• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.165-175
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• 2021

Background: Many herbal medications have been used to treat various liver diseases. But the concerns of herbal medicine induced liver injury also existed. In this respect, we would like to report several cases with imporved elevated liver aminotransferase after treating herbal medicine including Artemisia capillaris. Case Reports: We report four patients with elevated aminotransferase levels (ATLs), which indicate hepatocellular damages. After receiving herbal medicines therapy containing Artemisia capillaris as principal component (HMA), the patients' ATLs were improved. In the first case, the patient's ATLs decreased into normal range after administration of HMA, although they have not been improved with hepatotonics for a long period. In the second case, the patient's ATLs have been elevated after taking anticoagulants. The ATLs were improved with HMA without stopping anticoagulants. In the other two cases, the patients' ATLs were also improved after taking HMA. In addition, there were no changes of previous drugs for treating the corresponding underlying diseases and no adverse events during HMA applications. Result and Conclusion: The four patients received the herbal medicine containing Artemisia capillaris as principal component and showed improvement of ATLs. These cases suggest that HMA can be considered as alternative or complementary remedies to improve various liver diseases.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.22
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• pp.9655-9660
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• 2014

Background: Nigella Sativa (NS) is an herb from the Ranunculaceae family that exhibits numerous medicinal properties and has been used as important constituent of many complementary and alternative medicines (CAMs). The ability of NS to kill cancer cells such as PC3, HeLa and hepatoma cells is well established. However, our understanding of the mode of death caused by NS remains nebulous. The objective of this study was to gain further insight into the mode and mechanism of death caused by NS in breast cancer MCF-7 cells. Materials and Methods: Human breast cancer cells (MCF-7) were treated with a methanolic extract of NS, and a dose- and time-dependent study was performed. The $IC_{50}$ was calculated using a Cell Titer $Blue^{(R)}$ viability assay assay, and evidence for DNA fragmentation was obtained by fluorescence microscopy TUNEL assay. Gene expression was also profiled for a number of apoptosis-related genes (Caspase-3, -8, -9 and p53 genes) through qPCR. Results: The $IC_{50}$ of MCF-7 cells was $62.8{\mu}L/mL$. When MCF-7 cells were exposed to $50{\mu}L/mL$ and $100{\mu}L/mL$ NS for 24h, 48h and 72h, microscopic examination (TUNEL assay) revealed a dose- and time-dependent increase in apoptosis. Similarly, the expression of the Caspase-3, -8, -9 and p53 genes increased significantly according to the dose and time. Conclusions: NS induced apoptosis in MCF-7 cells through both the p53 and caspase pathways. NS could potentially represent an alternative source of medicine for breast cancer therapy.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.261-274
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• 2016

Objectives: To determine the general characteristics of clinical studies about Hwabyung and assess their limitations and alternatives. Methods: Clinical studies that examined the effects of traditional Korean medicine intervention on Hwabyung were included in this study. A systematic search of English, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean databases was performed. The characteristics of included articles were described and those articles were assessed by Risk of Bias (RoB) tool or Risk of Bias for Nonrandomized Studies (RoBANS) tool. Results: Sixteen articles were selected from 1,826 articles. Most clinical studies about Hwabyung were published in Korea. The number of conducted trials was insufficient. The prevailing study design was randomized controlled trial. Traditional Korean medicine intervention used in the trials were acupuncture, herbal medicine, counselling, meditation, emotional freedom technique (EFT), music therapy, art therapy, and multi intervention program. Herbal medicine study used placebo as control while non-pharmacological intervention study mostly used no treatment as control. Most of the trials were supported by the government. Therefore, financial conflict of interest might not exist for results. We judged that some studies had a high risk of bias. In general, most of the studies with a high risk of bias were non-pharmacological intervention studies, and the risk of bias was mainly due to lack of blinding. Conclusions: More clinical studies of Hwabyung are needed. There are some issues about a suitable comparison and effective blinding strategy for non-pharmacological study. Improving methodological quality is required.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.579-584
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• 2010

Purpose : The number of the repatriated Korean students who had overseas study at early ages is increasing. They received foreign education, they can speak international languages, but they have many difficulties in articulation and intonation of the Korean language. This study aims to measure closure and aspiration duration, length of consonants, length of subsequent vowels, and ratio of consonants against subsequent vowels in vowel-consonant-vowel (VCV) syllables. Methods : This study compares the acoustic and phonetic characteristics of repatriated and native students, the ratio of articulation error of Korean plosives, the closure and aspiration duration, and the ratio of the aspiration duration against the closure duration. Results : The ratio of articulation error of Korean plosives between repatriated and native students is 19% and 2%, respectively. The closure duration was significantly longer in repatriated students than in native students. The aspiration duration was significantly longer in repatriated students than in native students. No difference was found in the ratio of aspiration duration against closure duration between the native and repatriated students. Conclusion : This study can be a good reference for estimating the phonetic difficulties of Korean elementary students who had overseas study at early ages.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.323-333
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• 2003

This is a comparative descriptive study conducted for 178 middle-aged women who were residing in Seoul and aged between 41 to 64 (95 in control group, and 83 in experimental group). The study was aimed to examine their climacteric symptoms, degree of fatigue, depression, anxiety and quality of sleep and to examine the differences on the symptoms between the two groups. Data were collected from April 1 to May 15, 2002 through self-statement using structured questionnaires. The collected data were verified with descriptive statistics, ? -test, t-test, ANOVA using SPSS/PC(+). The results are as follows. 1) The average scores of the climacteric symptoms were 1.56 .36 for the control group, and 1.55 .33 for the group taking relexzone massage, showing no significant difference between the groups (t=.15, p=.88). 2) The average scores of the degree of fatigue were 2.17 .65 for the control group, and 2.40 .66 for the group taking relexzone massage, showing a significant difference between the groups. (t=-2.31, p=.02) 3) The average scores of depression were 1.91 .50 for the control group, and 2.05 .42 for the group taking relexzone massage, showing a significant difference between the groups (t=-1.99, p=.05). 4) The average scores of anxiety were 1.54 .60 for the control group, and 1.57 .53 for the group taking relexzone massage, showing no significant difference between the groups (t=-.33, p=.74). 5) The average scores of quality of sleep were 2.97 .49 for the control group, and 2.98 .42 for the group taking relexzone massage, showing no significant difference between the groups(t=-.08, p=.93). Based on these results, the middle-aged women who take relexzone massage are considered to have less fatigue and depression than those who do not. As physiological regression progresses and the structure and role in the family are restructured, middle-aged women are like to experience various climacteric symptoms. As a nursing intervention, relexzone massage can be applied to middle-aged women to reduce their stress, climacteric symptoms and emotional anxiety, ultimately promoting their health. In order to implement relexzone massage as a nursing intervention, further testing on the psycho-neuroimmunologjcal effects of relexzone massage is necessary.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.10
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• pp.231-242
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• 2018

This study was performed to determine the effects on psychological and physiological variables of Horticulture Activity Caring Program for major company white-collar workers. Fifty three White-collar Workers participated in study. They were assigned to two groups (experimental group and control group) in random order. Random order is used Excel 2010 program RAND function of Microsoft. During the eight-week trial, the experimental group was treated with Horticulture Activity Caring Program weekly for 90 minute per session. The control group wasn't treated. Measurements of variables (stress, depression, blood glucose, total cholesterol, HDL-C, and LDL-C) were performed at weeks 0 and 8 for all participant. Changes in variables were calculated from baseline to trial completion. The data were collected from July to September 2014. SPSS 21.0 was used for the statistical analysis. : Horticulture Activity Caring Program had positive effects on depression (z=-4.57, p< .000). Conclusion of the study suggest the Horticulture Activity Caring Program may have positive effects on improving depression. We expect that the Horticulture Activity Caring Program will become a complementary and alternative therapy of mental health promotion for the white collar workers.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.27 no.2 s.66
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• pp.96-102
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• 2006

Background & Purpose : Acupuncture with aromatherapy (AA) is a branch of complementary or alternative therapy recently growing in use. As the use of aromatherapy itself has grown so rapidly in recent years, studies about its safety have been accumulating. However, safety of AA has not been studied clinically and the treatment method which has the needles inserted after spreading essential oils exposes the human body more directly to components than aromatherapy. Therefore, we examined the safety of AA on patients treated thereby and physicians practising it. Methods : We observed all inpatients treated with AA from November 21, 2005 to March 31, 2006, in Kyung Hee Oriental Medical Center. During treatment, we monitored all of the newly developed signs from the patients to assess the adverse effects of AA. The patients' and physicians' general characteristics (gender, age, present illness, and treatment days) were obtained from medical records and analyzed to assess the clinical safety of AA in detail. Results : There were 440 patients treated with AA; clinical adverse effects appeared in 3 of them, which can be assessed as 0.7%. The major symptom was chest discomfort and choking originated from smell aversion condition (2 patients), and the other adverse effect was sensation of itching and reddening. However, none of them seemed to have direct relation with AA. A total of eight physicians applied AA and there were no symptoms related to it among them. Conclusions : We suggest that our results will contribute to confirming the safety of AA by offering clinical evidence.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.17 no.12
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• pp.270-284
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• 2016

The purpose of this study was to understand the essential structure and meaning of self-management intervention for breast cancer survivors by using non-pharmacological approaches. The study participants were 10 breast cancer survivors who were completing cancer treatment that involved surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. Data collected between August 2014 and February 2015 at E Hospital in S city were analyzed by using Colaizzi's phenomenological method. Outcomes were classified into seven essential themes: 1) application of comfort measures to alleviate ongoing symptoms, 2) movement to change physical conditions, 3) special herbal intake to prevent recurrence, 4) a specially designed diet plan for health self-management, 5) constant awareness of complementary and alternative medicine, 6) unmet needs treated by one's own doctor's prescription, and 7) future life toward a nature-friendly environment. The study results contribute to a deeper understanding of self-management interventions in the daily lives of Korean breast cancer survivors. In addition, results provide an essential resource, based on actual self-management styles, that will help survivors to obtain guidance and participate in appropriate programs.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.253-260
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• 2008

Comparative study was performed on heavy metal contents among domestic herbal medicines and imported one. The heavy metal contents in 89 samples of 65 types of herbal medicines were measured by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) and mercury analyzer. The mean values of heavy metal contents (mg/kg) for herbal medicines were as follows: Hg, 0.010 (domestic: 0.010, imported: 0.010); Pb, 0.380 (domestic: 0.311, imported: 0.449); Cd, 0.080 (domestic: 0.101, imported: 0.059); As, 2.085 (domestic: 1.845, imported: 2.324); Mn, 31.564 (domestic: 33.844, imported: 29.283); Zn, 15.436 (domestic: 18.703, imported: 12.168); Cu, 3.406 (domestic: 3.374, imported: 3.437); Fe, 134.944 (domestic: 108.327, imported: 161.561). The measured values of Hg, Pb and Cd of domestic and imported herbal medicines showed lower levels than the recommended levels of those in herbal medicines by WHO/PHARM (Pb : not more than 5 mg/kg, Cd : not more than 0.3 mg/kg). This results will he used as a basic data for the future legislation on the regulation and control of heavy metal contents of herbal medicines.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.214-219
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• 2009

The pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) is a promising source of functional food, which contains several phytochemicals that perform important roles in reducing the risk of pathological diseases. Chemical compositions, such as the total sugar, uronic acid, polyphenols, and anthocyanin contents, and radical scavenging activity were determined and compared among PEs from six different cultivation areas. Total anthocyanin contents (TAC) and total polyphenol contents (TPC) from various growing areas were detected in the following order, respectively: Spain (19.08 ${\mu}g$/mL)> Turkey (12.91 ${\mu}g$/mL)> Iran-A (6.67 ${\mu}g$/mL)> Taiwan (4.77 ${\mu}g$/mL)> Uzbekistan (1.88 ${\mu}g$/mL)> Iran-B (0.76 ${\mu}g$/mL) and Turkey (639.52 ${\mu}g$/mL)> Uzbekistan (502.19 ${\mu}g$/mL)> Spain (306.40 ${\mu}g$/mL)> Iran-B (249.20 ${\mu}g$/mL)> Taiwan (162.78 ${\mu}g$/mL)> Iran-A (143.93 ${\mu}g$/mL). PEs from six different cultivation areas were determined to vary in ellagic acid content from 8.90 ${\mu}g$/mL to 332.52 ${\mu}g$/mL. The amounts of total sugars in PE from Iran-A evidenced relatively high total sugar contents, but low uronic acid levels (11.92 mg/mL). DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) radical scavenging activities were as follows: Turkey> Uzbekistan $\gg$ Spain> Iran-B> Iran-A> Taiwan. ABTS [2,20-azinobis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid)] radical scavenging activities were detected in the following order: Turkey$\geq$ Uzbekistan$\gg$ Spain> Iran-B> Iran-A> Taiwan. These results indicate that the PEs from Turkey with higher levels of TPC, TAC, ellagic acid, and higher radical scavenging activity may constitute a promising functional source for the prevention of several degenerative diseases.