• 대한임상검사과학회지
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• 제54권4호
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• pp.249-255
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• 2022

알츠하이머병은 주요한 공중보건 문제로 나타나며 연구분야에서도 최우선적인 과제이다. 알츠하이머병(AD)에서 뇌척수액(CSF)을 활용한 바이오마커인 아밀로이드-β(Aβ42), 총 타우(T-tau) 및 인산화 타우(P-tau)가 알츠하이머병 병태생리학의 핵심 요소를 반영한다. 임상 연구 및 새로운 측정법을 통한 임상적으로 활용되는 진단은 전임상 알츠하이머병에 대해 민감적이고 특이적이며 신뢰할 수 있는 바이오마커의 발굴, 뿐만 아니라 치매의 조기 발견 및 감별 진단과 질병 진행 모니터링에 도움이 되는 검사법의 개발에도 중요할 것이다. 증상 전 단계에서 AD의 조기 발견은 시냅스 손상 및 신경 손실이 확장되기 전에 개입이 수행되기 때문에 치료 개입을 조기에 가능하게 하고 치료 성공을 위한 가능성이 더 큰 좋은 기회로 이어진다. 따라서 새롭고 접근하기 쉽고 비용이 적게 드는 바이오마커를 임상 진단에 활용하는 것이 매우 유익할 것이다. 치매의 초기단계에 일어나는 병리학적 변화나, 질병의 진행정도를 추적할 수 있는 다양한 바이오마커들의 진단방법을 찾는 일은 치료제 개발처럼 중요한 연구 분야이다. 조기진단을 위해 임상증상을 대변하거나(surrogate marker), 증상이 나타나기 이전 상태를 측정할 수 있는 새로운 진단마커가 필요한 상황이다. 이러한 이유로 인지기능 저하정도를 측정하여 정상, 경도인지장애(mild cognition impairment, MCI) 및 전임상(preclinical) 상태의 사람을 판별할 수 있는 바이오마커(biomarker)를 활용한 조기진단법 개발의 중요성이 강조되고 있다.

• 한국산림과학회지
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• 제112권1호
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• pp.93-104
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• 2023

고령화로 인해 기대수명이 높아지고 있으며, 다양한 노인성 질병 등의 문제가 증가하고 있다. 본 연구의 목적은 산림치유 활동이 노인에게 어떠한 영향을 미치는지 체계적으로 문헌을 분석하여 노인 대상 산림치유 활동 확대를 위한 기초자료를 제공하는 것이다. 문헌 수집을 위해 국내는 RISS, KISS, Korea Med, Science On, 국외는 PubMed, Cochrane central, MDPI, Google Scholar를 이용하였다. 수집된 문헌의 방법론적인 질적 평가를 위해 코크란 그룹의 RoB2와 RoBANS를 이용하여 비뚤림 평가를 진행하였다. 2000년부터 2022년 1월 사이에 게재된 노인 대상 산림치유 활동의 연구 논문으로 한정하여 총 1,856편에서 최종 21편의 문헌을 선정하였다. 대상자는 60세 이상이며, 선정된 문헌의 참가자는 최소 7명에서 최대88명으로 총 750명이 참가하였다. 분석결과, 각 지표에서 가장 많이 수행된 검사는 심리지표에서 우울 7편, 인지지표에서 MMSE(Mini Mental State Examination) 2편, 생리지표에서 혈압 4편, 생화학지표에서 멜라토닌 2편, 신체지표에서 체지방과 근력 3편으로 나타났다. 총21편의 연구 중 19편의 연구가 2가지 이상의 검사항목을 사용하였으며, 심리적 지표를 가장 많이 측정하였다. 향후 노인대상 산림치유 활동의 적용을 위해서는 인지기능 예방의 산림치유 프로그램이 다양하게 개발 및 보급되어야 하며, 산림치유 활동에 대한 근거를 제공하기 위해 후속연구는 지속적으로 제시되어야 한다.

• 정신신체의학
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• 제31권1호
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• pp.1-9
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• 2023

신경인지장애 환자들은 인지저하 뿐만 아니라 초조, 공격성, 우울, 배회 등의 정신행동증상들을 나타내며 이로 인해 환자와 가족이 상당한 고통을 받게 된다. 정신행동증상의 치료를 위해서는 환자 중심의, 비약물학적인 치료가 우선되어야한다. 본 논문은 신경인지장애 환자에서 나타나는 정신행동증상을 관리하고 치료하기 위한 비약물학적인 개입에 대하여 기술하였다. 초조, 우울, 무감동, 불면, 배회 등의 정신행동증상을 조절하기 위해서는 환경변화, 약물 등의 유발 인자를 파악하고 평가한 뒤, 그러한 문제를 해결해주는 것이 중요하다. 비약물학적인 개입 방법으로는 안심시키기, 활동 격려하기, 주의를 분산시키기, 환경을 변화시키기 등을 들 수 있다. 환자의 관점에서 행동을 이해하고, 그들의 요구와 능력에 맞게 접근해야한다. 비약물학적인 개입 방법으로 회상요법, 음악치료, 향기요법, 다중감각자극요법, 운동요법, 광선치료, 마사지 요법, 인지중재치료, 애완동물요법 등의 다양한 요법이 시행되고 있으며, 이러한 접근 방법이 환자의 우울, 무감동, 초조, 공격성, 불안, 배회, 불면 등의 증상을 호전시켜준다고 알려져 있다. 그러나, 효과에 대한 증거 수준이 높지 않아 향후에 좀 더 광범위하고 정확한 효과 검증 연구가 필요하다.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• 제67권3호
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• pp.333-344
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• 2024

Objective : Markers of neuroinflammation during ischemic stroke are well characterized, but additional markers of neural damage are lacking. The study identified associations of behavioral disorders after stroke with histologic neural damage and molecular biological change. Methods : Eight-week-old, 25 g male mice of the C57BL/6J strain were subjected to middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) to induce ischemic stroke. The control group was a healthy wild type (WT), and the experimental group were designed as a low severity MCAO1 and a high severity MCAO2 based on post-stroke neurological scoring. All groups underwent behavioral tests, realtime polymerase chain reaction, triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining and Hematoxylin and Eosin staining. One-way analysis of variance was used to analyze statistical significance between groups. Results : In TTC staining, MCAO1 showed 29.02% and MCAO2 showed 38.94% infarct volume (p<0.0001). The pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin (IL)-1β was most highly expressed in MCAO2 (WT 0.44 vs. MCAO1 2.69 vs. MCAO2 5.02, p<0.0001). From the distance to target in the Barnes maze test, WT had a distance of 178 cm, MCAO1 had a distance of 276 cm, and MCAO2 had a distance of 1051 (p=0.0015). The latency to target was 13.3 seconds for WT, 27.9 seconds for MCAO1, and 87.9 seconds for MCAO2 (p=0.0007). Prospero homeobox 1 (Prox1) was most highly expressed in MCAO2 (p=0.0004). Doublecortin (Dcx) was most highly expressed in MCAO2 (p<0.0001). Conclusion : The study demonstrated that histological damage to neural cells and changes in brain mRNA expression were associated with behavioral impairment after ischemic stroke. Prox1 and Dcx may be biomarkers of neural damage associated with long-term cognitive decline, and increased expression at the mRNA level was consistent with neural damage and long-term cognitive dysfunction.

• 한국멀티미디어학회논문지
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• 제20권12호
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• pp.1980-1991
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• 2017

Many stroke patients undergoing rehabilitation therapy require a quantitative indicator for the evaluation of body function in paretic and non-paretic regions. In this study, the impedance parameters were acquired to assess the physical status in the upper extremity of thirty six stroke patients with hemiplegia caused by cerebral hemorrhage (10 patients) and cerebral infarction (26 patients), using bioelectrical impedance. Prediction marker (PM), phase angle (PA), PM/PA, and resistance (R) versus reactance ($X_c$) were utilized to evaluate the functional status of the paretic and non-paretic regions. In addition, the hand grip strength (HGS) and the pinch strength (lateral, palmer, tip) were measured on the upper extremity of hemiplegic stroke patients. PM was distributed in inversely proportional to HGS, but PA was distributed in proportional to HGS. However, there were a number of patients with HGS of 0, regardless of the impedance parameters (PM, PA, R vs. $X_c$). Paretic and non-paretic status in upper extremity of these patients could not be analyzed using impedance parameters. At the rehabilitation therapist's instructions, they were unable to move the hand and fingers of the paretic upper extremity by cranial nerve damage, motor nerve damage, and severe cognitive decline.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• 제25권4호
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• pp.254-257
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• 2012

Background: Elderly patients visiting pain clinic may be at greater risk of misunderstanding the explanation because of age-related cognitive decline. Video instruction may provide a consistent from of teaching in a visual and realistic manner. We evaluated the effect of educational video on the patient understanding and satisfaction in a group of geriatric patients visiting pain clinic. Methods: Ninety two patients aged more than 60 years old who were scheduled for transforaminal epidural block were recruited. After exposure to either video or paper instruction process, each patient was asked 5-item comprehension questions, overall satisfaction and preference question. During follow-up period, number of outpatient referral-line call for further explanation was counted. Results: We observed significantly better comprehension in the video education compared with paper instruction (P < 0.001). Patient satisfaction was also higher in the video group (P = 0.015), and patients visiting pain clinic were more preferred video instruction (P < 0.001). Proportion of referral-line call for further explanation were similar (P = 0.302). Conclusions: Video approach to instruction process before consent improves treatment comprehension in geriatric patient visiting pain clinic.

• 대한한의학회지
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• 제35권1호
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• pp.145-156
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• 2014

Objectives: Korean medicine hospitals, since they first emerged in the early 1970s, have rapidly become a new member of the hospital population. As it was a new organizational frame for traditional medicine, we tried to analyze the changes of Korean medicine hospitals coping with institutional environment and their relative positioning in the whole health care sector. Methods: On the basis of Scott and his colleagues' identification of the three components of institutional environments, changes in organizational logics, actors, and governance of Korean medicine hospitals during the period from 1971 to 2010 were analyzed. Results: First, Similar to previous literature on institutional eras of Korean health sector, three distinct periods were characterized: the foundation of Korean medicine hospitals to consolidate the legal status(1971~1986), a rapid increase of entrepreneurial hospitals through cultural-cognitive legitimacy(1987~2001), and the reinforcement of specialization and competition(2002~present). Conclusions: Results suggested that: (1) changes in institutional environments hada heavy impact on structural and behavioral changes among Korean medicine hospitals, but the pace was slower than that of western medicine hospitals. (2) In structure, Korean medicine hospitals have positioned themselves as unofficial long-term care hospitals, focusing on chronic diseases(e.g. cerebrovascular disease). Our study demonstrated that organizational theories can provide useful framework for the analysis of Korean medicine and related policies. Indeed, one of the most important implications of this study is that understanding changes in institutional environments is important to understand the process of how members of the health care sector live, grow, change, decline and survive.

• 보건의료산업학회지
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• 제8권1호
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• pp.65-73
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• 2014

The purpose of this study is to analyze the correlation between cognition, depression and leisure activity in elderly people above 65 years of age, and to improve their health and quality of life by providing baseline data for occupational therapy intervention. This investigation was performed on 118 elderly people above 65 years of age who lived in local community and two senior welfare centers. In order to collect the data, we used MMSE-K, KDS, Questionnaire for leisure activity. The depression of elderly people was negatively correlated with their cognition(p<.01) and leisure activity(p<.001), whereas cognition was positively correlated with their leisure activity(p<.01). In conclusion, the correlation between cognition, depression and leisure activity of elderly people appeared statistically significant. Therefore, leisure activity program should be designed through additional research and effectively provided in nursing home and community senior welfare center to prevent depression increase and cognitive decline.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• 제33권2호
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• pp.132-138
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• 2009

Previous studies suggest that even low-dose irradiation can lead to progressive cognitive decline and memory deficits, which implicates, in part, hippocampal dysfunction in both humans and experimental animals. In this study, whether red ginseng (RG) could attenuate memory impairment was investigated through a passive-avoidance and object recognition memory test, as well as the suppression of hippocampal neurogenesis, using the TUNEL assay and immunohistochemical detection with markers of neurogenesis (Ki-67 and doublecortin (DCX)) in adult mice treated with a relatively low-dose exposure to gamma radiation (0.5 or 2.0 Gy). RG was administered intraperitonially at a dosage of 50 mg/kg of body weight, at 36 and 12 h pre-irradiation and at 30 minutes post-irradiation, or orally at a dosage of 250 mg! kg of body weight/day for seven days before autopsy. In the passive-avoidance and object recognition memory test, the mice that were trained for one day after acute irradiation (2 Gy) showed significant memory deficits compared with the sham controls. The number of TUNEL-positive apoptotic nuclei in the dentate gyrus (DG) was increased 12 h after irradiation. In addition, the number of Ki-67- and DCX-positive cells was significantly decreased. RG treatment prior to irradiation attenuated the memory defect and blocked apoptotic death as well as a decrease in the Ki-67- and DCX-positive cells. RG may attenuate memory defect in a relatively low-dose exposure to radiation in adult mice, possibly by inhibiting the detrimental effect of irradiation on hippocampal neurogenesis.

• Molecules and Cells
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• 제37권11호
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• pp.767-776
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• 2014

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is clinically characterized with progressive memory loss and cognitive decline. Synaptic dysfunction is an early pathological feature that occurs prior to neurodegeneration and memory dysfunction. Mounting evidence suggests that aggregation of amyloid-${\alpha}$ ($A{\alpha}$) and hyperphosphorylated tau leads to synaptic deficits and neurodegeneration, thereby to memory loss. Among the established genetic risk factors for AD, the ${\varepsilon}4$ allele of apolipoprotein E (APOE) is the strongest genetic risk factor. We and others previously demonstrated that apoE regulates $A{\alpha}$ aggregation and clearance in an isoform-dependent manner. While the effect of apoE on $A{\alpha}$ may explain how apoE isoforms differentially affect AD pathogenesis, there are also other underexplored pathogenic mechanisms. They include differential effects of apoE on cerebral energy metabolism, neuroinflammation, neurovascular function, neurogenesis, and synaptic plasticity. ApoE is a major carrier of cholesterols that are required for neuronal activity and injury repair in the brain. Although there are a few conflicting findings and the underlying mechanism is still unclear, several lines of studies demonstrated that apoE4 leads to synaptic deficits and impairment in long-term potentiation, memory and cognition. In this review, we summarize current understanding of apoE function in the brain, with a particular emphasis on its role in synaptic plasticity and the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms, involving low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 1 (LRP1), syndecan, and LRP8/ApoER2.