• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.77-87
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• 2002

Like acupuncture, magnetic therapy has been known to yield effectiveness when it is applied to relieve from fatigue, musculoskelectal diseases, sore sites, rheumatic arthritis and chronic pain syndromes. However, combined application of acupuncture and magnet has not yet been studied. This study is designed to investigate effectiveness of acupuncture therapy when in the magnetic field for the pain relief. Magnetic field was made by magnetic ring ($7{\psi}{\times}2.3{\psi}{\times}1.5mm$). Twenty-one male swimmers with latent muscular pain at the GB21 area in the university course of physical education in Daegu were chosen and divided into three groups; 1) acupuncture treatment group (n=7), 2) acupuncture treatment with iron ring group (n=7), 3) acupuncture treatment with magnetic ring group (n=7). Manual Acupuncture was given to the GB21 point for 20 minutes. The degree of pressure pain threshold (PPT, $kg/cm^2$) in GB21 was measured with algometer. Before acupuncture treatment, the PPT values were $6.08{\pm}1.69$, $6.39{\pm}1.72$ and $5.59{\pm}1.11$ in acupuncture treatment group, acupuncture treatment with iron ring group, acupuncture treatment with magnetic ring group, respectively. After acupuncture treatment, the PPT values were $6.48{\pm}2.33$, $6.31{\pm}1.31$ and $6.59{\pm}1.80$, respectively. Pressure threshold was significantly increased in the acupuncture treatment with magnetic ring group compared to the other groups. Based on these results, acupuncture treatment with magnetic ring produced better effects on pain threshold, and these effects can be considered to be associated with the currents or voltages induced by the acupuncture needle and magnetic ring at present.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.53-62
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• 2000

This study was designed to distinguish by the characteristic difference and the degree of symptoms such as fatigue, pain, coping to pain, and efficacy on pain, and to offer descriptive data for nursing intervention for improving coping ability to pain along each characteristics of disease in chronic arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus. The subjects were 135 outpatients in the hospital for rheumatic disease in H-university, Seoul. The data were collected by structural questionnaire, from April 29 to June 29, 1999. The results were that the fatigue score was high in the OA patients while the RA patients and SLE patients experienced middle range of fatigue score, but which was not statistically different. Although the RA patients felt higher pain than other diseases, they have well coped with their pain than the others. In efficacy on pain the SLE patients had higher score than others but all of the disease showed lower score. No statistically significant difference among the three group was recorded in efficacy on pain. Therefore, pain management in the RA patients was primary nursing intervention because they felt severe pain and have well coped with pain while they had lower pain efficacy score than the others. It is also important that fatigue management and coping strategies on pain for the OA patients and SLE patients are specially supportive in the nursing intervention.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.14 no.10
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• pp.10-19
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• 2014

In recent, hospital information systems are widely used to electronically record, manage and share the data collected in hospitals. Such systems have contributed greatly to improving the work efficiency in modern hospitals, however, the collected data concerning the patients should be appropriately processed and reused to provide the healthcare service providers with decision supports. Especially, this paper proposes the patient flow monitoring system for the operations management of the outpatient department for patients with chronic diseases, and discusses the related issues. The proposed system visualizes the standard process model extracted from the patient history data and various performance measures, and this enables the managers to evaluate and enhance the operations of the outpatient clinic. In this paper, the patient flow monitoring system is applied to the rheumatology clinic, and the prototype system optimized for I-pad is illustrated.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.302-322
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• 2001

This study was carried out in order to examine the health status of arthritis patients living in K city of southern part of Korea. The data were collected with AIMS2 instrument from 56 subjects who were asked to complete the questionnaire by the trained surveyor. The AIMS2 has been approved useful instrument for assessing the outcome of various treatments and programs in rheumatic diseases. The component variables of the AIMS2 are Mobility, Walking and Bending, Hand and finger function, Arm function, Self-care tasks, Household tasks, Social activity, Support from family and friends, Arthritis pain, Work, Mood, Level of tension, The total number of items of AIMS 2 are 78. The results are as follows: The average age of the subjects was 58 years old and no gender difference. The mean scores of the 12 sub-concepts of AIMS2 are 15.0 of mobility, 12.16 of walking and of bending, 9.32 of hand and finger function, 9.03 of arm function, 13.53 of self-care tasks, 10.19 of household tasks, 15.09 of social activity, 19.58 support from family and friends, 13.82 of arthritis pain, work, 14.85 of level of tension, 15.12 of mood. The Cronbach Cronbach $\alpha$. is 0.72-91 for RA patients and 0.74-96 for OA patients. This results showed that the health status of Arthritis patients at home in K-city was almost not so serious, but the level of tension and mood were quite higher than the average score. Considering the results of this particular subjects, an appropriate rehabilitation program should be developed and implemented.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.61-68
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• 2008

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of a disease-specific exercise (DSE) on temporomandibular joint (TMJ) function and neck mobility in TMJ dysfunction associated with ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Ten AS patients (seven males and three females) with TMJ dysfunction were recruited for this study. The DSE included exercises to correct head and neck posture and to improve the flexibility of the neck and TMJs. The patients attended treatment three times a week for 4 weeks, averaging 1 hour each session. Assessments were performed pretreatment, posttreatment, and 6 weeks after the completion of treatment. General physical status was assessed by four clinical measures (tragus-to-wall distance, modified Schober test, lumbar side flexion, and intermalleolar distance), the Bath ankylosing spondylitis function index (BASFI), and the Bath ankylosing spondylitis disease activity index. The main outcome measures included TMJ function (craniomandibular index (CMI)), and neck mobility (flexion, extension, rotation, and lateral rotation). None of the measures of general physical status, with the exception of BASFI, were significant1y different between the pretreatment, posttreatment, and 6-week follow-up (p>.05). However, CMI and all neck movements, except for extension, significant1y improved after the treatment (p<.05). These improvements were maintained during the follow-up period. The DSE used in the present study seems to be a clinical1y useful method for managing patients with symptoms from the stomatognathic system in AS. Further studies with more subjects and longer treatment times, including the follow-up period, will be conducted to validate these findings.

• International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.156-162
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• 2019

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disorder characterized by progressive joint deterioration; Furthermore, RA can also affect body tissues, including the skin, eyes, lungs, heart and blood vessels. The early stages of RA can be difficult to diagnose because the signs and symptoms mimic those of many other diseases. It is not known exactly what triggers the onset of RA and how to cure the disease. But recent discoveries indicate that remission of symptoms is more likely when treatment begins early with strong medications known as disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs). Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors are typical examples of biotherapies that have been developed for RA. The substances may occur naturally in the body or may be made in the laboratory. Other biological therapies care biological response modifiers (BRMs)such as monoclonal antibodies, interferon, interleukin-2 (IL-2) and a protein binder using repeat units. These substances play significant anti-inflammatory roles. Proteins with recurrent, conserved amino acid stretches mediate interactions among proteins for essential biological functions; for example, ankyrin (ANK), Heat repeat protein (HEAT), armadillo repeat protein (ARM) and tetratricopeptide repeats (TPR). Here, we describe Leucine rich repeats (LRR) that ideally fold together to form a solenoid protein domain and is more applicable to our current study than the previously mentioned examples. Although BRMs have limitations in terms of immunogenicity and effector functions, among other factors, in the context therapeutic use and for proteomics research, We has become clear that repeat-unit-derived binding proteins will increasingly be used in biotechnology and medicine.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.30-38
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• 2009

Purpose: This randomized study was done to compare the effects of a 6 month Tai Chi exercise and a self-help program on balance, flexibility and muscle strength in women with osteoarthritis (OA). Method: In this experimental study, 82 women with OA recruited from outpatient clinics or community health centers were randomly assigned either to a Tai Chi group or a self-help group. Thirty women (mean age = 62 years) in the Tai Chi group and 39 (mean age = 59 years) in the self-help group completed posttest measures (balance, flexibility, oxygen consumption, abdominal muscle strength, back muscle strength, and grip strength) at 6 months. Results: After the 6 month, Tai Chi participants had significantly greater balance (mean difference = 2.9 vs. 0.9 for the self-help), grip strength (mean difference = 4.6 vs. 0.9 for the self-help), and back muscle strength (mean difference = 4.1 vs. -0.3 for the self-help). However, flexibility, oxygen consumption, and abdominal muscle strength were not significantly different between the groups. Conclusion: Tai Chi increased balance, grip strength and back muscle strength in older women with osteoarthritis compared to the self-help program. Whether these changes improve physical functioning and fall prevention requires further study.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.128-137
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• 1978

Aspirin and prednisolone have been used alone or in combination in the treatment of rheumatic diseases. We have investigated the significance of the difference of the anti-inflammatory and antipyretic activities between single and concurrent administration of aspirin and prednisolone in rats by using carrageenan as a phlogistic agent and brewer's yeast as a fever inducing agent. When prednisolone (9mg/kg) and aspirin (24mg/kg) were administered orally alone or in combination, both of the concurrent and single adminstration inhibited highly significantly the swelling of rat paw and the concurrent adminstraiton of aspirin and prednisolone showed the significantly higher inhibitory effects than aspirin single adminstration did, whereas there were not any significant differences between the prednisolone single adminstration and combined adminstration. The combined drug of aspirin and prednisolone marketed in Korea contains 148mg of aspirin and 1.15mg of prednisolone in a tablet. Therefore, we examined the anti-inflammatory and antipyretic activities of aspirin (150mg/kg), prednisolone (1mg/kg) and their combination. In anti-inflammatory effects, both of the concurrent and single administration inhibited higly significantly the swelling of rat paw, and the concurrent adminstration exhibited the significantly higher inhibitory effects than aspirin or prednisolon alone did. In antipyretic effects both of the concurrent and the single adminstration reduced significantly the brewer's yeast-induced fever. The effect of concurrent administration was greater than that of prednisolone single adminstration, whereas the effect of aspirin single adminstration was similar to that of combination. The results suggest that the anti-inflammatory and antipyretic effects are intensified by the concurrent adminstration of aspirin and prednisolone, but the antipyretic effects of enough doses of aspirin (150mg/kg) is comparable to that of the combination preparation.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.78-82
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• 2007

Since germanium has been shown to be beneficial for the treatment of diseases such as cancer and rheumatic arthritis, we developed an adapted process of bio-germanium preparation using inorganic germanium. In the present study we determined the optimal conditions for culturing yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae (KCTC-1199), and the best concentrations of inorganic germanium for the adaptation process. The resulting method was successful at producing high quantities of germanium yeasts. The following are the culture conditions that obtained the highest level of productivity: an inorganic germanium concentration of 3,000-5,000 ppm, a pH of 6.5, a temperature of $35^{\circ}C$, and 20 hr of incubation time. In addition to this high-yield quantity study, we observed the acute oral toxicity of mice treated with Geranti Bio-Ge $Yeast^{(R)}$. We found no changes in body weight, or in the mortality between the control groups and the bio-germanium yeast group. There were also no digestive problems such as diarrhea that occurred in either group.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.70 no.2
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• pp.150-154
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• 2011

We report a case of Caplan's Syndrome, which presented as multiple pulmonary nodules. A 58-year-old male was admitted to hospital due to multiple pulmonary nodules. In addition, the patient presented with multiple arthritis, and dyspnea on exertion. Rheumatoid arthritis had been diagnosed 35 years ago. The patient had worked as a stonemason for 20 years. Computed Tomography (CT) revealed numerous well-defined tiny nodules scattered in both lungs, which was suspicious of miliary tuberculosis or malignancy. The patient was started on antituberculous medications and referred to our hospital. First, a transbronchial lung biopsy was performed, which showed no evidence of granuloma. It was our opinion that the biopsy was insufficient, and a follow-up video-associated thoracoscopy was performed. The pathological report determined necrotizing granulomatous inflammation and silicosis on background. According to imaging studies, pathologic reports, and clinical symptoms, we concluded that the patient had Caplan's syndrome. We controlled his rheumatic medications, and instructed him to avoid exposure to hazardous dust.