• The Journal of Korean Medicine
• /
• v.29 no.1
• /
• pp.25-38
• /
• 2008

Objectives : Integrative medicine in Korea is the 21st century-style medical practice of two orthodox medical doctrines, traditional Korean medicine and western conventional medicine, as well as complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). CAM with scientific evidence should be incorporated in undergraduate curricula for the purpose of Korean integrative medicine. Methods : Items of detailed objectives, syllabi, textbooks, instructor's experiences, and effectiveness and reason for difficulty of the CAM curriculum for undergraduate students were analyzed and the preference of CAM therapies and others were also evaluated. Results and Discussion : The effectiveness of this CAM class curriculum was high (8.0$\pm$1.4) enough to be used in other Oriental medical colleges. Development of ability for self-study was rated as 7.0$\pm$1.7 and the helpfulness for clinical use was marked as 6.8$\pm$1.9. Students preferred placebo, Ayurveda, aromatherapy, yoga, functional food, bio-feedback and homeopathy. The difficulty degree was 7.2$\pm$1.6, and the amount of content was suggested as the major reason for it. We also found that this curriculum can be a model for self-oriented study and problem-based learning. Discussions were made for the improvement of the implemented CAM curriculum, which was shown to be very effective for the achievement of Korean integrative medicine. Conclusion : We have successfully installed a CAM curriculum for undergraduate students at the College of Oriental Medicine, and it can be used in others.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
• /
• v.32 no.3
• /
• pp.285-302
• /
• 2021

Objectives: To examine the effect of long-term Korean medicine treatment on mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Methods: This study was conducted on two patients who were diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment and received long-term Korean medicine treatment. In order to evaluate the degree of cognitive decline, SNSB and K-MMSE were performed 2~3 times at the first visit and during the treatment process. Results: Both cases 1 and 2 were diagnosed with MCI with a high possibility of developing dementia. In case 1, MCI progressed to early dementia at one year after the diagnosis of MCI. However, in case 2, that MCI status was maintained without progressing to dementia for 4 years after the diagnosis of MCI. The cause of such difference in the course of MCI might be attributed to the fact that Case 1 had lower K-IADL level but higher SGDS level than Case 2 at the time of initial diagnosis, with weak family support and irregular herbal medicine intake. Conclusions: Korean medicine treatment could improve and manage symptoms of cognitive decline due to MCI.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
• /
• v.38 no.6
• /
• pp.917-929
• /
• 2017

Objectives: The objective of this study was to investigate the validity of the preliminary critical pathway of integrative medicine to improve the quality of life of lung cancer patients who received chemotherapy. Methods: The vertical axis of the preliminary critical pathway of integrated medicine consisted of nine domains: assessment, treatment, activity, consult, diet, medication, Korean medical examination, education, and others. The frame of the horizontal axis was the date from hospitalization to discharge. A total of 105 items in this preliminary critical pathway were validated by an expert group from October 28, 2016 to November 4, 2016. A total of ten experts from two different medical institutions participated in the validity test, using the four-point Content Validity Index (CVI) scale. The items with validity of greater than 80% were considered as significant. Results: The analysis of the content validity of 105 items showed 102 items with greater than 80% agreement. Assessment, treatment, consult, diet, medication, and education showed 100% agreement. Only three items showed a low validity (62.5%). Based on additional comments, the preliminary critical pathway of integrative medicine has been supplemented. Conclusions: This study suggests the possibility of using the integrated medical critical pathway for patients with lung cancer who received chemotherapy.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.55 no.2
• /
• pp.655-668
• /
• 2023

In radiography, an antiscatter grid is a well-known device for eliminating unexpected x-ray scatter. We investigate a new stationary grid artifact suppression method based on a nonsubsampled contourlet transform (NSCT) incorporated with Gaussian band-pass filtering. The proposed method has an advantage that extracts the Moiré components while minimizing the loss of image information and apply the prior information of Moiré component positions in multi-decomposition sub-band images. We implemented the proposed algorithm and performed a simulation and an experiment to demonstrate its viability. We did this experiment using an x-ray tube (M-113T, Varian, focal spot size: 0.1 mm), a flat-panel detector (ROSE-M Sensor, Aspenstate, pixel dimension: 3032 × 3800 pixels, pixel size: 0.076 mm), and carbon graphite-interspaced grids (JPI Healthcare, 18 cm × 24 cm, line density: 103 LP/inch and 150 LP/inch, ratio: 5:1, focal distance: 65 cm). Our results indicate that the proposed method successfully suppressed grid artifacts by reducing them without either reducing the spatial resolution or causing negative side effects. Consequently, we anticipate that the proposed method can improve image acquisition in a stationary grid x-ray system as well as in extended x-ray imaging.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
• /
• v.47 no.5
• /
• pp.662-671
• /
• 2023

Background: 20(S)-protopanaxadiol (PPD), a ginsenoside metabolite, has prominent benefits for the central nervous system, especially in improving learning and memory. However, its transcriptional targets in brain tissue remain unknown. Methods: In this study, we first used mass spectrometry-based drug affinity responsive target stability (DARTS) to identify the potential proteins of ginsenosides and intersected them with the transcription factor library. Second, the transcription factor PURA was confirmed as a target of PPD by biolayer interferometry (BLI) and molecular docking. Next, the effect of PPD on the transcriptional levels of target genes of PURA in brain tissues was determined by qRT-PCR. Finally, bioinformatics analysis was used to analyze the potential biological features of these target proteins. Results: The results showed three overlapping transcription factors between the proteomics of DARTS and transcription factor library. BLI analysis further showed that PPD had a higher direct interaction with PURA than parent ginsenosides. Subsequently, BLI kinetic analysis, molecular docking, and mutations in key amino acids of PURA indicated that PPD specifically bound to PURA. The results of qRT-PCR showed that PPD could increase the transcription levels of PURA target genes in brain. Finally, bioinformatics analysis showed that these target proteins were involved in learning and memory function. Conclusion: The above-mentioned findings indicate that PURA is a transcription target of PPD in brain, and PPD upregulate the transcription levels of target genes related to cognitive dysfunction by binding PURA, which could provide a chemical and biological basis for the study of treating cognitive impairment by targeting PURA.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
• /
• v.37 no.1
• /
• pp.13-18
• /
• 2020

This review examined recently published (July 2014 to June 2017), randomized controlled trials (RCTs) which investigated the safety and effectiveness of combined Korean medicine/complementary alternative medicine (CAM) and Western medicine, to indicate the direction for integrative medical practice. The Korean Medicine Convergence Research Information Center evidence-based medicine database (KMCRIC EBM DB) was used to retrieve relevant RCTs indexed in the last 3 years. Study design, country, sample size, disease/condition with the Korean Standard Classification of Diseases code, interventions, direction of outcomes, and adverse events were extracted and summarized. A total of 93 RCTs were included in this review. Acupuncture/moxibustion was the most commonly used intervention (n = 47; 51%), and 19% (n = 18) of the studies treated musculoskeletal disorders, followed by circulatory disorders (n = 16; 17%), and mental and behavioral disorders (n = 9; 10%). Integrative treatment was reported as more effective than monotherapy in approximately 83% of these studies. Adverse events were poorly reported in most studies. This review suggests that integrative treatments are feasible, effective, and safe for various diseases/conditions, based on the evidence from recently published RCTs. Future studies on integrative healthcare are warranted.

• Journal of Breast Cancer
• /
• v.21 no.4
• /
• pp.391-398
• /
• 2018

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the association of telomere length with breast cancer risk. We simultaneously explored the association between telomerase reverse transcriptase gene polymorphisms and telomere length. Methods: We used real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction to measure relative telomere length (RTL) in genomic DNA extracted from peripheral blood from 183 breast cancer cases and 191 healthy controls. Genotyping was performed using the Sequenom MassARRAY platform. Results: Our results show that breast cancer patients had significantly shorter RTLs than control subjects (p<0.05). When the RTLs were categorized into tertiles, we found that the lowest RTL was significantly associated with increased breast cancer risk compared with the highest RTL (odds ratio [OR], 2.33; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.40-3.90; p=0.001). Subgroup analyses indicated that risk of breast cancer was also significantly increased in the lowest RTL compared with the highest RTL in age >40 years (OR, 2.41; 95% CI, 1.31-4.43;p=0.005), body mass index ${\leq}24kg/m^2$ (OR, 2.81; 95% CI, 1.55-5.10; p=0.001), and postmenopausal women (OR, 3.94; 95% CI, 1.63-9.51; p=0.002), respectively. In addition, individuals with the AA genotype of rs2853677 have longer telomeres than those of breast cancer patients with the AG genotype (p=0.011). Conclusion: Our results suggest that shorter RTL was associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. An association was found between the AA genotype of rs2853677 and longer RTLs in the case group. Functional studies are warranted to validate this association and further investigate our findings.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
• /
• v.9 no.2
• /
• pp.43-58
• /
• 2005

Internationally, many countries are facing the demand for reshaping health care systems to cope with rapid changing circumstances in health care sector. The recent growth of oriental medicine and complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in the many countries is, to a large extent, due to the growth of the number of oriental medical doctors and physicians who have taken up alternative therapies alongside conventional medicine. To cope with the changing environments, many countries consider to develop integrative health care which is now used widely in health care sector. In both biomedical and CAM sectors(including oriental medicine), attention appears to have shifted away from separating therapeutic modalities into categories such as biomedical or CAM, towards a focus on merging diverse modalities into a 'new' integrative health system. In Korea, one of peculiar characteristics of health care system is that as health care provider, Hanbang medicine (traditional Korean medicine) and (western) medicine coexist since 19 century. Recently, the government of Korea has given many efforts to enhance the role and function of traditional Korean medicine in health care sector. However, the strategies and measures for integrative health care settings combining traditional Korean medicine and western medicine on health sector have not been developed yet. The research question of this study is In Korea, what are the trends and problems in interface of traditional Korean medical sector and Western medical sector; what are the causes of or associated factors to the problems; how to cope with the problems and how to resolve the causes?; what are the health policy directions and its strategies that the government should take to cope with the future demand and the burden on health care sector? In order to do this, this study explores the current situations and issues on the interface between traditional Korean medicine and (western) medicine in various ways using contents analysis of existing data and documents related to traditional Korean medicine and health policy. Finally, we discussed stakeholders' views on the interface in the health care sector. Then, health policy options to have shifted away from separating therapeutic modalities into categories such as 'traditional Korean medicine' or 'western medicine', towards a focus on merging diverse modalities into a 'new' integrative health system.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
• /
• v.30 no.4
• /
• pp.211-218
• /
• 2013

Objectives : The purpose of this study is to show the clinical effects of integrative oriental medical treatments for femur pain and disfunction after hip fracture surgery. Methods : Two patients were treated using acupuncture, pharmacopuncture, herbal medication and other oriental medical treatments include moxibustion, cupping therapy, physical rehabilitation for 2~3 months. And the effects of these integrative treatments were measured with numeric rating scale(NRS) and functional recovery score(FRS). Results : NRS of femur pain was decreased from 8 to 4~5 in case 1 and from 6 to 4 in case 2. FRS was improved in both cases. Conclusions : Integrative oriental medical treatments maybe effective to the patients complaining pain and functional limitations after hip fracture surgery.

• Integrative Medicine Research
• /
• v.5 no.3
• /
• pp.223-223
• /
• 2016

Background: Korean Red Ginseng (Panax ginseng) has been shown to exert antihypertensive effects. In particular, ginsenoside Rg3 is thought to be a potent modulator of vascular function. The present study was performed to examine the antihypertensive efficacy of Korean Red Ginseng (KRG) extract and Rg3-enriched KRG (REKRG) extract. Methods: Spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) andWistar-Kyoto rats (WKYs) were divided into six groups (WKY control, WKY-KRG, WKY-REKRG, SHR control, SHR-KRG, and SHRREKRG), and systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were measured at the carotid artery, followed by injection of 3mg/kg KRG or 3mg/kg REKRG. Results: REKRG treatment significantly decreased SBP and DBP 3hours post-treatment in the SHR group compared with SHR control group. However, SBP and DBP were not significantly different in KRG-treated SHRs compared with control SHRs. REKRG treatment did not significantly alter SBP or DBP 3hours post-treatment in the WKY group compared with WKY control group. Similarly, there were no differences in SBP or DBP with KRG treatment in the WKY group and WKY control group. Both KRG and REKRG increased endothelial nitric oxide synthase phosphorylation levels in the aorta, and the increases in endothelial nitric oxide synthase phosphorylation levels by REKRG treatment were higher than those with KRG treatment. Similarly, nitric oxide production in plasma from WKYs and SHRs was also increased by both KRG and REKRG. Conclusion: These results suggest that REKRG has a more beneficial effect on blood pressure control than KRG in SHRs.