• Advances in Traditional Medicine
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.18-20
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• 2003

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of supplementary highly purified chitosan (HPC) on blood alcohol concentration in healthy human. The human study was performed with two sections. Each section of the study was conducted by two-phase cross-over design with a week wash-out period. All volunteers took HPC in one phase, and took a placebo in the next phase. Blood alcohol concentrations were different between in those taking HPC and in those taking the placebo in the human. And the concentration of serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST, GOT) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT, GPT), the indicator of liver cell damage, was lowered in those taking HPC, compared to those taking the placebo. In conclusion, taking HPC prior to drinking alcohol can somewhat reduce alcohol concentration in human blood and liver cell damage.

• Journal of International Academy of Physical Therapy Research
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.406-411
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• 2012

This study aims to examine the effect of patellar taping common to patients with patellofemoral pain syndrome on the change of knee joint location. The total number of participants is 12 patients with no pain in their knee. There are three different experiments: no-taping, placebo taping, and patellar taping. After application, they squat on their hams. As a result, both the muscle activity of vastus medialis and that of vastus lateralis increased in placebo taping compared to no-taping, which wasn't statistically significant. However, the muscle activity of vastus medialis and that of vastus lateralis decreased in patellar taping compared to no-taping, which was statistically significant. This suggests that patellar taping causing the lateral attraction of knee joint is more influential to the dynamics of knee joint than skin afferent input in placebo taping. Therefore, patellar taping is effective to change the location of knee joint, affect the muscle activity of quadriceps muscle of thigh, and thus correct the misalignments of the knee joint.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.756-764
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• 2008

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of aromatherapy on dysmenorrhea, menstrual pain, anxiety, and depression in female college students. Methods: A two-group cross-over design was used. The sample included a total of 20 female students who were enrolled in a 3 year nursing program. The treatments(aroma essential oil inhalation and the placebo inhalation) were given using a necklace. The data were analyzed by $x^2$-test, paired t-test, and Mann-Whitney test using SPSS/WIN 12.0 program. Results: The level of dysmenorrhea after the aroma treatment was not significantly different from the dysmenorrhea levels at pre-test and after the post-placebo treatment. The menstrual pain, anxiety and depression significantly improved after the aroma treatment. However, the levels of pain, anxiety, and depression after the aroma treatment were not significantly different from those after the placebo treatment. Conclusion: Aroma inhalation may be a effective in managing menstrual pain, anxiety, and depression. In order to further clarify the effect of aroma treatment on discomfort during menstruation, replication studies are necessary. Future studies need to examine the effects of different types of essential oils, administrating methods, and the lasting time of aroma treatment effect.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.676-683
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• 2019

Background: Korean Red Ginseng (KRG) is widely used for strengthening the immune system and fighting fatigue, especially in people with deficiency syndrome. However, there is concern that the long-term application or a high dose of KRG can cause "fireness" (上火 in Chinese) because of its "dryness" (燥性 in Chinese). The aim of this study was to assess the safety and efficacy of a 4-week treatment with KRG in participants with deficiency syndrome. Methods: This was a 4-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. A total of 180 Chinese participants were randomly allocated to three groups: placebo control group, participants were given a placebo, 3.6 g/d; KRG 1.8 g and 3.6 g groups. The primary outcomes were the changes in fireness and safety evaluation (adverse events, laboratory tests, and electrocardiogram). The secondary outcomes were the efficacy of KRG on fatigue, which include the following: traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) symptom scale and fatigue self-assessment scale. Results: Of the 180 patients, 174 completed the full study. After 4 weeks of KRG treatment, the Fire-heat symptoms score including Excess fire-heat score and Deficient fire-heat score showed no significant change as compared with placebo treatment, and no clinically significant changes in any safety parameter were observed. Based on the TCM syndrome score and fatigue self-assessment score, TCM symptoms and fatigue were greatly improved after treatment with KRG, which showed a dose- and time-dependent effect. The total effective rate was also significantly increased in the KRG groups. Conclusion: Our study revealed that KRG has a potent antifatigue effect without significant adverse effects in people with deficiency syndrome. Although a larger sample size and longer treatment may be required for a more definite conclusion, this clinical trial is the first to disprove the common conception of "fireness" related to KRG.

• Journal of Dental Anesthesia and Pain Medicine
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.379-396
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• 2021

Background: Trigeminal neuralgia (TN) is characterized by brief, unilateral, sharp, stabbing, and shooting pain of the fifth cranial nerve. The objective of this systematic review with meta-analysis was to determine the effect of medications compared to placebo in adult patients with TN. Methods: Review authors identified randomized placebo-controlled trials (RCTs) from PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane, and EMBASE up to February 2021. We assessed the inclusion and exclusion criteria as well as the risk of bias of the studies based on the Cochrane Handbook. A total of 324 unduplicated references were scanned independently and reduced to eight relevant RCTs, with 89 patients included. Medications investigated included oral carbamazepine, subcutaneous sumatriptan, lidocaine (intranasal, 8% spray on the oral mucosa or intravenous), buprenorphine (ganglionic local opioid analgesia), and oral Nav1.7, a selective sodium channel blocker. Results: Meta-analyses showed that overall patients receiving lidocaine reported a significantly lower post-treatment intensity of pain -3.8 points on a 0-10 scale (95% Cl = -4.653 to -2.873; P < 0.001). Patients who received lidocaine were 8.62 times more likely to have pain improvement than patients on placebo (P < 0.001). In one RCT, patients receiving oral carbamazepine showed a significant improvement in pain intensity of -32% compared to the placebo (P < 0.001). In one trial, patients receiving 3 mg subcutaneous sumatriptan had a significantly lower intensity of pain on average -6.1 points on a scale of 0-10 compared to placebo (P < 0.001) and a significant improvement in pain intensity of -75% compared to the improvement in the placebo group (P < 0.001). Patients who received subcutaneous sumatriptan were 10 times more likely to have pain improvement than those who received placebo (P = 0.001) in one study. Due to the unclear/high risk of bias and small sample size, the quality of the evidence for lidocaine in the treatment of TN was low. Conclusion: Further studies are needed for carbamazepine, sumatriptan, buprenorphine, and oral Nav1.7 sodium channel blockers, as only one study reported outcomes.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.53-63
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• 1971

A water-soluble basic extract was obtained from Zizyphi spinosi semen and tested on its sedative and psychotropic activities. In a 2.2m $\times$ 2.2m $\times$ 0.8m open-field, the effect of the extract on unlearned emotional responses of mice was determined. Intraperitoneal injection of 5mg/kg, 10mg/kg, and 20mg/kg of the extract caused to show less often the frequency of ambulation, rearing and exploration and more the frequency of lying and sleeping than that of placebo control, meprobamate and chlordiazepoxide treated groups. In a standard shuttle box, the effect of the extract on learned emotional responses was determined. Intraperitoneal injection of 10mg/kg of the extract caused to show less conditioned response, secondary conditioned response and defecation than either placebo control or pre- and post-treated sessions with the extract throughout the acquisition and extinction of conditioned avoidance response. Intraperitoneal injection of 10mg/kg of the extract showed similar sedative actions with that of 1.25mg/kg of chlorpromazine. The extract shows major tranquilizer-like effect as chlorpromazine.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.245-251
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• 2011

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of soybean peptide on muscle damage index and hormone (testosterone and cortisol) concentration. Subjects of this study were 23 high school male taekwondo players who had participated in regular exercise. They were randomly divided into two groups, one group took soybean peptide (S-peptide, n=13) 4 g a day for 4 weeks and the other took placebo (placebo, n=10) for the same time. We obtained blood samples before and after experiment and analyzed for CPK (Creatine phosphokinase), LDH (Lactate dehydrogenase), ALD (Aldolase), myoglobin, testosterone and cortisol. As for body composition, there was no significant difference in weight, body fat rate and LBM (lean body mass) between the S-peptide and the S-peptide group and placebo group. In CPK, LDH, ALD and myoglobin, S-peptide group was significantly lower than the placebo group and showed significant decrease before and after intaking soybean peptide (P<0.05~0.01). In the concentration of plasma testosterone, S-peptide group was increased from two weeks but not significant difference. The concentration of plasma cortisol showed significantly decrease in the S-peptide (P<0.01). These results indicate that the intake of soybean peptide have positive effect on index of muscle damage and changes of hormone concentration.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.190-197
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• 2012

Ginseng has a long history of use for health enhancement, and there is some evidence from animal studies that it has a beneficial effect on cognitive performance. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of Korean red ginseng on cognitive performance in humans. A total of 15 healthy young males with no psychiatric or cognitive problems were selected based on an interview with a board-certified psychiatrist. The subjects were randomly assigned to receive a daily dose of 4,500 mg red ginseng or placebo for a 2-week trial. There were 8 subjects in the red ginseng group and 7 subjects in the placebo group. All of the subjects were analyzed with the Vienna test system and a P300 event-related potential (ERP) test. There were no significant differences in the Vienna test system scores between the red ginseng group and the placebo group. In the event-related potential test, the C3 latency of the red ginseng group tended to decrease during the study period (p=0.005). After 2 wk, significant decreases were observed in the P300 latencies at Cz (p=0.008), C3 (p=0.005), C4 (p=0.002), and C mean (p=0.003) in the red ginseng group. Our results suggest that the decreased latency in ERP is associated with improved cognitive function. Further studies with a higher dosage of ginseng, a larger sample size, and a longer follow-up period are necessary to confirm the clinical efficacy of Korean red ginseng.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.237-245
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• 2010

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of Korean red ginseng (KRG) on ocular blood flow in patients with glaucoma. In a prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-masked crossover trial, 36 patients with open-angle glaucoma were consecutively recruited. Subjects were randomly assigned into two groups. Group A received 1.5 g KRG, administered orally three times daily for 12 weeks, followed by a wash-out period of 8 weeks and 12 weeks of placebo treatment (identical capsules filled with 1.5 g corn starch). Group B underwent the same regimen, but took the placebo first and then KRG. Blood pressure, heart rate, and intraocular pressure were measured at baseline and at the end of each phase of the study. Visual field examination and ocular blood flow measurements by the Heidelberg Retina Flowmeter were performed at baseline and at the end of each phase of the study. Changes in blood pressure, heart rate, intraocular pressure, visual field indices, and retinal peripapillary blood flow were evaluated. Blood pressure, heart rate, intraocular pressure, and visual field indices did not change after placebo or KRG treatment. After KRG treatment, retinal peripapillary blood flow in the temporal peripapillary region significantly improved (p=0.005). No significant changes were found in retinal peripapillary blood flow in either the rim region or the nasal peripapillary region (p=0.051 and 0.278, respectively). KRG ingestion appears to improve retinal peripapillary blood flow in patients with open-angle glaucoma. These results imply that KRG ingestion might be helpful for glaucoma management.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.145-148
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• 2003

Many antibiotic monographs cite the induction of vaginal infections as a possible side effect. Invariably, this is believed to be due to Candide albicans, and empirical therapy is given. However, recent studies raise the question of the extent to which yeast do infect the host after antibiotic use. A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study was undertaken on female patients to determine how many yeast infections occurred following 10 days antibiotic use. In addition, the study was designed to examine whether oval use of probiotic lactobacilli can reduce the risk of vaginal infection. Twenty four patients diagnosed with respiratory, oval or throat infections received one of several types of antibiotic for 10 days, and two capsules containing 10$^{9}$ dried Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1 and L. fermentum RC-14 from the day of commencement of antibiotic therapy for 21 days. The most commonly prescribed antibiotic was biaxin (clarithromycin). All but one patient had lactobacilli in the vagina upon entry to the study, and none developed yeast vaginitis or diarrhea during treatment or 20 days after completion of antibiotics. The mean Nugent score was higher in the placebo than the lactobacilli group (4.1 versus 2.4), and three cases of bacterial vaginosis arose (25 % incidence compared to 0% in the lactobacilli group) in the placebo group (2 receiving cefuroxime, 1 on biaxin). The study suggested that current antibiotic use is not necessarily associated with either diarrhea or yeast infection, as is often surmised. Nevertheless, daily use of probiotics was safe and could potentially reduce the risk of patients developing bacterial vaginosis after antibiotic use.