• Proceedings of the Ginseng society Conference
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.41-63
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• 2005

Ginseng has been useful for the treatment of diverse disease in oriental countries for thousands of years. In addition, a folk medicine prescribed by seven herbal drugs including Panax ginseng has been antinarcotics in the treatment of morphine-dependent patients. Many articles have been reported on these works. Therefore, we review the protective effects of Panax ginseng on the neurotoxicity induced by abuse drugs. Ginseng total saponins (GTS) extracted and isolated by Panax ginseng antagonized morphine-induced analgesia, and inhibited the development of analgesic tolerance to and physical dependence on morphine. CTS inhibited morphine-6 dehydrogenase, which catalyzes production of mophinone from morphine, and increased hepatic glutathione level responsible to toxicity. Therefore, wehypothesized that these dual actions of ginseng can be associated with the detoxication of morphine. In addition, the inhibitory or facilitated effects of GTS on electrically evoked contraction in guinea pig ileum (${\mu}$-receptors) and mouse vas deferens(${\delta}$-receptors) were not mediated through opioid receptors, suggesting non-opioid mechanisms. On the hand, antagonism of U-50,488H (${\kappa}$-agonist)-induced antinociception is mediated by serotonergic mechanisms. GTS also inhibited hyperactivity, reverse tolerance (sensitization) and conditioned place preference-induced by psychostimulants such as methamphetamine, cocaine and morphine. On the other hand, GTS reduced the dopamine levels induced by methamphetamine. Moreover, GTS blocked the development of dopamine receptor activation, showing antidopaminergic effect. We suggest that GTS prevent the methamphetamine-induced striatal dopaminergic neurotoxicity. In addition, Ginsenoside also attenuates morphine-induced CAMP signaling pathway. These results suggested that GTS might be useful for the therapy of the adverse actions of drugs with abuse liability.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.16-27
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• 2019

Generative and vegetative parts of the cactuses have had a long-lasting position in folk medicine and their effects could partly be confirmed in scientific experiments. Nowadays, the cactus, fruits, and cladodes are the focus of many studies because of their desirable properties. Therefore, the summarized reports of valuable properties of medicinal plants may be a good way to familiarize researches with a new source of drugs with lower side effects and higher efficacy. Opuntia dillenii, a well-known member of the Cactaceae family, is used as a medicinal plant in various countries and grows in the desert, semi-desert, tropical and sub-tropical areas. It shows diverse pharmacological activities such as: antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, neuroprotective, hepatoprotective, hypotensive etc. OD fruit also possesses valuable constitutes for instance: betalains, ascorbic acid, total phenol, protein as well as essential elements which suggest the significant potential of this plant as a complementary therapy against several pathological conditions. This review describes experimental evidence about pharmacological and therapeutic potential of OD in order to give the basis of its application in the prevention and treatment of some chronic diseases. More studies on OD can help better understanding of its pharmacological mechanism of action to explain its traditional uses and to identify its potential new therapeutic applications.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.21-32
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• 1996

This study was conducted in an attempt to grasp the health problems and environmental situation of the farmers and their vinyl houses. The study was done between Aug. 10, 1995 and Sep. 10, 1995, for one month period. with two hundred and nine vinyl house cultivation farmers chosen at random as subjects in five areas in and around Kim Chun City. The following are the results of the study carried out through direct interviews and surveys with the subjects : 1. The career of farming on vinyl house facilities by sex(male vs female) averages 17.29 and 15.08 years is shorter than that of general farmer's average of 31.24 and 25.58 years(P<0.05). Hours of labor between the two are silimar : monthly labor hours for vinyl house farmers are average 28 and 27.52 days. longer than the general farmers' average of 26.57 and 25.95 hours respectively. 2. The comp aints of physical symptoms among the vinyl house farmers range from lumbago, shoulder pain dullness in the limbs and dizziness, which show no remarkable differences from those of general farmers. 3. The frequency of application of chemicals on vinyl house forming for a period of one year averages 23.79, three times as often as the general farmer's average or 8.36(P<0.05). In the addiction rate of chemicals, too, the vinyl house farmer stowed a higher percentage of $9.09\%$ over the general farmer's $1.24\%$(P<0.01). 4. In temperature, humidity and disconfort indices of in and outside of the vinyl house, room temperature is on an average $34.6{\pm}5.05^{\circ}C,\;11.7^{\circ}C$ higher than that of outside, while in humidity inside was lower than outside by $10.6\%$ point, $65.9\%$ over $76.5\%$. The discomfort index was higher inside by $83{\pm}4.61\;vs\;70.64{\pm}5.61$. 5. The status of physical treatment over the past one year shows : for vinyl house farmers-physiotheraphy$(43.06\%)$, pharmacy$(24.04\%)$, clinic(18.66%), herbal medicine(574%) : for general farmers-pharmacy$(34.16\%)$, Physiotherapy$(27.33\%)$, Clinic$(18.63\%)$, Folk Medicine$(11.18\%)$ (P<0.01).

• The Journal of Korean Medical History
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.145-157
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• 2014

The "Annals of the Joseon Dynasty (朝鮮王朝實錄)" is the precious historical material which contains royal culture of Joseon dynasty as an official document. It kept a record of the diseases and treatments relating to the 27 Kings for a period of 518 years, who had a variety of different symptoms. Among them the most frequent disease was a skin disorder such as a boil of a painful infected swelling. Dermatosis became the direct cause of death of several Kings. In this article we tried to conduct research using the "Annals of the Joseon Dynasty" into the skin diseases of the Kings during the first period of Joseon dynasty from the first King Taejo (太祖) to the 12th King Injong (仁宗). Among the 12 Kings, the 5th King Munjong (文宗), the 7th King Sejo (世祖), the 9th King Seongjong(成宗), the 10th King Yeonsangun (燕山君), and the 11th King Jungjong suffered from dermatosis. The King Munjong died at the age of 38 and suffered from severe boils before his death. The cause of death is thought to be septicaemia. The King Sejo does not have any specific record of skin disease, however, the recently discovered relics showed the indications of serious skin trouble of boils. The King Seongjong suffered from skin diseases at the age of 20, 27, 28 and 38. Nevertheless, the direct cause of death was not dermatosis. The King Yeonsangun had skin trouble of boils on his face when he was 20. He lost the throne and died of an infectious disease at 31. The King Jungjong had a record of suffering from dermatosis at the beginning of twenties, at the middle of forties, and at the age of 57 when he died. The skin trouble affected the whole of the body. He was treated with acupuncture therapy and medication for both internal and external uses among which folk remedies were included.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.177-182
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• 2003

Saururus chinensis Baill (Saururaceae) is a perennial plant that has been used for therapy of edema, jaundice and gonorrhea in Korean folk medicine. This study was carried out to investigate the inhibitory effects of Saururus chinensis Baill(SCB) on hepatoprotective effects in accutely Carbone Tetrachloride ($CCl_4$) treated rats. Saururus chinensis Baill (100 mg/kg) was administered into rats intraperitoneally for 2 weeks, after the injection of CCl4 (3.3 ml/kg). We dxamined the biochemical parameters by measuring the levels of Aspartate aminotransferase (AST), Alanine aminotransferase (ALT), Total cholesterol, Triglyceride (TG), HDL-cholesterol, and LDL-cholesterol in serum and Malonedialdehyde (MDA) in liver tissue of rats. cholesterol was siginificantly elevated in $CCl_4$-treated abnormal group (CTA). The higher level of HDL-cholesterol was found is Saururus chinensis Baill and CCl4 administered group (SCT), which showed the lower levels of Total-cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol. TG content in the SCT was decreased compared to CTA by 0.93 times. MDA content in the SCT was inhibited compared to CTA by 33.00%. These findings indicate that Saururus chinensis. Baill may have a protective effect against CCl4-treated hepatotoxicity in rats.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.465-469
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• 2015

Background: Orostachys japonicus A. Berger (A. Berger) is commonly used as a folk remedy for cancer therapy. However, the mechanisms of its anti-cancer activity are poorly investigated in human cancer cells. In this study, we investigated whether flavonoids extracted from Orostachys japonicus A. Berger (FEOJ) might have anticancer effects in human leukemia cells, focusing on cell death mechanisms. Materials and Methods: U937 human leukemic cancer cells were used. Results: FEOJ induced apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner in human U937 cancer cells. Flow cytometry revealed significant accumulation of cells with sub-G1 DNA content at the concentrations of $200{\mu}g/mL$ and $400{\mu}g/mL$. FEOJ-induced apoptosis was caspase-dependent through loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP, ${\Delta}{\Psi}m$) in human U937 cancer cells, which might be associated with suppression of Bcl-2 and XIAP proteins. FEOJ induced the p38 MAPK signaling pathway, playing at least in part an important role in FEOJ-induced apoptosis. Conclusions: This study suggested that FEOJ may induce caspase-dependent apoptosis in human leukemic cells by regulating MMP (${\Delta}{\Psi}m$) through suppressing Bcl-2 and X-IAP. In addition, the results indicated that upstream p38 MAPK signaling regulates the apoptotic effect of FEOJ. This study provides evidence that FEOJ might have anti-cancer potential for human leukemic cells.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.253-277
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• 1999

Patients with chronic disease have various treatment patterns because it shows a progressive degenerative feature. Especially various physical and emotional problems of the rheumatoid arthritis patients leave them shopping around various types of treatment. According to previous studies, over 70% of patients with arthritis experienced the traditional oriental medicine or folk remedies simultaneously with medical treatment within one year after the onset of disease. The purposes of this study are 1) to compare the patterns of treatment-seeking behaviors between Korean arthritis patients and Americans ; and 2) test two models of treatment-seeking behaviors by path analysis, one for early treatment-seeking behavior model(ETBM) and the other is chronic treatment-seeking behavior model (CTBM) in Korean sample. The interview survey was performed to 133 RA patients with structured questionnaire at out-patient clinic or public health center. Patients characteristics such as age, duration of disease were similar in two countries except higher educational background in Americans. There were no patients using only alternative therapies or no medical treatment in the US. Most of the American patients have chosen both medical treatment and alternative therapy, while the Koreans less than American. In Korea, combined treatment group usually consists of the people who are younger, more educated and higher economic status than the characters of other groups in early or chronic stages. In early stage, they tend to have strong belief of curing from the disease, satisfy the relationship with their physicians and comply with direction of the medical professional. The paths of two models were explained by 70% in ETBM and 33% in CTBM. When the models were modified, almost all paths of the CTBM were the same as the previous one, but direct determinant factor was changed from the relationship with physicians to the lay referral system in chronic model. These two models' explanation powers became 94% and 88%, respectively. The attitude or perception of disease, lay referral system and the relationship with medical personnel are the main determinants of treatment-seeking behaviors.

• Journal of Music and Human Behavior
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.47-64
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• 2011

This study was to examine music preferences of school-aged cochlear implant(CI) recipients in comparison with normal hearing(NH) children. Participants were 12 CI recipients and 155 NH children. CI children were recruited from a hospital in Seoul and they had cochlear implants for longer than two years(M = 4.7). NH children were randomly sampled. All participants were asked to respond to a questionnaire and rate their music preferences. The results showed that while 58.33% of CI recipients preferred child voices, 71.61% of NH children preferred adult voices. For preferred frequency range, both of CI and NH groups preferred higher frequency. With regard to preferred musical styles, while CI children gave the highest rating(M = 3.58) to Korean folk songs on the 5-point Likert scale, popular music and TV and soundtrack music were found to be the highest-rated styles(M = 3.83) for NH children. These results indicate that self-rated music preferences of CI recipients may be affected by a musical environment that these children have experienced. The results also implies that the provision of appropriate musical input and experiences would significantly affect future music preferences and appreciation of CI children. Providing useful information about music preferences of CI recipients in comparison with NH children, this study has significant implications for further studies on this population.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.67-71
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• 2023

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of a community-based cognitive stimulation program on cognitive function and subjective memory in the elderly with mild cognitive impairment. This study was applied by selecting 15 users who understood the purpose of this study and agreed to participate in the shelter program for more than 3 months from April 2019 to August 2019 at the D Dementia Center in G located, Gyeonggi-do. The program consisted of a total of 36 cognitive stimulation programs 3 times a week a total of 3 months. Cognitive stimulation program stimulates cognitive function through various activities such as orientation reinforcement, cognitive training, recall, music, art, and physical play, and is used for the purpose of improving social function. It consists of folk songs, percussion instruments, national gymnastics, dance, games, and traditional games. As a result of the cognitive stimulation program, the average cognitive function increased by 2.13 points from 26.33 points before implementation to 28.46 points after implementation, and a statistically significant result was obtained (p=0.000). Subjective memory decreased by 3.53 points from the average of 7.13 points before the cognitive stimulation program was implemented to 3.60 points after the implementation, and a statistically significant result was obtained (p=0.000). It can be confirmed that this works. Dementia is leading to a cost burden, and congnitive function decreases the aqulity of life. It brings various burdens. It is necessary to study cognitive stimulation programs applied to various environments in the future.