• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.177-196
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• 2004

Objective : Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that pathogenesis is not fully understood and one of the most intractable musculoskeletal diseases. The concern in the immunopathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis has been increased since 1980's and many immunotherapeutic agents including disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) were developed and became the mainstay of treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. However, the cure of the disease has hardly been achieved. In oriental medicine, rheumatoid arthritis is related to Bi-Zheng(痺證), that presents pain, swelling, andlor loss of joint function as major clinical manifestations, and also known to be deeply involved in suppression of immune function related to weakness of Jung-Ki(正氣). The herbal medicine, empirically used, could be a potential resource of development of new immunotherapeutic agents for rheumatoid arthritis. Methods : We developed a search strategy using terms to include "rheumatoid arthritis and herbal medicine" combined with "Chinese medicine" and/or "Oriental medicine". The search was focused on experimental studies of herbal medicine (January 1999 to May 2004), which is known to have effects on immune function of patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Computerized search used Internet databases including KISS and RISS4U (Korea), CNKI (China), MOMJ (Main Oriental Medicine Journal, Japan), and PubMed. The articles were selected from journals of universities or major research institutes. Results : The literature search for experimental studies on effects of herbal medicine on immunity of rheumatoid arthritis retrieved a total of 21 articles (Korea; 8, China ; 12, Japan ; 1). Of 21 articles, 10 were related to single-drug formula, 2 to drug interaction, and 9 to multi-drug formula. Single-drug formula was mainly used for aqua-acupuncture and researches on active components. Studies of drug interaction emphasized harmony of Ki-Hyul(氣血) and balance of Han-Yeul(寒熱). Multi-drug regimen was mainly found among formulas for Bo-Ki-Hyul(補氣血) and Bo-Sin(補腎). Conclusion : Studies on rheumatoid arthritis were performed both in vitro and in vivo in vitro study, LPS-stimulated splenocytes and synoviocytes were treated with herbal medicine, resulting in proliferation and activation of immune cells and suppression of cytokine activities in vivo study CIA animal model demonstrated that herbal medicine decreased antibody production and improved function of immune cells. In cellular and molecular study herbal medicine showed profound effects on the level of mRNA expression of certain cytokines related to immune function. This study revealed that herbal medicine has significant immune modulatory action and could be used for recovery of immune dysfunction of rheumatoid arthritis patients.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.65 no.3
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• pp.191-197
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• 2008

Background: Due to the irreversible nature of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the treatment aim in patients with COPD is not to cure but to reduce the symptoms, increase lung function, and improve the quality of life. It has been suggested that depression is a common emotional disturbance in patients with COPD who are faced with a major physical impairment and embarrassing symptoms. This study evaluated the prevalence and risk factors of depression in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Methods: A total of 59 patients with a registered diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were selected. Depression was assessed using the Centers for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) scale. The quality of life was assessed using the Korean version of the St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire. Results: The prevalence of depression was 17.0%. In the correlation model, the interaction of the $FEV_1%$ over predicted value and SGRQ score(symptom, activity, impact, overall score) was statistically significant. The interaction of the $FEV_1%$ over predicted value and depression scale(CES-D) was also statistically significant. There was a positive correlation between the SGRQ scores(symptom, activity, impact, overall score) and the depression scale. Conclusion: The prevalence of depression in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is relatively high. The pulmonary function and the living standards were found to be significant risk factors for depression.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.25-38
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• 1982

As technological civilization and medical science has developed, standards of living have imp-roved and human life expectancy has been extended. But the incidence and mortality rate of cancer have been gradually increasing due to the pollution of the environment. Even though cancer is still a great threat to human beings, the etiology and appropriate cure forcancerhavenotyetbeendiscovered. The early detection and treatment of cancer is urgently needed. This study concentrates on the health behavior of woman regarding the papanicolau smear for early detection of cervical cancer. It was done in order to provide a direction for scientific health education materials by investigating predictors of preventive health behavior. The subjects for this study were made up of 54 woman, who comply with preventive health practices(compliant) who attended the Cervical Cancer Center of Y University Hospital in order to have tests for early detection of cervical cancer and 54 woman who did not comply with preventive health practices (noncompliant) selected from 100 housewives of I apartment, Kang Nam Ku, Seoul. The study method used, was a questionnaire for the compliance group and an interview for the noncompliance group. The period for data collection was from October 13th to October 24th. 1981. Analysis of the data was done using percentages, T-test, Pearson Correlation and Stepwise Multiple Regression. The results of study were as follows: 1. The hypotheses tested were based on the health belief model; 1) The first hypothesis,“The compliant may have more knowledge of the cervical cancer than the noncompliant”was rejected(T=-1.86, p>.05) 2) The second hypothesis,“The compliant may have a higher severity of cervical cancer than the noncompliant”was accepted (T=5.41, p<.001) 3) The third hypothesis, “The compliant may have a higher susceptability to cervical cancer than the noncompliant”was accepted(T=3.51, p<.01). 4) The fourth hypothesis,“The compliant may have more beneHt than cost'from the cervical cancer tests than the noncompliant" was accepted(T=7.46, p<.001). 5) The fifth hypothesis,“The compliant may have more health concern than the noncompliant”. was accepted(T=3.39, p<.01). These results show that severity, susceptability, benefit(over cost) and health concern influence the preventive health behavior in this Study. 2. In the correlation among variables, it was found that the knowledge of cervical cancer and the benefit(over cost) of preventive health behavior were negatively correlated(r=-2.75, p<.01), Severity of cervical cancer and benefit (over cost) of preventive health behavior were positively correlated(r=.280, p＜.01), severity and susceptability of cervical cancer were positively correlated(r= .238, p<.01), benefit(over cost) and health concern were positively correlated(r= .299, p<.01). The benefit(over cost) may be raised by increasing the severity and health concern. Therefore the compliance rate of woman may be raised through health education by increasing the benefit(over cost) of the individual. 3. The Stepwise Multiple Regression between health behavior and predictors. 1) The factor“Benefit(over cost)”could account for preventive health behavior in 34.4％ of the sample(F=55.6204 P<.01). 2) When the factor“Severity”is added to this, it accounts for 44.3% of preventive health behavior(F=41.679, p<.01). 3) When the factor“Susceptability”is also included, it accounts for 46.7% of preventive health behavior(F=30.373, p<.01). 4) When the factor “Health concern”is included, it accounts for 48.1% of preventive health behavior(F=23859, p<.05). This means that other factors appear to influence preventive health behavior, since the combination of variables explains only 48.1％ of the Preventive health behavior. Therefore further study to investigate the predictors of preventive health behavior is necessary.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.82-93
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• 2003

Purpose : To reduce the Irradiation dose to the lungs and heart in the case of chest wail irradiation using an oppositional electron beam, we used an Individualized custom bolus, which was precisely designed to compensate for the differences In chest wall thickness. The benefits were evaluated by comparing the normal tissue complication probablilties (NTCPS) and dose statistics both with and without boluses. Materials and Methods : Boluses were made, and their effects evaluated in ten patients treated using the reverse hockey-stick technique. The electron beam energy was determined so as to administer 80% of the irradiation prescription dose to the deepest lung-chest wall border, which was usually located at the internal mammary lymph node chain. An individualized custom bolus was prepared to compensate for a chest wall thinner than the prescription depth by meticulously measuring the chest wall thickness at 1 emf intervals on the planning CT Images. A second planning CT was obtained overlying the individuailzed custom bolus for each patient's chest wall. 3-D treatment planning was peformed using ADAC-Pinnacle$^{3}$ for all patients with and without bolus. NTCPS based on 'the Lyman-Kutcher' model were analyzed and the mean, maximum, minimum doses, V$_{50}$ and V$_{95}$ for 4he heari and lungs were computed. Results .The average NTCPS in the ipsliateral lung showed a statistically significant reduction (p<0.01), from 80.2${\pm}$3.43% to 47.7${\pm}$4.61%, with the use of the individualized custom boluses. The mean lung irradiation dose to the ipsilateral iung was also significantly reduced by about 430 cGy, Trom 2757 cGy to 2,327 cGy (p<0.01). The V$_{50}$ and V$_{95}$ in the ipsilateral lung markedly decreased from the averages of 54.5 and 17.4% to 45.3 and 11.0%, respectively. The V$_{50}$ and V$_{95}$ In the heart also decreased from the averages of 16.8 and 6.1% to 9.8% and 2.2%, respectively. The NTCP In the contralateral lung and the heart were 0%, even for the cases with no bolus because of the small effective mean radiation volume values of 4.4 and 7.1%, respectively Conclusion : The use of an Individualized custom bolus in the radiotherapy of postrnastectorny chest wall reduced the NTCP of the ipsilateral lung by about 24.5 to 40.5%, which can improve the complication free cure probability of breast cancer patients.