• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.70 no.6
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• pp.457-461
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• 2011

Vaccination in adults is recommended according to the age group and underlying diseases or risks of exposure. Patients with chronic diseases including chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases are susceptible to infectious diseases and related serious complications. They need risk-related vaccination along with age-related vaccination. Both influenza and pneumococcal vaccination are recommended in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases. They are additive if administered simultaneously. Pertussis vaccination is also needed in adolescents and adults. Although there is strong need for these vaccinations, the actual vaccination rate is low. Measures to effectively enhance the vaccination rate are needed.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.875-885
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• 2023

This research delves into the evolving interplay between occupational diseases, work-related illnesses, and accidents in the construction industry, focusing on the past twenty years. One significant discovery is the 19-fold escalation in reported occupational diseases, prompting an examination of their root causes and connections to workplace environments. Frequently encountered work-related ailments include physically strenuous tasks, low back pain, and cerebrovascular issues, highlighting the need for robust prevention and management approaches. Predominantly, noise-induced hearing loss and pneumoconiosis are the most common occupational diseases. The study unveils notable correlations between specific work-related illnesses and accidents, indicating the necessity for bespoke safety measures. Additionally, a pronounced association between work-related illnesses and occupational diseases offers insights into underlying risk factors. Remarkably, the findings propose a bidirectional link between occupational diseases and accidents, challenging traditional beliefs about causality. These insights are pivotal for enhancing safety protocols, focusing on preventive measures, and foreseeing occupational diseases that may arise following accidents in the construction industry.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.461-468
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• 2005

The major function of immune system is to protect infections. The immune systems are composed of innate and adaptive immunity. In adaptive immunity, the cellular and humoral components interact each other. Neonates and infants are infected frequently, because immune systems are naive and easy to expose to infectious agents. The complete history and physical examination is essential to evaluate the child with recurrent infections. The environmental risk factors of recurrent infections are day care center, cigarette smoke, and air pollution. The underlying diseases such as immunodeficiency, autoimmune diseases, allergy, and disorders of anatomy or physiology increase the susceptibility to infections. In immunodeficiency, infections are characterized by severe, chronic, recurrent, and unusual microbial agents infection. The defects of antibody production are susceptible to sinopulmonary bacterial infections. T cells defects are vulerable to numerous organisms such as virus, fungi, bacteria and etc. The screening tests for immune functions are the quantitative and qualitative measurements of each immune components. A complete blood count with white blood cell, differential, and platelet provide quantitative informations of immune components. Total complement and immunoglobulin levels represent the humoral component. Antibody levels of previously injected vaccines also provide informations of the antigen specific antibody immune responses. T cell and subsets count is quantitative measurement of cell mediated immunity. Delayed hypersensitivity skin test is a crude measurement of T cell function. The long term outcome of children with recurrent infections is completely dependent on the underlying diseases, the initial time of diagnosis and therapy, continued management, and genetic counscelling.

• Advances in pediatric surgery
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.62-64
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• 2014

Gallbladder stones in children are not common without underlying hemolytic diseases or other risk factors like obesity. Ceftriaxone, a third generation cephalosporin, is known to make biliary precipitations that can be mistaken for biliary stones. We here report two children with biliary pseudolithiasis with different treatment modalities. One child was mistaken for symptomatic gallbladder stones and underwent elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy, while the other child, after thorough history taking on the ceftriaxone medication, was suspected of biliary pseudolithiasis and was treated conservatively. Both children had the history of usage of ceftriaxone in previous hospitals for infectious diseases. The ceftriaxone history of the first child was missed before the surgery. When gallbladder stones are found in children without any underlying diseases, specific history taking of the usage of ceftriaxone seems to be absolutely required. In this case, immediate interruption of the antibiotic could resolve the episode and avoid unnecessary surgical procedure.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.102-111
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• 2007

Dementia is a major burden for many countries including South Korea, where life expectancy is continuously growing and the proportion of aged people is rapidly growing. Neurodegenerative disorders, such as, Alzheimer disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, frontotemporal dementia, Parkinson disease, progressive supranuclear palsy, corticobasal degeneration, Huntington disease, can cause dementia, and cerebrovascular disease also can cause dementia. Depression or hypothyroidism also can cause cognitive deficits, but they are reversible by management of underlying cause unlike the forementioned dementias. Therefore these are called pseudodementia. We are entering an era of dementia care that will be based upon the identification of potentially modifiable risk factors and early disease markers, and the application of new drugs postpone progression of dementias or target specific proteins that cause dementia. Efficient pharmacologic treatment of dementia needs not only to distinguish underlying causes of dementia but also to be installed as soon as possible. Therefore, differential diagnosis and early diagnosis of dementia are utmost importance. F-18 FDG PET is useful for clarifying dementing diseases and is also useful for early detection of the diseases. Purpose of this article is to review the current value of FDG PET for dementing diseases including differential diagnosis of dementia and prediction of evolving dementia.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.277-282
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• 2009

Purpose: The vegetative state is a clinical condition with complete unawareness of self and environment, but with preservation of brain - stem functions. Vegetative patients may have nosocomial infections in their wounds, like pressure sores and infected craniums after cranioplasties. Usually flap surgery is necessary for those wounds, but decision of undergoing surgery is difficult because of various adverse conditions of vegetative patients. We share our experience of several successful flap surgeries in vegetative patients, and evaluate obstacles and requirements to get satisfactory results. Methods: From December 2005 to September 2008, a total of 4 vegetative patients underwent surgeries. In 2 patients with infected artificial craniums, scalp reconstructions with free flaps were performed. In other 2 patients with huge pressure sores with sepsis, island flap coverage of wounds was done. Retrospective study was done on hospital day, vegetative period, number of surgeries done, underlying diseases, causative bacteria, and contents of informed consent. Results: Mean hospital day was 14 months and mean vegetative period was 17.5 months. Patients underwent average of 4.5 surgeries under general anesthesia. There were several underlying diseases like hypertension, DM, CHF and chronic anemia. MRSA(Methicilin - resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) was cultured from every patient's wounds. Informed consent included a warning for high mortality and a need of attentive familial cooperation. Conclusion: There are three requirements for doing flap surgeries in vegetative patients. First, to prevent aggravation of brain damage and underlying diseases by general anesthesia, multidisciplinary team approach is needed. Second, operation should be beneficial for prolonging patient's lifespan. Third, because postoperative care is very difficult and long hospitalization is needed, detailed informed consent and highly cooperative attitude of family should be confirmed before operation.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Laryngology, Phoniatrics and Logopedics
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.13-21
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• 1989

A clinico-statistical analysis was performed on 1373 cases who complained of hoarseness at the Dept. of Otolaryngology of Ewha Womans University hopital during the past 10 years from fan 1975 to Dec 1984 and the following results were obtained. 1) Among total of 44,912 who visited the Dept. of Otolaryngology. the patients with hoarseness were 1373 cases(3.1%). 2) Among total of 1373 cases, male were 586 and female were 787, the ratio being 1:1.3. 3) The underlying diseases causing hoarseness in order of frequency were acute laryngitis 374 cases(27.2%), chronic laryngitis 325 cases(23.7%), vocal nodule 248 cases(18.1%), vocal polyp 130 cases(9.5%), vocal cord paralysis 101 cases(7.4%), laryngeal cancer 24 cases(1.7%). 4) The highest incidence of age causing hoarseness in order of frequency were 3rd decade 368 cases(26.8%) 2nd decade 312 cases(22.7%) 4th decade 297 cases(21.6%), 5) The highest incidence of age for underlying diseases in order of frequency were as that follows: acute laryngitis in 2nd decade 114 cases(30.5%), chronic laryngitis in 3rd decade 92 cases(28.3%), vocal nodule in 3rd decade 81 cases(32.7%), vocal polyp in 4th decade 38 cases(29.2%), vocal cord paralysis in 5th decade 19 cases(18.8%), laryngeal cancer in 5th decade 13 cases(54.2%). 6) Number of the patients who came the hospital within 10 days after the onset of hoarseness were 272 cases(19.8%), 15 cases(1.1%) had medical attention for first time 10 years after hoarseness. 7) The highest incidence of the duration from the onset to consultation for the underlying diseases were as that follows: acute larynsitis within 10 days 205 cases(54.8%), chronic laryngitis 3M-6M 76 cases(23.4%), vocal nodule 3M-6M 55 cases(22.2%) vocal polyp 6M-lYr 32 cases(24.6%), vocal cord paralysis 3M-6M 20 cases(19.8%)

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.589-594
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• 2017

Ginseng effectively regulates the immune response and the hormonal changes due to stress, thus maintaining homeostasis. In addition to suppressing the occurrence of psychological diseases such as anxiety and depression, ginseng also prevents stress-associated physiological diseases. Recent findings have revealed that ginseng is involved in adjusting the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and controlling hormones, thus producing beneficial effects on the heart and brain, and in cases of bone diseases, as well as alleviating erectile dysfunction. Recent studies have highlighted the potential use of ginseng in the prevention and treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases such as diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and allergic asthma. However, the mechanism underlying the effects of ginseng on these stress-related diseases has not been completely established. In this review, we focus on the disease pathways caused by stress in order to determine how ginseng acts to improve health. Central to our discussion is how this effective and stable therapeutic agent alleviates the anxiety and depression caused by stress and ameliorates inflammatory diseases.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.66
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• pp.159-164
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• 2023

Ferroptosis is a type of regulated cell death recently discovered, characterized by the accumulation of iron-dependent lipid peroxides in the cell membrane, and it involves a complex network of signaling pathways, including iron metabolism, lipid peroxidation, and redox regulation. The dysregulation of these pathways can lead to the induction of ferroptosis and the development of liver diseases, such as alcoholic liver disease, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, viral hepatitis, and liver cancer. Studies have demonstrated that targeting key molecules involved in iron metabolism, lipid peroxidation, and redox regulation can reduce liver injury and improve liver function in different liver diseases by inhibiting ferroptosis. Thus, modulation of ferroptosis presents a promising therapeutic target for treating liver diseases. However, further research is required to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms underlying the role of ferroptosis in liver diseases and to develop more effective and targeted treatments.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.50-55
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• 2018

Gelatinous transformation of bone marrow is characterized by hypoplasia of fat cells with focal loss of hematopoietic cells and deposition of extracellular gelatinous substances. It is known to be associated with devastating underlying diseases that starve bone marrow. Here, we present a case of a patient whose magnetic resonance (MR) imaging findings of vertebral column were interpreted as metastasis or hematologic malignancy, however, the final diagnosis revealed a gelatinous transformation of bone marrow. This is the first report of gelatinous transformation of bone marrow without evidence of underlying devastating disease.