• The Journal of Korean Medicine
• /
• 제26권2호
• /
• pp.95-104
• /
• 2005

Objectives: This was a double blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical study for evaluation of safety and effective dose finding of Cardiotonic Pills$^{(R)}$ in patients with chest pain and discomfort. Cardiotonic Pills$^{(R)}$ are composed of Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix (丹蔘), Notoginseng Radix (三七根) and Borneolum (龍腦). Major effects of Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix and Notoginseng Radix are vasodilatation, sedation and analgesic action. Borneolum has an antibacterial effect, and can stimulate the central nervous system. All of these substances are oriental herbs that have been used for a long time in east Asia. Cardiotonic Pills fi received Investigational New Drug (IND) approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the USA and 40 million people in the world take this pill. We performed a phase IV clinical study to confirm its efficacy and safety in patients who have probable cardiogenic or psychogenic chest pain or chest stifling. Methods: This study was planned for a multi-center clinical trial including four university hospitals of oriental medicine in Korea. This was the first time to evaluate the 'planning treatment according to diagnosis (辨證施治)' of chest pain or chest discomfort according to oriental medical guidelines. The patients who were included in this trial were adult volunteers from 20 to 70 years old who had chest pain or chest discomfort more than twice during a recent month, and we received written consent to participate in this study from all of them. After administration of Cardiotonic Pills$^{(R)}$ for 8 weeks, number of occurrences, duration, appearance and degree of chest pain or chest discomfort was observed and degree of symptoms (severity of illness, global improvement) were measured using a patient's global assessment composite scale. Results: In the patient's global assessment scale, the severity of illness of the Cardiotonic Pills$^{(R)}$ group (n=25) was 14/25=0.56 but of the placebo group (n=25) was 7/25=0.28 (p-value=0.0449). This result indicates Cardiotonic Pills$^{(R)}$have a positive effect on the symptoms of chest pain and discomfort. However, the global improvement of the Cardiotonic Pills$^{(R)}$group was 23/25=0.92, and of the placebo group was 22/25=0.88 (p-value=0.6374). The total symptom score of the Cardiotonic Pills$^{(R)}$ group was $1.68\pm20.06$, and of the placebo group was $16.76\pm72.l4$(p-value=0.2285). The number of symptom events of the Cardiotonic Pills$^{(R)}$ group was $72\pm29.78$, and of the placebo group (n=25) was $10.80\pm38.42$ (p­value=0.3660). We could not find any effects on the other factors examined besides the severity of illness, beyond the difference of standard deviations. Conclusions: Cardiotonic Pills$^{(R)}$ significantly reduced chest pain and chest discomfort in patients. Therefore, we expect that Cardiotonic Pills$^{(R)}$ will be helpful for patients with chest pain and chest discomfort not only caused by heart disease but also by other diseases.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
• /
• 제42권1호
• /
• pp.87-94
• /
• 2016

Skin damage is mainly caused by environmental factors such as ultraviolet light, heat, and smoking. It is known that reactive oxygen species production is commonly involved in the pathogenesis of skin damage induced by these factors, causing skin aging. Pyrus pyrifolia Nakai continues to be a popular and highly consumed fruit in many countries with known beneficial effects including antitumor, antioxidative, and anti-inflammatory effects. However, there is no evidence of a therapeutic effect of Pyrus pyrifolia extract (PPE) against skin aging via inhibition of mitochondria-mediated apoptosis. In this study, we investigated PPE protective effect against photoaging induced by UVB ($50mJ/cm^2$) in HS68 human dermal fibroblasts. Lactate dehydrogenase assay showed that PPE significantly protected HS68 cells against UVB-induced damage in a dose-dependent manner. Other assays using DCF-DA demonstrated that PPE protected HS68 cells by regulating reactive oxygen species production. PPE also regulated mitochondrial dysfunction and mitochondrial membrane potential induced by UVB, and inhibited UVB-induced caspase-3 activity. These results indicate that PPE protects human dermal fibroblasts from UVB-induced damage by regulating the oxidative defense system.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
• /
• 제23권2호
• /
• pp.512-519
• /
• 2009

Among patients who visited each clinical department for oriental medical treatments, anthropometric measurement, blood pressure, fasting blood glucose and blood lipid profile level were measured at their first initial visit. 55 subject patients who were diagnosed as having metabolic syndrome and 150 mg/dL or more of triglyceride were selected as subjects whose fasting blood glucose, triglyceride, total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol and LDL cholesterol were measured after fasting. According to each patient's disease, the subject received treatments such as herb medicine, acupuncture, moxibustion, cupping therapy, physical therapy and rehabilitation therapy from each clinical department, and after an average of 4.10${\pm}$0.31 weeks, another test was performed yielding the following results. Serum triglyceride was 243.72${\pm}$13.05 mg/dL before the oriental medical treatment and 188.11${\pm}$12.17 mg/dL after the treatment where although it continued to show an abnormal value even after the treatment, there was statistically significant decrease compared to pre treatment(P<0.05). Serum total cholesterol was 207.50${\pm}$5.89 mg/dL before the oriental medical treatment and 192.37${\pm}$5.53 mg/dL after the treatment which was statistically insignificant compared to pre treatment(P>0.05). Serum HDL cholesterol was 51.19${\pm}$3.95 mg/dL before the oriental medical treatment and increased to 52.53${\pm}$1.49 mg/dL after the treatment although it was statistically insignificant compared to pre treatment(P>0.05). Serum LDL cholesterol was 110.66${\pm}$5.86 mg/dL before the oriental medical treatment and decreased to 106.12${\pm}$4.82 mg/dL after the treatment although it was statistically insignificant compared to pre treatment(P>0.05). In regards to the change of triglyceride for each sex, it was 221.84${\pm}$14.01 mg/dL before the treatment and 187.00${\pm}$15.47 mg/dL after the treatment for men, and it was 271.50${\pm}$22.78 mg/dL and 189.53${\pm}$19.76 mg/dL respectively for women where even though men and women showed the decrease of 34.84${\pm}$12.79 mg/dL and 81.96${\pm}$20.01 mg/dL respectively, both men and women continue to show abnormal values after the treatments. However, there was statistically significant decrease compared to pre treatment(P<0.05). In regards to the change of total cholesterol for each sex, with 198.24${\pm}$7.60 mg/dL for men before the treatment and 188.93${\pm}$7.45 mg/dL after the treatment, values for both before and after the treatment were within the normal range where the change value was 9.30${\pm}$5.86 mg/dL and statistically insignificant(P>0.05). For women, it was 219.26${\pm}$8.87 mg/dL and 196.73${\pm}$8.43 mg/dL respectively for women where with 22.53${\pm}$7.60 mg/dL, it decreased to the normal level after the treatment, and there was a statistically significant decrease compared to pre treatment(P<0.05). With such results, serum triglyceride and cholesterol levels of patients who have been diagnosed as having metabolic syndrome were observed to decrease after the oriental medical treatment. Especially, for both men and women, abnormally high triglyceride level decreased while the effect of lipid profile improvement for women was more significant compared to men.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
• /
• 제25권5호
• /
• pp.765-772
• /
• 2011

Knowledge which is represented by formal logic are widely used in many domains such like artificial intelligence, information retrieval, e-commerce and so on. And for medical field, medical documentary records retrieval, information systems in hospitals, medical data sharing, remote treatment and expert systems need knowledge representation technology. To retrieve information intellectually and provide advanced information services, systematically controlled mechanism is needed to represent and share knowledge. Importantly, medical expert's knowledge should be represented in a form that is understandable to computers and also to humans to be applied to the medical information system supporting decision making. And it should have a suitable and efficient structure for its own purposes including reasoning, extendability of knowledge, management of data, accuracy of expressions, diversity, and so on. we call it ontology which can be processed with machines. We can use the ontology to represent traditional medicine knowledge in structured and systematic way with visualization, then also it can also be used education materials. Hence, the authors developed an Shanghanlun ontology by way of showing an example, so that we suggested a methodology for ontology development and also a model to structure the traditional medical knowledge. And this result can be used for student to learn Shanghanlun by graphical representation of it's knowledge. We analyzed the text of Shanghanlun to construct relational database including it's original text, symptoms and herb formulars. And then we classified the terms following some criterion, confirmed the structure of the ontology to describe semantic relations between the terms, especially we developed the ontology considering visual representation. The ontology developed in this study provides database showing fomulas, herbs, symptoms, the name of diseases and the text written in Shanghanlun. It's easy to retrieve contents by their semantic relations so that it is convenient to search knowledge of Shanghanlun and to learn it. It can display the related concepts by searching terms and provides expanded information with a simple click. It has some limitations such as standardization problems, short coverage of pattern(證), and error in chinese characters input. But we believe this research can be used for basic foundation to make traditional medicine more structural and systematic, to develop application softwares, and also to applied it in Shanghanlun educations.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
• /
• 제19권2호
• /
• pp.145-157
• /
• 2015

Objective : This study aimed to analyze a comprehensive feature of experimental research on Insamyangyoungtang and develop a strategy that can be used for experimental studies on Insamyangyoung-tang in the future. Method : The journal search was performed using six databases : PubMed, Chinese database (China Network Knowledge Infrastructure, [CNKI]), Japan database (Japan Science and Technology Information Aggregator, Electronic, [J-STAGE]) and three Korean databases (Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System [OASIS], Research Information Service System [RISS], and Korean Studies Information Service System [KISS]). We used limited keywords and analyzed studies by publication year, experimental models, and the subjects of biological activities. The mechanism of pharmacological activity in accordance with the therapeutic effects of Insamyangyoung-tang was noted. Results and Conclusion : A total of 43 studies (6 domestic studies and 37 foreign ones) were examined according to the inclusion criteria of the experimental study. Research on the pharmacological activities of Insamyangyoung-tang showed its therapeutic effects on the nervous and immune systems, as well as its anti-aging, anti-fatigue, and hematopoietic effects. Additional efficacy and safety assessments and experimental and clinical studies should be performed to evaluate the mechanism of Insamyangyoung-tang. The present review has provided preliminary information for further studies on Insamyangyoung-tang.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
• /
• 제21권1호
• /
• pp.99-102
• /
• 2000

Central diabetes insipidus(CDI) results from deficient vasopressin(antidiuretic hormone) secretion and causes polydipsia and polyuria. Its etiologic diagnosis is confirmed with an increase of urine osmolality by administering desmopressin(DDAVP) after water restriction. Because cm is caused by deficiency of vasopressin, up to now, desmopressin, a synthetic analog of vasopressin, has been the drug of choice in the treatment of CDI. However, under such treatment, CDI patients suffer from the continual administration of DDAVP throughout one's life and high cost of the treatment We administrated oriental herb medicine on a cm patient in a state of discontinuance of DDAVP. Prior to the study, brain sella MRI was scanned to exclude germinoma. In addition, urine analysis, serum and urinary osmolality, daily urinary volume, serum electrolyte levels were measured. Chungsimyunjatang was administered for 15 days, and urine analysis, urine osmolality, daily urinary volume, serum Na were measured several times again during the therapy, As a result, urinary frequency increased, serum Na slightly elevated, but specific gravity of urine, urinary osmolality severely decreased and daily urinary volume substantially increased. However, the frequency of DDAVP treatment was reduced from four times per day to once or twice a day with the continual administration of the Chungsimyunja-tang for two months after the discharge.

• Journal of East-West Nursing Research
• /
• 제15권1호
• /
• pp.43-53
• /
• 2009

Purpose: This study is to summarize of Western-Eastern books and articles on sleep disturbances and to analyze the trends of nursing research in Korea. Methods: The Western-Eastern books and articles on sleep disturbances were comprehensively reviewed. The 70 articles published from 1981-2008 of Korean nursing research about sleep disturbances were reviewed using a structured form. Results: In Oriental medicine, the main cause of sleep disorder is unbalance of Yin and Yang, the treatments are herb therapy, acupuncture, moxibustion, psychotherapy, sleep hygiene, etc. In Western medicine, the International Classification of Sleep disorder is dyssomnia, parasomnia, mental/neurologic or other medical disorders, proposed sleep disorder and the treatments are pharmacotherapy, cure treatment of sleep hygiene, cause, behavior and perception. The number of nursing research and experimental study about sleep disorder in Korea is increasing. The most common subjects were hospitalized patients and the elderly, Of the 34 experimental studies, foot reflexology was the most commonly used as a nursing intervention. Conclusions: Nurses should concern more on patients' or clients' sleep disturbances to increase their quality of life. This literature study is useful for the access to effective nursing intervention for sleep disturbances.

• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
• /
• 제33권3호
• /
• pp.119-135
• /
• 2020

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to confirm the effectiveness and safety of herbal medicine treatment for treating pregnancy-induced hypertension. Methods: We searched for randomized controlled trials of pregnancy-induced hypertension treated with herbal medicine, through nine databases. Interventions and results of the selected clinical studies were analyzed. Results: Eleven randomized controlled trials were finally included according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Treatment group was treated with herbal medicine alone in two studies, and with herbal medicine and western medicine in nine studies. Control group was treated with western medicine. Taxilli Ramulus (桑寄生) (54.5%) was the most frequently used herb in herbal medicine treatment. In all of eleven studies, treatment group was more effective for pregnancy-induced hypertension than the control group. Conclusions: This study suggested that herbal medicine treatment alone or combined with western medicine treatment could be helpful in improving the therapeutic effect on pregnancy-induced hypertension and reducing side effects as well. However, in order to obtain stronger evidence of herbal medicine treatment for pregnancy-induced hypertension, more high-quality and well-designed randomized controlled trials should be conducted.

• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
• /
• 제20권2호
• /
• pp.107-123
• /
• 2007

Purpose: Endometriosis has been thought to be related with blood stasis in uterus. Pinelliae Tuber is a herb which has effectiveness of dispelling phlegm which can be transformed into blood stasis, so is used in gynecology blood stasis-desease. Therefore in the present study, the effects of Pinelliae Tuber on endometriosis were investigated. Also retention enema therapy acts on the limited part directly, so is used frequently in gynecology clinic. This study was to examine the comparative effects on the surgical induction of endometriosis in the rat between orally and rectally administered with Pinelliae Tuber extract. Methods: The endometrial tissue was autografted to Rat's small intestine. Rats with surgically induced endometriosis were orally and rectally administerd with Pinelliae Tuber extract for 40 days. Size of ectopic uterine implants at the serosal wall and concentration of progesterone, estradiol, $TNF-{\alpha}$ and IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-I0 in serum were examined and compared with the control group. Results: There was no difference in the size of ectopic uterine implants of experimental group compared with control group. The concentration of IL-10 level was significantly decreased in orally administered experimental group and the concentration of progesterone, IL-6 level was significantly decreased in rectally administered experimental group. There was no significant difference between orally and rectally administerd with Pinelliae Tuber. Conclusion: Judging from the above results, it can be suggested that Pinelliae Tuber should be not a useful agent for inhibiting the proliferation of uterine endometrial tissue. There is no difference between orally and rectally administerd with Pinelliae Tuber extract.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
• /
• 제30권3호
• /
• pp.285-292
• /
• 2014

Essential oil yields and chemical compositions from 5 populations of Chamaecyparis obtusa with several environmental factors were investigated through essential oil extracted distillation apparatus and metabolite profiling by GC-MS analysis. Among the populations, content of essential oil at Gokseong was significantly higher than other populations. To compare the several environmental factors affecting on chemical composition and essential oil yields from C. obtuse at Gokseong, the environmental factors (soil condition, temperature, humidity, and moisture content) were measured during 1 year. The essential oils at Goksung based on humidity on March, July, and November was significantly different from other months. The essential oils at Goksung based on temperature on July and August was significantly different from other months. The essential oils at Goksung based on the moisture content on September were significantly different from other months. The percentage of T-N, OM, and yield of oil at Gokseong were significantly different on from other populations. The main constituents of C. obtusa at all populations were ${\alpha}$-pinene, ${\beta}$-pinene, ${\alpha}$-terpinene, ${\gamma}$-terpinene, terpinene-4-ol, isobonyl acetate, terpinyl acetate, and cedar acetate. Specially, Essential oil compositions (%) of ${\alpha}$-terpinene and cedar acetate were higher at Gokseong than at other populations. The chemical compositions of essential oils were variable depend on populations and environmental conditions. Therefore, this study might be used as fundamental research on study for selection of high productive terpenoids and for understanding about biosynthesis of essential oils in C. obtusa.