• The Journal of the Society of Stroke on Korean Medicine
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.25-40
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• 2022

■Objectives This study aimed to collect and analyze clinical studies on the significance of acupuncture in the treatment of hypertension among Korean patients. ■Methods Among Korean patients with a blood pressure (BP) of 120 mmHg or higher and a diastolic BP of 80 mmHg or higher, those, treated with acupuncture only, were included. A literature search was conducted through 'Embase', 'Medline', 'Science and Technology Information Integration Service (NDSL)', 'Traditional Korean Knowledge Portal (OASIS)', 'PubMed', and 'Scopus'. The search keywords were (hypertension OR 'blood pressure') AND acupuncture. The papers, published before the day of the search (02. January 2022), were included in this study. ■Results Among the 12 selected papers, seven involved randomized controlled trial (RCT), four before-and-after studies, and one case series. The number of RCTs has increased yearly. The treatment methods used in the studies included needle acupuncture in eight studies, auricular acupuncture in two, pharmacopuncture in one, and si-acupuncture in one. The average numbers of patients enrolled in RCTs, before-and-after studies, and case series were 21.1, 30, and 23 respectively. Six studies were conducted on prehypertensive patients, two on stage 1 hypertension patients, and four on stage 2 hypertension patients. The involved acupoints have been reported to be ST36 in eight papers, LI11 in four papers, and PC6 in three papers. The treatment period lasted for < 1 week in eight studies and 8 weeks in four studies. Acupuncture successfully lowered blood pressure in nine out of 12 studies ■Conclusions Acupuncture is a viable alternative treatment option for prehypertensive patients, who are not taking medications. Additionally, it is also useful in further lowering the BP of patients with stage 1 and stage 2 hypertension in the short term. Large-scale and long-term studies on acupuncture for hypertension should be conducted.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.87-94
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• 2011

Objective: OSAS (obstructive sleep apnea syndrome) is a common disorder and its consequences are often serious. It is important to detect the disorder early in the course for proper treatment. This study is to grasp the snoring clinic visitors' knowledge level of OSAS. Method: One hundred and seventy-nine visitors at the of snoring clinic of Seoul National University Hospital were surveyed by questionnaire about reasons of visit and knowledge of treatment methods of snoring and OSAS, diagnostic method, OSAS-related symptoms, and complications. Results: Most of the respondents (89.4%) "have already heard about OSAS" and the major sources of information was the mass media (58.1%) such as television and radio. More than half (60.3%) were aware that snoring is closely related to OSAS. More than half (59.8%) recognized that a nocturnal polysomnograpy was necessary for proper diagnosis. Two thirds (67%) of the respondents noted surgery as a treatment for snoring. More than half (55.9%) answered that they would follow the doctor's advice on the treatment choice. Only 12.3% of respondents "have heard about nCPAP". No one chose nCPAP (nasal continuous positive airway pressure) as a treatment for either snoring or OSAS. About one third (34.6%) of the respondents were aware that OSAS is related to hypertension. Only 12.8% noted that OSAS is related to diabetes mellitus. Conclusion: Visitors at the snoring clinic were found to have substantially limited knowledge of health risks and proper treatments of OSAS. We suggest that it is crucially important to educate patients and offer easy-to-understand information on snoring and OSAS. We predict that provision of educaiton and information to patients and general public will faciliate the diagnosis and treatment of snoring and OSAS and reduce the related disorders such as hypertension, stroke, and diabetes mellitus.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.13-26
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• 2013

Objectives : The purpose of this study is to investigate the correlation between pattern identification of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and western medicine, examined by a systematic research of Chinese medicine papers. Methods : We searched for the papers regarding pattern identification of TCM published from 1994 to 2012 in CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastructure http://www.cnki.net) at April, 2012. Results : A total of 30 studies were finally included; 18 studies of them were related to stroke (cerebral infarction) and there were 12 studies regarding other diseases, such as hypertension, chronic colonitis, vascular dementia, mild cognitive impairment and etc. All 30 studies were analyzed and classified by diseases, differentiation of syndromes, numbers of subjects, the instrument of pattern identification, items of western medicine examination and statistical results. Conclusions : According to our study, there are some correlations between pattern identification of TCM and various items of western medicine examination. The result suggests a possibility of using the western medicine examination data for pattern identification of TCM.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.123-130
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• 2013

Objectives : During several thousand years, Peucedanum Japonicum Thunberg has been considered as a vegetable side dish in Korea. There is folk knowledge that Peucedanum Japonicum Thunberg prevents vascular disease such as stroke. To identify the effects Peucedanum Japonicum Thunberg, we made up its extract and named it as KH020. Then, we employed common carotid artery ligation (CCAl) surgery for vascular dementia model (VDM), and two types doses of per os (per oral: p.o) treatment. Methods : To confirm prevention and recovery effects for vascular dementia, we treated two doses (100, 400 mg/kg) KH020 in male C57BL/6 mouse during 7 days. After treatment, animals were CCAl operated, and given time to recover. Then, animal were tested in a Y-maze and passive avoidance test. Results : Y-maze results demonstrated that cognition and memory performance were decreased in the VDM group, compared to the sham group. KH020 treatment abolished these effects significantly. The results from the passive avoidance test showed the same phenomenon, but it was not statically significant. Conclusions : Therefore, KH020 prevents the onset of vascular dementia. In future studies, we will evaluate KH020 in regard to alzheimer dementia.

• PNF and Movement
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.157-176
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• 2016

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to share an experience about processes and lessons learned to execute evidence-based practice (EBP) in neurological physical therapy. Methods: The most important thing in applying EBP to practice is to search, find, and appraise the existing evidence. Many evidence databases are available, such as CENTRAL, PEDro, PUBMED, and EMBASE. However, the knowledge represented in these databases is not always perfect. The practice model is a set of processes to resolve client problems. Therapists should make hypothesis-focused decisions through EBP. Integrating clinical reasoning and evidence is most important when it comes to the execution of EBP. Results: The process of EBP consisted of following: coming up with clinical questions, followed by searching for, appraising, evaluating, and integrating evidence. To integrate EBP into practice, it is necessary to consider clinical expertise, patient value and preferences, as well as research wth the best evidence. We provided an example of a clinical case with a stroke patient to show how this process and framework concerning clinical reasoning through evidences can be integrateds. During this process, we also utilized information technology to improve EBP ability. Conclusion: We should recognize what manner of information is needed to resolve eash patient's problem, and we should search for this information efficiently. Then, we should judge the value of the information obtained as it applies, to the clinical setting.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.266-270
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• 2014

Background: Knowledge of the anatomical variation of the vertebral artery has clinical importance not only for the performance of interventional or surgical procedures itself but also to ensure their safety. We conducted a study of the anatomical variation by reviewing multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) images of the cervical spine from 460 Korean patients. Methods: 16-row MDCT data from 460 patients were used in this study. We observed 920 vertebral arteries. Examination points included level of entrance of the artery into the transverse foramen of the cervical vertebra, origin site of the vertebral artery, course of a vertebral artery with aberrant entrance. Result: The vertebral artery in 2 (0.2%) cases in this study entered into the transverse foramen of the 7th cervical vertebra from the left. In 45 (4.9%) cases, the vertebral artery entered into the transverse foramen of the 5th cervical vertebra. Of these, the entrance was on the right in 15 (1.6%) and on the left in 30 (3.3%). We found 17 (1.8%) cases in which the artery entered into the transverse foramen of the 4th cervical vertebra, 10 (1.1%) on the right and 7 (0.7%) on the left side. As is commonly acknowledged, the 6th cervical vertebra was the most common site of entry; the vertebral artery entered the transverse foramen of the 6th cervical vertebra in the remaining 855 (93.0%) cases, on the right in 434 (47.2%) and on the left in 421 (45.8%). Conclusions: In conclusion, the possibility of an atypical course of the vertebral artery in segments V1 and V2 should be evaluated with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or CT images before carrying out procedures involving the anterior cervical vertebrae.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.401-410
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• 2014

Objectives: This study was intended to review the research trends of treating neuropsychiatric diseases and symptoms with Traditional Chinese Medicine containing Haematitum. Methods: Articles were obtained through the CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastructure) by searching with 'Haematitum' as the main key word, and supportive words related with neuropsychiatric diseases and symptoms were selected. There were 61 articles related to clinical fields, which were then classified according to study design. Results: The 61 articles were categorized into the following types of study design: 3 randomized controlled trials, 1 quasi-randomized trial, 3 simple-designed clinical trials, and 54 case studies. Decoctions containing Haematitum were used to treat diseases and symptoms such as vertigo, headache, stroke, epilepsy, neurosis, globus hystericus, fishbilepoisoning, insomnia, mania, post-traumatic brain syndrome, and kinesia. All articles reported a good rate of effectiveness. There was no poor responsiveness regarding the effects of Haematitum in 9 studies, but it was not mentioned in the other 52 studies. Decoctions self-prepared by the authors were used in 28 studies. Modified Seonbokdeja-tang, modified Banhabeakchulcheonma-tang, modified Ondam-tang were used in that order of frequency. The daily dosage of Haematitum provided was 0.2~6 g in powder, and 9~60 g in decoction. Conclusions: Decoctions containing Haematitum are used restrictively in the neuropsychiatric clinical scene. While there were no reports of poor responsiveness of the effects of Haematitum, more research is needed to confirm its clinical stability.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.14 no.10
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• pp.73-82
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• 2009

This paper proposes a variance recovery method for character strokes that can be missed in applying the previously proposed color variance approach in text detection of natural scene images. The previous method has a shortcoming of missing the color variance due to the fixed length of horizontal and vertical windows of variance detection when the character strokes are thick or long. Thus, this paper proposes a variance recovery method by using geometric information of bounding boxes of connected components and heuristic knowledge. We have tested the proposed method using various kinds of document-style and natural scene images such as billboards, signboards, etc captured by digital cameras and mobile-phone cameras. And we showed the improved text detection accuracy even in the images of containing large characters.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.29-43
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• 2015

Objective : The purpose of this study was to identify characteristics of patients' self-perceived health in traditional Korean medical facilities. Method : This research was conducted based on the survey on patients whom have visited traditional Korean medical facilities in 2011 by the Ministry of Health and Welfares and Korean Institute for Health and Social Affairs. Using a sample of 3,931 (1,180 male and 2,751 female) outpatients' self-perceived health based on the data from usage and consumption of Korean Medicine. 'Healthy', 'Fair', and 'Poor Health' were used to measure patients' self-perceived health status. The data was analyzed by frequency, t-test, cross correlation analysis and multiple logistics regression analysis using the SPSS program package. Results : Sex(P<0.001), age(P<0.001), marital status(P<0.001), education(P<0.001), employment status(P<0.001), occupation(P<0.001), health insurance(P<0.001) and income level(P<0.0001) showed statistical significance. Main Treatment Facilities(P<0.001), experience of taking Korean medicine(P=0.032), experience of receiving acupuncture treatment(P<0.001), number of visits(P<0.001), medical expense (P=0.005), and subjective health status after the treatments showed statistical significance for Korean herbal medicine(P=0.038), acupuncture (P=0.001), cupping therapy(P=0.006), oriental physiotherapy(P=0.003), and treatment satisfaction(P<0.001). For subjective health status based on suffering disorders in the past three months, the response of poor health was higher in the group suffering recent illnesses. Statistical significance was seen in hypertension (P=0.002), arthritis(P<0.001), lumbar pain(P<0.001), diabetes mellitus(P=0.001), stroke(P<0.001), hwa-byung (P=0.001), gastric disorders(P=0.021), common cold(P<0.001), ankle sprain(P<0.001), muscular injury(P<0.001), lumbar sprain(p=0.009) and fracture(P=0.03). Also the number of diseases during the past three months showed statistical significance(P<0.001). Statistical significance was also seen in Level of knowledge(P<0.001), route of information(P<0.001), reliability of Korean medicine(P=0.003), insurance coverage(P=0.005), medical costs(P<0.001), and future willingness to use Korean medicine(P<0.001). As a result of the multiple logistics regression analysis, risks of subjective poor health statistically increased in female population, elderlies, medicaid beneficiaries, less educated, higher medical expense, and more disorders during the past three months. Conclusion : Patients' self-perceived health status has significant differences with each variables such as sex, age, marital status, education, health insurance, medical expense, number of diseases.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.183-202
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• 1996

This study was designed out to develop a home health care service for nurses working in community care services. This study investigates actual conditions at welfare institutions related to health needs the demands of clients, and the state of home health care services we hope that this study will improve upon the current service system. In Korea home health care services are still developing and only new becoming a part of the health care supply system. The data was collected by recording the client home nursing assessments modified to the situation of UTMB home health agency. In this study 107 clients were selected for home care who needed care for physical and mental deficits. The study lasted from March to November of 1995 at one of the welfare service institutions in Chunchon city. The results show that those who most frequently needed care services were over 50 years old with a health deficit of 80.3%, followed by sex as women who needed care at 59.8%. 50.5% of the clients had very little education. 99.1% of the clients live with their family, and a medical diagnostic analysis reveals that 73.9% of the 5 year period of illnesses were the following : 38.8% - muscular -skeleton system disorder, 24.4% - hypertension and stroke, 25.7% sole disease of arthritis. For behavioral conditions 43.3% of the patients were without care services, 56.6% of the patients were taking treatment that 73.5% of those were taking medication. The most main complaint of patients were 22.4% of pain in the extremities, next were 16.8% of a limitation of body activities, 15.0% was lumbo-sacralgia. According to the investigator who was a senior student nurse, the following suggestions were made: 32.7% for curative medical services, 29.9% for physical exercise, 19.6% for emotional support. Consultation nursing services consisted of 67.2% for physical therapy, 11.2% for the maintaining healing, 9.4% for counseling. The patients at home, required assistance most frequently for muscular-skeleton problems under the category of physical systems (33.3%). But, on the other hand, 49.5% of the patients required care givers at home, 28.2% had a knowledge deficit, 21.0% had malnutrition, 18.4% had bad impaired communication. The character of health problems were devided into chronic disease(67.0%), accidents(I3.1%), and general disease(15.9%). 86% of the disabled client had an impairment of the physical system. Eating (86.9%) , Toileting(77.6%), and personal care showed much the same of ADL condition, the level and range of achievement of mobility, the most frequently self performed was 81.3% only in a room size area, and 40.2% were completely dependent when going out. Although there were a large number of home care services in th community at these welfare institutions, many clients needed a variety of curative services. As policy changes have gathered momentum, responsibility for the development of a more suitable program was demanded by the clients from the community.