• Journal of Life Science
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.138-144
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• 2024

Crocin is a major carotenoid of the Gardenia jasminoides fruit and Crocus sativus stigma (saffron), which are used in various cuisines as flavoring and coloring agents, as well as in phytomedicine for the treatment of several disorders, including headache, fever, edema, fatty liver, viral hepatitis, respiratory disease, menstruation disorders, insomnia, and hypertension. Crocin (C₄₄H₆₄O₂₄) is a chemical diester composed of the dicarboxylic acid crocetin and disaccharide gentiobiose. Many in vitro and in vivo studies have been conducted about the biological and pharmacological function and toxicity of crocin. Crocin has been revealed to have no genotoxicity and pathological manifestation. Crocin acts as an antioxidant, anti-cancer, memory enhancer, anxiolytic, antidepressant, aphrodisiac, anti-atherosclerotic, cardioprotector, and hepatoprotector. Here, an inclusive review of crocin is introduced based on previously explored studies referred to in the literature. Different studies have confirmed the protective role of crocin in the pathogenesis of inflammatory diseases, including inflammatory bowel diseases, gastritis, asthma, atherosclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and depression. It is surmised that crocin suppresses inflammatory, antioxidant, and apoptotic processes through multiple mechanisms. Crocin is considered a safe and effective therapeutic choice for patients with inflammatory conditions, although more research investigating its mechanisms and results acquired in clinical trials are needed.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Laryngology, Phoniatrics and Logopedics
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.9-14
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• 2021

Spasmodic dysphonia, essential tremor, and vocal tremor related with Parkinson's disease are different disorders showing fairly similar symptoms such as difficulty in the speech onset, and tremble in the voice. However, the cause and the resulting treatment of these diseases are different. Spasmodic dysphonia is a vocal disorder characterized by spasms of the laryngeal muscles during a speech, invoking broken, tense, forced, and strangled voice patterns. Such difficult-to-treat dysphonia disease is classified as central-origin-focal dystonia, of a yet unknown etiology. Its symptoms arise because of intermittent and involuntary muscle contractions during speech. Essential tremor, on the other hand, is characterized by a rhythmic laryngeal movement, resulting in alterations of rhythmic pitch and loudness during speech or even at rest. Severe cases of tremor may cause speech breaks like those of adductor spasmodic dysphonia. In the case of hyper-functional tension of vocal folds and accompanying tremors, it is necessary to distinguish these disorders from muscular dysfunction. A diversified assessment through the performance of specific speech tasks and a thorough understanding for the identification of the disorder is necessary for accurate diagnosis and effective treatment of patients with vocal tremors.

• The Journal of the Society of Stroke on Korean Medicine
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.134-141
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• 2012

Object : This clinical study is to report the effects of Chengsimyeonjatang-gamibang on tremors. Methods : Two patients was treated with Chengsimyeonjatang-gamibang and acupuncture that was applied at LU8, LR4, HT3, LR2, GV20, GB20. The effect of treatment was evaluated by Visual Analog Scale(VAS) and Motor examination of Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale(UPDRSIII). Results : After Korean medicine treatment, the patients' VAS and UPDRSIII scores were decreased and conditions were improved. Conclusions : The Korean medicine treatment of Chengsimyeonjatang-gamibang and acupuncture might be effective for the tremors.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.57-61
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• 2014

Objectives: When a person speaks, voice problems usually include pain or discomfort and/or difficulties in terms of the pitch, the loudness and the quality of the voice. When patients with voice problems induced by stroke, Parkinson's disease, and systemic diseases involving the voice are examined, generally, of the Four Diagnoses (四診), a Diagnosis of Hearing can be used in current Korean medicine. The effects of acupuncture and herb medicine on voice problems have been reported for over 20 years. However, when it comes to improvements, objective and subjective evaluation methods need to be explained. Methods: Subjective methods for evaluating voice were studied through a literature search of old medicinal books containing Korean medicine diagnostics, and an objective evaluation method using Praat software is presented. Results: Korean medicine doctors analyze the patient's voice in clinical settings unconsciously on a daily basis. However, most voice diagnoses depend on the doctor's subjective evaluation. Voice qualities can be evaluated by using the Eight Principles (八綱), including Yin-Yang; the Five Elements (Phases); the Grade, Roughness, Breathy, Asthenic, Strained (GRBAS) score, and the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) as subjective methods, and an acoustic analysis using the Praat program can be used as an objective method. Conclusion: A more complete voice examination can be achieved by using subjective and objective methods at the same time. For an objective explanation and management of patient's voice problems or systemic disorders, an objective method should be used in Korean medicine, which already has many subjective diagnostic methods. More research needs to be conducted, and more clinical evidence needs to be collected in the future.

• 대한상한금궤의학회지
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.1-52
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• 2023

Objective : The objective of this study was to explore the meaning of Mai (脉) in the fifteen letters provisions of Gangpyeong-Shanghanlun through the comparative analysis of 10 cases and paleography. Methods : We have collected 10 cases that have been diagnosed and treated by Gangpyeong-Shanghanlun Mai (脉) provision. And then, comparative analysis has been done among those 10 cases. Based on result of case analysis, paleographic meaning of each Mai (脉) have been studied to redefine Gangpyeong-Shanghanlun Mai (脉)'s meaning. Results : After administration of Mai (脉) provision's herbal medicine, all 10 patients recovered their mobility problem and pain. From this result, we could fomulate the hypothesis that Mai (脉) in Gangpyeong-Shanghanlun could mean mobility problems. After through further paleography studies, we could elaborate each Mai (脉)'s clinical meaning and related diseases. Conclusions : Mai (脉) in Gangpyeong-Shanghanlun could mean mobility problems caused by various diseases, which include musculoskeletal pain, neuropathy, syncope, fatigue, developmental disability and major depressive disorder.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.1-16
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• 1995

This study was done in order to investigate the etiology and pathology of dementia in the variety literature. Dementia in elderly persons(above the age of 60) mainly classfied Alzheimer disease and Cerebral vascular dementia. The results were as follows: 1. Dementia patients have abnormal mental function, who have no mental weakness but defects of memory, verbal disturbance, behavior disturbance and loss of intellectual function. 2. Dementia regard as 'me-beng(?病)', 'jeon-gwang(癲狂)', and 'heo-ro(虛勞)' in oriental medicine and the symptom is a silence with no response, mixing, a crying or a laugh, a stranger behavior and a amnesia; disturbances of speech, emotion, behavior. 3. Dementia caused by Alzheimer disease, Multi infarct dementia, Parkinson's disease, sequelae of acute CO poisoning, head injury and alcoholism(occidental medically) and the 'Dam(痰) and Damhwa(痰火), weakness of heart and spleen(心脾虛) caused by pent up anger of seven emotions(七情鬱結), the weakness of liver and kidney(肝腎不足)(oriental medically). 4. The causes of Alzheimer disease are various; a heredity factor, a morphological factor of brain tissues, a psychological factor and a biochemical factor (occidental medically) ; the 'Dam(痰) and Damhwa(痰火) caused by weakness of the internal organs and disturbance of the emotions(oriental medically). 5. Cerebral vascular dementia caused by loss of the certain cerebral neurons and oriental medically caused by obstruction of 'dam(痰)' or 'eo heul(瘀血)'. It is recommended that further study of many sided investigations, specially against a weakness of spiritual functions and a certain neurotoxin in the future.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.19-28
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• 2000

Authors evaluated alterations of observable metabolite ratios between the cerebral lesion and the contralateral region related to the clinical symptomatic side in levodopa-treated Parkinson's disease (PD) and investigated correlation between age in patients with PD and metabolite ratios of the lesion. Patients with levodopa-treated PD (n = 54) and age-matched normal controls (n = 15) underwent magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) examinations using a stimulated echo acquisition mode (STEAM) pulse sequence that provided 2$\times$2$\times$2 cm3 volume of interest in the selected regions of substantia nigra (SN) and putamed-globus pallidus (PG). To evaluate dependence of metabolite ratios on age, we divided into two groups (i.e., younger and older age). We quantitatively measured N-acetylaspartate (NAA), creatine (Cr), choline-containing compounds (Cho), inositols (Ins), and the sum of glutamate (Glx) and GABA levels and obtained proton metabolite ratios relative to Cr using a Marquart algorithm. Compared with the contralateral region, a significant neuronal laterality of the NAA/Cr ratio in the lesion of SN related to the clinical symptomatic side was established (P = 0.01), but was not established in the lesion of PG (P = 0.24). Also, Cho/Cr ratio tended toward significance in the lesion of SN (P = 0.07) and was statistically significant in the lesion of PG(P = 0.01). Compared with that in the younger age group, NAA/Cr ratio in the older age was decreased in the lesion of SN (P = 0.02), while NAA/Cr ratio was not statistically significant in the lesion of PG ( P = 0.21). Significant metabolic alterations of NAA/Cr and Cho/Cr ratios might be closely related with functional changes of neuropathological process in SN and PG of levodopa treated PD and could be a valuable finding for evaluation of the PD. A trend of NAA/Cr reduction, being statistically significant in older patients, could be indicative of more pronounced neuronal damage in the SN of the progressive PD.

• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.73-88
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• 2009

Objectives : Neuronal changes that result from treadmill exercise for patients with Parkinson's disease(PD) have not been well documented, although some clinical and laboratory reports suggest that regular exercise may produce a neuroprotective effect and restore dopaminergic and motor functions. However, it is not clear if the improvements are due to neuronal alterations within the affected nigrostriatal region or result from a more general effect of exercise on affect areas and motivation. In this study, we demonstrate that motorized treadmill exercise improves the neuronal outcomes in rodent models of PD. Methods : We used a chronic mouse model of parkinsonism, which was induced by injecting male C57BL/6 mice with 10 doses(Every 12 hour) of 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (30 mg/kg) and probenecid (20 mg/kg) over 5 days. These mice were able to sustain an exercise training program on a motorized rodent treadmill at a speed of 18 m/min, $0^{\circ}$ of inclination, 40 min/day, 5 days/week for 4 weeks. At the end of exercise training, we extracted the brain and compared their neuronal and neurochemical changes with the control(saline and sedentary) mice groups. Synphilin protein is the substance that manifestly reacts with ${\alpha}$-synuclein. In this study, we used Synphilin as a manifest sign of recovery from neurodegeneration. We analyze the brain stems of the substantia nigra and striatum region using the western blotting technique. Results : There were no expression of synphilin in the saline-induced groups. The addition of MPTP(1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine) greatly accelerated synphilin expression which meant an aggregation of ${\alpha}$-synuclein. But, the MPTP-induced treadmill exercise group showed significantly lower expression than the MPTP-induced sedentary group. This means treadmill exercise has a definite effect on the decrease of ${\alpha}$-synuclein aggregation. Conclusions : In this study, our results suggest that treadmill exercise promoted the removal of the aggregation of ${\alpha}$-synuclein, resulting in protection against disease development and blocks the apoptotic process in the chronic parkinsonian mice brain with severe neurodegeneration.

• KIISE Transactions on Computing Practices
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.17-23
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• 2018

The assessment and rehabilitation of patients with cognitive dysfunction is a field that currently requires assistive technology. While the paper-and-pencil test, such as the line tracing test (LTT), is one of the most commonly used assessment methods for cognitive dysfunction, it has become time-consuming due to its manual characteristic. The aim of this study was therefore to establish a computer-based real-time assessment system for patients without compromising the usefulness of the conventional paper-and-pencil based user tools. A digital pen-based assessment and rehabilitation system, the ePen System, could eliminate the time required for manual assessment while maintaining the measurement accuracy. The proposed system may assist rehabilitation specialists to assess and diagnose patients with unilateral visual neglect. This system can be applied to a range of assessment and rehabilitation modalities based on pen and paper. It can also be used for various patients such as those with Parkinson's disease, stroke, or different forms of brain lesions.

• Dementia and Neurocognitive Disorders
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.148-155
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• 2018

Background and Purpose: Two conversion scales between the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) have been validated for Korean patients with Parkinson's disease. The aim of the present study was to validate these conversion scales for all patients with cognitive impairments regardless of dementia subtype. Methods: Medical records of 323 subjects who completed both MMSE and MoCA on the same day were retrospectively reviewed. Mean, median, and root mean squared error (RMSE) of the difference between true and equivalent MMSE scores were calculated. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) between true and equivalent MMSE scores were also calculated. The validity of MoCA-MMSE conversion scales was evaluated according to educational level (low educated: ${\leq}6$ years; high educated: ${\geq}7$ years) and subtypes of cognitive impairment. Results: The difference between true and equivalent MMSE scores had a median value of 0, a mean value of 0.19 according to the van Steenoven scale, a mean value of 0.57 according to the Lawton scale, RMSE value of 2.2 according to the van Steenoven scale, and RMSE value of 0.42 according to the Lawton scale. Additionally, ICCs between true and equivalent MMSE scores were 0.92 and 0.90 on van Steenovan and Lawton conversion scales, respectively. These results were maintained in subgroup analyses. Conclusions: Findings of the present study suggest that both van Steenovan and Lawton MoCA-MMSE conversion scales are applicable to transforming MoCA scores into MMSE scores in patients with cognitive impairments regardless of dementia subtype or educational level.