• 대한한의학회지
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• 제24권3호
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• pp.155-164
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• 2003

Objective : Recently questionnaires that reflect the quality of life (QOL) in asthma patients were developed. We aimed to identify the clinical effects of Gamipaima-tang and the side effects of Gamipaimo-tang in asthmatic patients. Materials and Methods : The subjects are consisted of 34 patients with asthma who had been treated with Gamipaimo-tang for four weeks. Gamipaima-tang is an herbal decoction which has been used as a traditional therapeutic agent for asthma. Pulmonary function test (PFT) was checked before and after 4-week treatments. Quality of Life Questionnaire for Adult Korean Asthmatics (QLQAKA) was checked before and after 2 weeks and 4 weeks of treatment. Results : Treatment with Gamipaima-tang for four weeks resulted in significant increase in FVC%, $FEV_{1.0}%$, PEFR%, and QLQAKA. The total efficacy rate in the patient group was 52.9% after 4 weeks. The total efficacy rate of the step 4 group (n=18, 55.6%) classified by Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) was higher than that of the step 3 group (n=13, 46.2%) classified by GINA. Conclusion : This study shows that Gamipaima-tang has the effects of improvement of pulmonary function and quality of life in asthmatic patients. Obviously further research concerning this is still necessary.

• 대한한방내과학회지
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• 제37권2호
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• pp.218-224
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• 2016

Objective: This study reports on the effects of CheonPae-hwan among asthma patients.Method: This case study was conducted with two asthma patients who had visited a traditional Korean medicine clinic. CheonPae-hwan was prescribed to the two patients; we then evaluated the objective symptom changes through forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume at one second (FEV₁). Dyspnea-subjective symptom change was evaluated with the visual analog scale (VAS).Results: In case 1, FVC increased from 2.24 to 2.55 after treatment, FEV₁ increased from 1.86 to 1.99, and VAS decreased from 2 to 0. In case 2, FVC increased from 1.51 to 2.79 after treatment, FEV₁ increased from 1.12 to 2.22, and VAS decreased from 8 to 5.Conclusion: CheonPae-hwan appeared to be effective for treating the two asthma patients in our study.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• 제71권2호
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• pp.81-87
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• 2011

Asthma is the most common chronic illness to affect children and is a major cause of morbidity in adults, affecting 4~17% of children and 7.3~10.1% of adults, which translates to approximately 300 million people globally. This article reviews recently published data over the past 1~2 years on asthma, and covers the 3 aspects of current advancement for the diagnosis of severe asthma, including the controversy to long-acting bronchodilator treatment for treatment of asthma, and the role of long-acting anticholinergics treatment in asthma patients.

• 약학회지
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• 제47권4호
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• pp.244-251
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• 2003

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airway and the prevalence rate is increasing. As the burden of asthma to the society is significant due to the increasing hospital admissions and emergency visits, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI, USA) and World Health Organization (WHO) have developed comprehensive guidelines to help clinicians and patients make appropriate decisions about asthma care. The aim of study was to analyze the pattern of asthma prescriptions based on the national asthma guidelines for the patients visiting primary health care providers. Prescription data for asthma were obtained from the Korean National Health Insurance claims database of January 2002. Ten percent of the primary health care providers were sampled based on their specialty areas, and 20％ of the claim cases were randomly chosen. Study results showed that prescription rate for oral beta-2 agonists was 44.3％, and that for oral theophylline was 46.9％. Oral steroids were prescribed for the 28.2％ of the claims. Utilization of inhalers was low for both bronchodilators (20.3％, beta-2 agonists inhalers), and steroids (8.4％ steroids inhalers). Bronchodilators were more preferred to the longterm anti-inflammatory controllers among the primary health care providers. Prescription rate for antibiotics was 46.0％ for asthmatic patients. Also gastrointestinal drugs were prescribed for 59.0％, antitussives 65.3％, antihistamines 25.3％ and analgesics 29.4％, respectively. This study presented that the prescribing pattern of the primary health care providers for the asthma was quite different from the national and international guidelines. More efforts need to be made to reduce the gap between the present pattern of asthma prescription and the guidelines.

• 한국환경보건학회지
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• 제26권2호
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• pp.80-90
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• 2000

To determine the effect of air pollutants in Taejon City, we used medical insurance claim data for asthma and the data monitored from telemetry system of Ministry of Environment for air pollutants and meteorological factors. From November 1st, 1997 to October 31th, 1998, 95,629 asthma patients were covered by medical insurance at Taejon City. Subjects were composed of 49,563 males (51.8%) and 46.336 females(48.2%), and among the subjects, the proportion under 15 years old was 62.8% of the total. During the study period, daily mean concentrations of each air pollutants-So2, No2, CO, O3 and TSP-were 9.8 ppb, 17.6 ppm, 1.414 pp, 17.3 ppb and 60.6 $\mu\textrm{g}$/㎥, respectively, which were lower than each of the environmental recommended exposure levels, Through the simple correlation analysis between each air pollutants and meteorological factors, O3 was positively correlated with temperature, but negatively with relative humidity. TSP, SO2, NO2, CO were negatively correlated with meteorological factors, and these air pollutants except O3 were positively correlated with each other, O3 was correlated with TSP positively but the others negatively. Estimating relative risks of each air pollutant with the baseline general additive model, daily mean concentrations of TSP(Lag 0, 1, 4, 5day) were significantly associated with the increase of the asthma admission. Two age subgroups, under 15 and 15~54 have shown various association of all air pollutants concentration with the asthma admission. However, in case of over 54 age subgroup, only TSP(Lag 0 day) among all air pollutants was associated with the asthma admission. Each of ambient outdoor pollutant concentrations in Taejon City are significantly associated with the admission of asthma patients even though all concentrations in Taejon City are significantly associated with the admission of asthma patients even though all concentrations were much lower than the environmental recommended exposure levels. Therefore, continuous effort lowering air pollutant concentration and introducing an active environmental conservation policy should be implanted for preventing hazardous health effects. Considering major proportion of asthma admissions, high susceptibility and less confounding factors among the age subgroup under 15 will be a useful target population for assessing such health effect monitoring.

• Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Research
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• 제10권6호
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• pp.686-697
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• 2018

Purpose: Several markers for eosinophilic inflammation have been proposed to predict response to asthma treatment. However, definitive criteria for treatment decisions have not yet been established. We investigate a potentially useful relatively non-invasive biomarker, eosinophil-derived neurotoxin (EDN), to predict favorable responses to budesonide or montelukast, common treatment for children with asthma. Methods: Young children (1 to 6 years old) were enrolled in this randomized, parallel, 2-group, open-label trial. Criteria for eligibility included: 1) being symptomatic during the run-in period; and 2) having a serum EDN (sEDN) level ${\geq}53ng/mL$, with positive specific immunoglobulin E to house dust mite. Eligible patients were randomly placed into 2 groups: the BIS group received budesonide inhalation suspension (BIS) 0.5 mg once daily; the MONT group received montelukast 4 mg once daily. Ineligible patients were invited to receive montelukast 4 mg once daily (OBS group). Treatment period was 12 weeks. Results: Asthma control days increased significantly in the BIS and MONT groups (P < 0.000) over the 12-week study period. There was no significant change in sEDN in the BIS group but there was a significant decrease in the MONT group (P < 0.000). Patients in the OBS group with high EDN levels (> 53 ng/mL) showed a significant decrease due to MONT treatment (P = 0.023). Rescue medication usage significantly decreased in the BIS and MONT groups (P < 0.000). Conclusions: EDN is a useful relatively non-invasive biomarker for predicting responses to montelukast and budesonide treatment of preschool children with beta2-agonist responsive recurrent wheeze and multiple-trigger wheeze (Trial registry at UMIN Clinical Trials Registry, UMIN000008335).

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• 제56권1호
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• pp.8-12
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• 2013

Asthma is associated with increased levels of eosinophils in tissues, body fluids, and bone marrow. Elevated levels of eosinophil-derived neurotoxin (EDN) and eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) have been noted in asthma patients. Higher levels of EDN and ECP are also associated with exacerbated asthmatic conditions. Thus, EDN, along with ECP, may aid the diagnosis and monitoring of asthma. Several groups have suggested that EDN is more useful than ECP in evaluating disease severity. This may partially be because of the recoverability of EDN (not sticky, 100% recovery rate), as ECP is a sticky and more highly charged protein. In terms of clinical utility, EDN level is a more accurate biomarker than ECP when analyzing the underlying pathophysiology of asthma. As a monitoring tool, EDN has shown good results in children with asthma as well as other allergic diseases. In children too young to fully participate in lung function tests, EDN levels may be useful as an alter native measurement of eosinophilic inflammation. EDN can also be used in adult patients and in multiple specimen types (e.g., serum, sputum, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, and nasal lavage fluid). These results are repeatable and reproducible. In conclusion, EDN may be a novel biomarker for the diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring of asthma/allergic disease.

• 농촌의학ㆍ지역보건
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• 제34권3호
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• pp.316-323
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• 2009

본 연구는 천식과 골다공증유병유무와의 관련성을 알아봄으로써 골다공증의 예방 및 관리의 기초 자료로 제공하기 위해 시도되었다. 연구의 기초 자료는 ‘2008년 지역사회건강조사’ 를 이용하였다. 조사 시기는 2008년 9월부터 2008년 11월 까지였고, 충남의 7개 군 및 대전시 서구에 거주하는 19세 이상 주민 6,348명을 대상으로 하였다. 이 중 천식이 있다고 응답한 203명 및 골다공증이 있다고 대답한 465명의 특성을 질병이 없는 군의 특성과 비교하였다. 천식 유병유무와 골다공증 유병유무와는 유의한 상관관계가 있었고, 천식대상자 중에서 천식치료여부와 골다공증 유병유무와도 유의한 상관관계가 있었다. 추가로 좀 더 광범위한 연구 분석과 추적조사가 필요하리라 사료된다.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• 제85권2호
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• pp.101-110
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• 2022

There is a considerable number of individuals who exhibit features of both asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), defined as asthma-COPD overlap (ACO). Many studies have reported that these patients have a greater burden of symptoms, including cough and dyspnea, and experience more exacerbations and hospitalizations than those with non-ACO COPD or asthma. Although diagnostic criteria for ACO have not yet been clearly established, their clinical significance remains to be determined. As interest in ACO grows, related studies have been conducted in South Korea as well. The present review summarizes ACO-related studies in South Korea to better understand Korean ACO patients and guide further research. Several cohort studies of asthma and COPD and population-based studies for ACO were reviewed and the key results from demographics, clinical features, lung function, biomarkers, treatment, and prognosis were summarized.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• 제22권6호
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• pp.45.1-45.15
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• 2022

Asthma is a chronic airway inflammatory disease characterized by reversible airway obstruction and airway hyperreactivity to various environmental stimuli, leading to recurrent cough, dyspnea, and wheezing episodes. Regarding inflammatory mechanisms, type 2/eosinophilic inflammation along with activated mast cells is the major one; however, diverse mechanisms, including structural cells-derived and non-type 2/neutrophilic inflammations are involved, presenting heterogenous phenotypes. Although most asthmatic patients could be properly controlled by the guided treatment, patients with severe asthma (SA; classified as a treatment-refractory group) suffer from uncontrolled symptoms with frequent asthma exacerbations even on regular anti-inflammatory medications, raising needs for additional controllers, including biologics that target specific molecules found in asthmatic airway, and achieving the precision medicine for asthma. This review summarizes the immunologic basis of airway inflammatory mechanisms and current biologics for SA in order to address unmet needs for future targets.