical theory and Confucian morality, it developed on a different philosophical foundation. In this regard, I tried to differentiate Lee Jema's idea of cultivating the self from 'cultivating and nurturing (the mind)' which aims for the unity between humans and the principle of changes or the Heaven.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.87 no.3
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• pp.386-397
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• 2024

Background: Despite the global increase in nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease (NTM-PD), clinical characteristics show geographical variations. We investigated the clinical characteristics of patients with NTM-PD in South Korea. Methods: We systematically reviewed articles concerning patients with NTM-PD in South Korea until February 2022. Individual participant data, regardless of treatment, were collected using a standard case report form. Results: Data of 6,489 patients from 11 hospitals between 2002 and 2019 were analyzed. The mean age was 61.5±11.7 years, of whom 57.7% were women. Mycobacterium avium (41.4%) and Mycobacterium intracellulare (38.4%) comprised most of the causative species, followed by Mycobacterium abscessus subspecies abscessus (8.6%) and M. abscessus subspecies massiliense (7.8%). Bronchiectasis (59.4%) was the most common pulmonary comorbidity. Although reported cases of NTM-PD increased over the years, the proportions of causative species and radiologic forms remained similar. Distinct clinical characteristics were observed according to age and sex. Men were older at the time of diagnosis (median 63.8 years vs. 59.9 years, p<0.001), and had more cavitary lesions than women (38.8% vs. 21.0%, p<0.001). The older group (≥65 years) had higher proportions of patients with body mass index <18.5 kg/m² (27.4% vs. 18.6%, p<0.001) and cavitary lesions (29.9% vs. 27.6%, p=0.009) than the younger group. Conclusion: We conducted a meta-analysis of the clinical characteristics of patients with NTM-PD in South Korea, and found age- and sex-related differences in disease-specific severity. Further investigation would enhance our comprehension of the nature of the disease, and inherited and acquired host factors.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.16 no.2 s.30
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• pp.100-114
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• 1995

This bibliographic study was designed to research indications of the Moschus which was representatively used for resuscitation in acute stage of stroke throughout successive books of oriental medicine. Especially, in this study, severe cases with disturbance of consciousness and acute stage of stroke were investigated. The results were summarized as the followings: 1. The Moschus was dried material which secreted from aromatic vescicle of Moschus moschiferus L.. which was pungent in flavor, warm in nature, nontoxic and strongly aromatic. The Moschus removed the obstruction in the channels and used to early stage of stroke. 2. The Moschus was aromatic resuscitatable medicine, which recovered disturbance of consciousness due to stroke. 3. The Moschus had excitatory actions of respirtory center and vascular motor center, heart stimulating action, inhibitatory action of the platelet aggregation and anti thrombin action and recovered cerebral ischemic change. According to these actions, the Moschus could be used cerebral infarction. 4. Prescriptions included the Moschus was used to symptoms of unconsciousness, secretion, stuporous mental state, dysarthria, facial palsy and hemiplegia. That was Angungwoohwangh wan(安宮牛黃丸), Woohwangchungshimwon(牛黃淸心元), Sahyangsohaphangwon(麝香蘇合香元), etc. According to the above mentioned results, the Moschus was aromatic resuscitatable medicine which was used for symptoms of conscius disturbance, convulsion, sudden fainting etc., promoted cerebral blood flow and had good effect on acute stage of stroke and severe cases with conscious disturbance. Therefore, it is considered that the Moschus must be studied for effect of cerebral infarction and hemorrhage in clinic with animal's and pharmacological experimental results.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.394-401
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• 1999

Inflammatory pseudotumor is a infrequent, benign tumor that affects at all ages and involves the lung, gastrointestinal tract, and salivary gland. They are the most common, isolated, primary lesion of the lung in children, and usually present as circumscribed, peripheral, parenchymal tumors or endobronchial tumors, which may be usually static or increase slowly in size without causing symptoms. Surgical excision is the treatment of choice because of the location and benign nature of this lesion. The prognosis after resection is excellent. Other therapeutic modalities include radiation and steroid therapy. We experienced two cases of inflammatory pseudotumor of the lung parenchyme and endobronchus. We report these cases with a review of literatures.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.75 no.2
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• pp.67-70
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• 2013

A 52-year-old man was referred to our clinic for an 11.3 mm nodule in the left lower lobe that was discovered on a chest computed tomography (CT) scan. Eleven small nodules were subsequently found in both lungs. Initially, we performed a transthoracic needle aspiration using CT scan guidance. The pathologic report showed a few clusters of atypical cells that were suspicious for malignancy. The positron emission tomography images revealed multiple lung nodules scattered throughout both lungs. The largest nodule (11.3 mm) in the left lower lobe did not have any discernible fludeoxyglucose uptake. For pathologic confirmation, we consulted a thoracic surgeon to perform the video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery. The final diagnosis was minute pulmonary meningothelial-like nodules (MPMNs). MPMNs are benign in nature, and only a few cases require treatment. However, when clinicians are suspicious of potential malignancy, a pathological correlation is essential, even if the final diagnosis is MPMNs.

• The Journal of Churna Manual Medicine for Spine and Nerves
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.109-118
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• 2022

Objectives The purpose of this study was to investigate Korean medicine treatment on hemifacial spasm and to suggest future research direction. Methods We used seven electronic databases to find articles on Korean medicine treatment of hemifacial spasm and by analyzing the title, abstract, and main text, articles elucidating on Korean medicine treatment on hemifacial spasms were included. Results A total of 68 articles were searched from seven electronic databases. Excluding duplicate articles and articles that satisfied the exclusion criteria, nine articles were included in this study. Acupuncture was used in nine cases, herbal medicine in five cases, physical therapy in three cases, and cupping therapy in one case. In acupuncture, general acupuncture was used in five cases, pharmacopuncture in three cases, and Meridian tendino-musculature acupuncture and thread-embedding therapy in two cases each. Gamigwibi-tang used in two cases was the most frequently used herbal medicine. In physical therapy, carbone, hot pack, interferential current therapy, and silver spike point were used in two cases each. Conclusions It was confirmed that Korean medicine treatment for hemifacial spasm was attempted in varying methods and nearly all cases included in this study showed improvement. However, because of the low level of evidence due to the nature of these case reports, further studies should be conducted for an objective comparison and analysis on the effect of Korean medicine treatment compared to existing treatments.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.7-16
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• 1998

Background and Purpose The increasing evidence for neurally mediated cardiac damage and sudden death has focused attention on the central autonomic control of cardiac function. Power spectral analysis of heart rate variability(HRV) can detect autonomic consequences of stroke. We performed power spectral analysis of heart rate variability from 24-hour holter recording to identify cerebral hemispheric lateralization and gender effect in cardiac autonomic control. Methods Data were obtained from 24-hour holter recordings in 30 consecutive patients with hemispheric brain infarction in the subacute phase. We analysed the time domain and frequency domain measures of HRV and ST segment by hemispheric lateralization and Gender. Results ST segment was depressed in women compared with man. There was no statistically significant differences between right and left hemisphere stroke patients in any standard index of HRV and ST segment changes. Conclusions These data are partial consistent with evidence from the recent literature that two cerebral hemispheres and gender have a differential influence on the nature and severity of cardiac dysfunction. We think the prospective and definite study was necessary.

• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.55-64
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• 2022

Objectives The objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness of acupotomy for carpal tunnel syndrome. Methods Based on seven domestic and foreign databases. We analyzed the randomized controlled trials using acupotomy for carpal tunnel syndrome. The treatment group was treated with acupotomy and the control group was no restrictions on treatment methods. Results In this study, the effect of acupuncture treatment for carpal tunnel syndrome was investigated. Each study reported that acupotomy could be an effective treatment for carpal tunnel syndrome. However, as a result of meta-analysis of Levine carpal tunnel syndrome questionnaire scores, visual analog scale, and sensory nerve conduction velocity, the results were more clinically significant than those of the control group. Due to the small number of randomized controlled trial studies and the nature of acupotomy treatment, blinding of interventions was impossible, resulting in a high risk of bias. Conclusions In this regard, it is thought that well-planned randomized controlled studies on patients with carpal tunnel syndrome are needed in the future to secure the clinical evidence for acupotomy treatment.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.107-110
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• 2006

Tremor is a rhythmic, involuntary and oscillatory movement of body parts, and it is the most common movement disorder. Spasticity is also one of the movement disorders that is commonly accompanied with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome; however, the basic nature of spasticity has not yet been proved. A 25-year-old male patient had two operations and he was being treated because of a back injury that occurred 4 years ago. He suffered from pain, tremor and spasticity on both his lower legs, and his symptoms were diagnosed as failed back surgery syndrome. The tremor and spasticity were aggravated despite of continuous treatments. We then treated him with spinal cord stimulation. His pain, tremor and spasticity disappeared after spinal cord stimulation.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.40 no.6
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• pp.1063-1080
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• 2019

Objectives: With the aging of the population, the incidence of a variety of diseases is increasing. Cerebrovascular disease is a major cause of mortality worldwide and therefore requires timely treatment and management. We aimed to evaluate the clinical effectiveness of herbal medicines in treating cerebrovascular disease by screening the most frequently prescribed herbal medicines and analyzing the clinical data of patients with cerebrovascular disease taking these medicines. Methods: In this retrospective study, we analyzed the electronic medical records of patients with cerebrovascular disease who received herbal medication at the Pusan National University Korean Medical Hospital from 10 March 2010 to 31 March 2017. The inclusion criteria were as follows: diagnosis of cerebrovascular disease, use of frequently prescribed herbal medicines, available records of laboratory tests and functional evaluation that was conducted within two weeks before and after admission and discharge, and herbal medicine usage exceeding half the period of hospitalization. Results: Of the total patients with cerebrovascular disease, the number of patients analyzed in this study was 49. There were some changes in the various variables examined after frequently used herbal medicines had been taken, such as complete blood count, liver function test, lipid test, and functional evaluation. No serious adverse events related to herbal medicine were found in this study. Conclusions: We concluded that herbal medicines frequently used for cerebrovascular disease may have some clinical effectiveness. However, because of the retrospective nature of this study and only one hospital involved, the generalizability of our findings is limited.