• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.165-170
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• 2010

This study assessed effects of magnetic acu-point therapy as an add-on to conventional antihypertensive managements such as medication or lifestyle modification for hypertensive or pre-hypertensive subjects. This study was conducted with the purpose to evaluate the decreasing effect of the blood pressure on the hypertensive patients who were given to magnetic acu-point therapy. A single-blind, placebo-controlled trial by cross matching was conducted at Daejeon University Oriental Hospital. The washout periods of cross matching are 10 days. 22 hypertensive (systolic BP>140 mmHg or diastolic BP>90 mmHg) volunteers were recruited and treatments were donemagnetic acu-points on Oegwan(TE 5), Jogimeup(GB 41), Naegwan(PC 6), Gongson(SP 4), Hugye(SI 3), Sinmaek(BL 62). The treated group was statistically significant decrease of the blood pressure, while control group show no statistically significant difference of BP. From the results, magnetic acu-point therapy seems to offer a benefit to the treatment of hypertensive patients.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.203-218
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• 2018

It has been extensively known in the high temperature regions such as southern China and south east Asia that Korean ginseng(Panax ginseng) intake raises body heat, while American ginseng(Panax quinquefolium) lowers it, based upon oriental medicine. This is likely due to the misunderstanding of the conception that Korean ginseng shows a warm property, resulting in enhanced blood circulation and stimulation of metabolism. It's further supported by the fact that current scientific studies have shown no notable side effects. Moreover, it has been demonstrated in animal experimental test that Korean ginseng shows a complementary effect in a high temperature environment, together with scientific evidence of a preventive effect of ginseng saponin against cold conditions, suggesting it to exhibit an adaptogenic effect normalizing the body under abnormal body conditions. However, there is a shortage of studies published concerning comparative clinical and animal studies of Korean and American ginsengs, and also, on natives of high temperature countries. Therefore, a further placebo-controlled clinical study has to be considered to elucidate scientifically clinical evaluation of Korean and American ginsengs on the body heat. In this article, we summarize the scientific publications reporting the clinical comparative study of Korean and American ginsengs on body heat response.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.134-141
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• 2017

Background: Postoperative pain is a common, distressing symptom following arthroscopic knee surgery. The aim of this study was to compare the potential analgesic effect of dexmedetomidine after intrathecal versus intra-articular administration following arthroscopic knee surgery. Methods: Ninety patients undergoing unilateral elective arthroscopic knee surgery were randomly assigned into three groups in a double-blind placebo controlled study. The intrathecal dexmedetomidine group (IT) received an intrathecal block with intrathecal dexmedetomidine, the intra-articular group (IA) received an intrathecal block and intra-articular dexmedetomidine, and the control group received an intrathecal block and intra-articular saline. The primary outcome of our study was postoperative pain as assessed by the visual analogue scale of pain (VAS). Secondary outcomes included the effect of dexmedetomidine on total postoperative analgesic use and time to the first analgesic request, hemodynamics, sedation, postoperative nausea and vomiting, patient satisfaction, and postoperative C-reactive protein (CRP) levels. Results: Dexmedetomidine administration decreased pain scores for 4 h in both the intrathecal and intra-articular groups, compared to only 2 h in the control patient group. Furthermore, there was a significant reduction in pain scores for 6 h in the intra-articular group. The time to the first postoperative analgesia request was longer in the intra-articular group compared to the intrathecal and control groups. The total meperidine requirement was significantly lower in the intra-articular and intrathecal groups than in the control group. Conclusions: Both intrathecal and intra-articular dexmedetomidine enhanced postoperative analgesia after arthroscopic knee surgery. Less total meperidine was required with intra-articular administration to extend postoperative analgesia to 6 h with hemodynamic stability.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.26 no.2 s.62
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• pp.231-240
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• 2005

Objectives: In order to investigate the efficacy and safety of the newly developed herbal medicine Jetongdan, a placebo­controlled, randomized clinical trial of patients with osteoarthritis of the knee was undertaken. Methods: Data were obtained from 80 patients with OA of the knee. After enrollment, they were asked to answer a disease-specific questionnaire (Western Ontario and McMaster Universities (WOMAC) OA index) and analyzed with the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) in order to evaluate the efficacy of Jetongdan, and analyzed for aspartate transaminase (AST) level, alanine transaminase (ALT) level, blood mea nitrogen (BUN) level, and creatinine (Cr) level in order to evaluate the safety of Jetongdan. Results: The liver function and renal function did not deteriorate after treatment with Jetongdan. Composite WOMAC score and physical function subscale was improved, but pain subscale, stiffness subscale, and ESR were not improved by. This was possibly because the baseline characteristics of the two groups were not homogenized after randomization. Conclusions: Jetongdan could be a promising treatment option for osteoarthritis of the knee. Further study in a larger population with appropriate severity grades is recommended.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.176-180
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• 2001

Background: The aim of our study was to evaluate the antiemetic effects of intravenous dexamethasone in preventing continuously infused epidural morphine-related nausea and vomiting. Methods: Twenty-seven patients requiring general anesthesia for gastrectomy were enrolled in a randomized, double-blinded, and placebo-controlled study. At the end of surgery, all patients received epidural morphine 3 mg and were connected to an epidural morphine infusion pump for 2 days in order to relieve postoperative pain. Before the morphine injection, the dexamethasone group (n = 12) received IV dexamethasone 10 mg, whereas the saline group (n = 15) received IV saline. The incidence of nausea & vomiting, pruritus, back pain and VAS scores were assessed in the recovery room, and at 24 h and 48 h postoperatively. Results: There was no significant difference in the total incidence of nausea and vomiting, pruritus, back pain or in the VAS scores. However, there was no vomiting and no back pain in the dexamethasone group. Conclusions: Intravenous dexamethasone did not significantly decrease the total incidence of nausea or vomiting in patients receiving continuous epidural morphine for postoperative pain control. However, IV dexamethasone appears to decrease the severity of nausea, vomiting and back pain.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.41-54
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• 2008

Objective : In this study, we investigated the effects of Sweet Bee Venom(SBV) and Bee Venom(BV) at a acupoint, HT7(Shinmun) on the Heart Rate Variability(HRV) in the healthy man. And we tried to observe how Sweet Bee Venom and Bee Venom affects on the balance of the autonomic nervous system. Methods : We investigated on 22 heathy volunteers consisted of 10 subjects in SBV group and 12 subjects in BV group. Study form was a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trial. 22 subjects of each group were injected SBV and BV at HT7(Shinmun). And we measured HRV by QECG-3:LXC3203 (LAXTHA Inc. Korea) on 7 times : before and after injection per 5minutes during 30minutes. Results : 1. After SBV injection, Mean-RR was significantly high from 0 to 10 minutes, Mean-HRV was significantly low from to 10 minutes, SDNN was significantly high after 25minutes, Complexity was significantly high from 5 to 10 minutes and RMSSD was significantly high from 5 to 10minutes. 2. Complexity of SBV Group significantly decreased from 20 to 25minutes, RMSSD of SBV Group significantly increased from 10 to 15minute and from $20{\sim}25$minutes, SDSD of SBV Group significantly increased from 10 to 15 minute and from $20{\sim}25$minutes compared with that of BV group. 3. After SBV injection, Ln(VLF) was significantly from 25 to 30minutes. Conclusions : The results suggest that SBV in heathy adult man tend to activate the autonomic nervous system compared to BV within normal range.

• Nutritional Sciences
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.155-160
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• 2002

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of micronutrient supplementation on the growth of preschool children in China. A double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was conducted on 156 growth retarded preschool children who were randomly assigned to the following five groups : supplemental control (S-control; n=28); zinc supplementation (＋Zn; 3.5mg Zn/day, n=34); zinc and calcium supplementation (＋ZnCa; 3.5mg Zn ＋ 250mg Ca/day, n=37); zinc, calcium and vitamin A supplementation (＋ZnCaVA; 3.5mgZn ＋ 250mgCa ＋ 200gVA/day, n=28); and calcium and vitamin A supplementation (＋CaVA; 250mgCa ＋ 200gVA/day, n=29). Another 34 children of normal height were selected as a normal control (N-control). Supplementation continued for twelve months. After supplementation, the height gains in the ＋Zn group (7.84cm per year) and the ＋ZnCa group (7.70 cm per year) were significantly higher than that in the S-control group (6.74 cm per year, P＜0.05). The weight gain in the ＋ZnCaVA group (2.55kg per year) and the ＋CaVA group (2.57 kg per year) was also significantly higher than that in the S-control group (2.19 kg per year, P＜0.05). The average number of days of illness in each group taking supplements was lower than that in the S-control group (13 days per year compared with 23 days per year). No significant differences in bone maturity were observed between the groups. In conclusion, in this study Zinc and Zinc ＋ Calcium supplementation improved the height gain, and vitamin A improved the weight gain, in growth retarded preschool children, but these supplements did not affect the maturity of bone. Micronutrient supplementation also lowered the morbidity of these children.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.219-228
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• 2005

Objectives : to evaluate the effects of Jetongdan, the newly developed herbal medicine, on the quality of life in patients with osteoarthritis of knee Methods : Placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial on the 80 patients with osteoarthritis of the knee was fulfilled. After enrollment, they took medication as they enrolled. And they were asked to answer the questionnaires (Korean Health Assessment Questionnaire (KHAQ), Lequesne's functional index (LFI), visual analogue scale (VAS)) and analysed with the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) at baseline, after 4 weeks and 8 weeks of medication. Results : Total KHAQ score, some categories of KHAQ like hygiene, activities were significantly improved after 8 weeks of medication. And the change of the KHAQ score was significantly correlated with the change of VAS. But LFI, VAS, ESR level was not significantly improved, and it was considered because of the short medication period and small size of study population. Conclusion : In conclusion, Jetongdan could improve the health-related quality of life in patients with osteoarthritis of knee. Further study in the large population, in long period were recommended.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.220-224
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• 1997

Background: The incidence of pain on injection of propofol varies between 30 and 100%. A variety of pretreatments have been tried to alleviate this problem such as a local anesthetics, cooling and opioids. However, none of these pharmacological maneuvers were satisfactory yet. In a recent study, subhypnotic doses of both thiopental sodium and propofol decrease the acute pain. We report a comparison of thiopental sodium, lidocaine and placebo on the incidence and severity of pain on injection of propofol. Method: A controlled, double-blind study was performed to compare the prior administration of intravenous saline 2 ml(n=30, group S), lidocaine 20 mg(n=30, group L) and thiopental sodium 50 mg(n=30, group T) in alleviating the pain by propofol. Injection pain was assessed with the four-point verbal categorical scoring system. Result: The incidence of injection pain during induction was lower in group L(30%) and T(17%) than group S(77%). The incidence of injection pain was lower in group T(17%) than group L(30%), but not significant statistically. The pain scores for recall of pain in the recovery room was simlar to those pain during propofol induction. Conclusion: The pretreatment of thiopental sodium can be effective in reducing both incidence and severity of propofol injection pain and has similar effect to lidocaine to prevent propofol injection pain.

• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.75-92
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• 2020

Objectives: This clinical trial is performed to investigate the effect of improving the menopausal symptoms and the safety of extract obtained from Pueraria thunbergiana Bentham and Curcuma longa L. in menopausal women Methods: This study was randomized, double blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial. 110 women with menopausal symptoms were assigned to treatment group (n=55) and control group (n=55). The results of this study were evaluated through changes in Kupperman Index score, Menopause-specific Quality of Life Questionnaire (MENQOL) score, degree of hot flashes and sweating, Body Mass Index(BMI), laboratory test results including female hormones. Results: In the treatment group compared to before baseline, there was significant difference in the Kupperman Index total score, score of each item in the Kupperman Index, MENQOL total score, hot flush and sweating visual analogue scale (VAS), hot flush score, and hot flush duration at one time. However, there was also a significant change compared to baseline in the control group, there was no significant difference between the treatment group and the control group. There was no significant change in female hormone levels in both group, and there were no adverse events associated with the clinical trial product. Conclusions: This clinical trial showed that extract obtained from Pueraria thunbergiana Bentham and Curcuma longa L. was helpful in improving menopausal symptoms in menopausal women without significant side effects.