• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.762-765
• /
• 2008

Ephedrae herba(Ma-huang) has been used to treat respiratory conditions for over 5,000 years. The early 1990s, the herbal ephedra and other products containing ephedrine began to be promoted as weight loss aids in United States. The objective of this study was to evaluate the acute toxicity of hebal ephedra in rats. SPF Sprague-Dawley male and female rats were administered orally with herbal ephedra extract of 2,500 mg/kg(low dosage group), and 5,000 mg/kg(high dosage group). We daily examined number of deaths, clinical signs, body weights and gross findings for 14 days. No dead animal and no significant changes of body weights were found during the experimental period. In addition, no differences were found between control and treated groups in clinical signs, hematology, serum biochemistry, and other findings. In conclusion, herbal ephedra extract did not show any toxic effects and oral LD50 value was over 5,000 mg/kg in SD rats.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
• /
• v.27 no.4
• /
• pp.453-459
• /
• 2013

The objective of this study was to evaluate the single oral dose toxicity of Polygalae Radix (PR) in male and female mice. PR extract (yield = 18.6%) was administered to ICR mice as an oral dose of 2,000, 1,000 and 500 mg/kg (body weight) according to the recommendation of Korea Food and Drug Administration (KFDA) Guidelines (2009-116, 2009). Animals were monitored for the mortality and the changes in body weight, clinical signs and gross observation during 14 days after dosing. Upon necropsy, organ weight and histopathology of 14 principal organs were examined. It was observed that there were no mortalities, clinical signs, changes on the body and organ weights, gross and histopathological observations against 14 principal organs related to PR extract up to 2,000 mg/kg. Therefore, 50% lethal dose ($LD_{50}$) and approximate LD of PR aqueous extracts after single oral treatment in female and male mice were considered over 2000 mg/kg the limited dosages recommended by KFDA Guidelines, respectively.

• Journal of Computing Science and Engineering
• /
• v.5 no.3
• /
• pp.246-256
• /
• 2011

Due to the increasingly aging population, there is a rising demand for assistive living technologies for the elderly to ensure their health and well-being. The elderly are mostly chronic patients who require frequent check-ups of multiple vital signs, some of which (e.g., blood pressure and blood glucose) vary greatly according to the daily activities that the elderly are involved in. Therefore, the development of novel wearable intelligent systems to effectively monitor the vital signs continuously over a 24 hour period is in some cases crucial for understanding the progression of chronic symptoms in the elderly. In this paper, recent development of Wearable Intelligent Systems for e-Health (WISEs) is reviewed, including breakthrough technologies and technical challenges that remain to be solved. A novel application of wearable technologies for transient cardiovascular monitoring during water drinking is also reported. In particular, our latest results found that heart rate increased by 9 bpm (P < 0.001) and pulse transit time was reduced by 5 ms (P < 0.001), indicating a possible rise in blood pressure, during swallowing. In addition to monitoring physiological conditions during daily activities, it is anticipated that WISEs will have a number of other potentially viable applications, including the real-time risk prediction of sudden cardiovascular events and deaths.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
• /
• v.26 no.5
• /
• pp.577-587
• /
• 2012

Warm disease: Any of various heat disease characterizer by rapid onset and shifts, pronounced heat signs, and a tendency to form dryness and damage yin. Exterior heat sign: exterior heat patterns are characterizer by pronounced heat signs, such as a red sore pharynx and a relatively red tongue with dry fur, the pulse is floating and rapid, cough and the production of thick white or yellow phlegm. If wind-heat evil exist in weifen, it becomes exterior syndrome, and a remedy about that is dispelling wind-heat but when wind-heat evil invades in nasal and throat part so the disease occurs, you need to add relieving sore throat worsens invades in lung it makes disharmony of diffuse in lungs. So a remedy about it is diffuse the lung. disharmony of diffuse in lungs makes metabolic disorder of qi and liquid and humor malfunction therefore it occurs cough and heat-phlegm syndrome. heat from weifen invades the whole of lungs and form lung heat. So a remedy about lung heat is clearing away lung heat, this lung heat makes inevitably bleed in lungs, therefore a remedy in this case is clearing the lung to stop bleeding, or moistening the lung. Exterior heat sign means that exterior syndrome coexists with heat syndrome and it means that a remedy of this syndrome need to mix prescriptions for relieving exterior syndrome and heat-clearing prescriptions to treat this syndrome.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
• /
• v.25 no.1
• /
• pp.100-108
• /
• 2011

The object of this study was two. One was if Polygonati Rhizoma preparata had a benzo(a)pyrene, the other was to evaluate the single dose toxicity of 9 repetitive steaming and fermenting processed Polygonati Rhizoma, dried root parts of Polygonati Rhozoma preparata extract, in male and female mice. We measured a content of benzo(a)pyrene in Polygonati Rhozoma preparata using a method with HPLC/FLD. And for single dose toxicity, aqueous extracts of Polygonati Rhozoma preparata (EPP; Yield = 35.4 %) was administered to female and male ICR mice as an oral dose of 2,000, 1,000 and 500 mg/kg (body weight) according to the recommendation of Korea Food and Drug Administration (KFDA) Guidelines. Animals were monitored for the mortality and changes in body weight, clinical signs and gross observation during 14 days after dosing, upon necropsy; organ weight and histopathology of 12 principle organs were examined. As results, we could not find any mortality, clinical signs, and changes in the body and organ weight except for slight soft feces sporadically detected in EPP treated male mice at 1 day after administration. In addition, no EPP-treatment related abnormal gross findings and changes in histopathology of principle organs were detected except for some sporadic accidental findings. The results obtained in this study suggest that benzo(a)pyrene was not existed in Polygonati Rhozoma preparata and the 50% lethal dose and approximate lethal dose of EPP aqueous extracts in both female and male mice were considered as over 2,000 mg/kg, the limited highest dosage recommended by KFDA Guidelines. However, it also observed that the possibilities of digestive disorders, like soft feces when administered over 500 mg/kg of EPP aqueous extracts in the present study.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
• /
• v.29 no.4
• /
• pp.802-816
• /
• 1999

The purposes of this research were to identify nursing interventions performed by Korean nurses and to compare the interventions performed by nurses working in the oriental medicine hospitals and with those performed by nurses working in the general hospitals. The samples consisted of 144 Korean nurses working in three hospitals, 70 nurses working in the oriental medicine hospitals and 74 nurses working in the general hospitals. The Nursing Interventions Classification (NIC) Use Questionnaire developed by the Iowa Intervention Project team was translated to Korean and verified using the method of back-translation. The questionnaire consists of 433 intervention labels and definition. Thirteen interventions were used at least daily by nurses working in the oriental medicine hospitals, while twenty-one interventions were used at least daily by nurses working in the general hospitals. The most frequently used interventions by nurses working in the oriental medicine hospitals were Documentation, Shift Report Vital Signs Monitoring, Pressure Ulcer Prevention, Positioning, Fall Prevention, Exercise Promotion, Intravenous (IV) Therapy, Pressure Ulcer care, and Bed Rest Care in that crder. For nurses working in the general hospitals the most frequent intervention was Analgesic Administration, followed by the interventions of Medication Administration : Parenteral and Intravenous Therapy (IV) Therapy, Documentation, Intravenous(IV) Insertion, Shift Report, Fall Prevention, Vital Signs Monitoring, Medication Adnninistraction : and, Fluid Monitoring, and Medication Maragement in that order. The interventions performed least often by nurses working in the oriental medicine hospitals were Hemodialysis Therapy and Bleeding Reduction : Antepartum Uterus, while the interventions performed least often by nurses working in the general hospitals were Rape Trauma Treatment and Contact Lens Care. The nurses working in the oriental medicine hospitals performed the interventions in the Physiological : Complex domain significantly more often than the nurses working in the general hospitals, while the nurses working in the general hospitals performed the intervention in the Behavior domain significantly more often than the nurses working in the oriental medicine hospitals. This study suggests that further study will be needed to developed and validate more interventions sensitive to Korean culture.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
• /
• v.22 no.5
• /
• pp.1071-1077
• /
• 2008

Hwa-byung is a form of psychogenic illness among people in Korea and is listed as a culture-bound syndrome of Korea in the DSM-IV. Despite increased clinical researches for Hwa-byung in the oriental medicine of Korea, there has been no agreement of pattern identification for Hwa-byung. The purpose of this study is to develop a standard instrument of pattern identification for Hwa-byung which will be applied to clinical research. The items and structure of the instrument were based on review of published literature. The advisor committee on this study was organized by 15 neuropsychiatry professors of 11 oriental medical colleges nationwide. The experts attended 2 consultation meetings and discussed developing the instrument. and we also took professional advices by e-mail. The results were as follows; First, we divided the symptoms and signs of Hwa-byung into five pattern identification - stagnation of liver Qi, flare-up of the liver fire, disharmony between heart and kidney, deficiency of both Qi and blood, malfunction of gallbladder due to phlegm stagnation. Second, we got the mean weights to each symptom of five pattern identification which had been scored on a 5-point scale - ranging from 0 to 4 by the 15 experts. Third, we made out the Korean instrument of the pattern identification for Hwa-byung. It was composed of 34 questions and decided on question-and-answer form. Though there are some limits in this study, the instrument of pattern identification for Hwa-byung is meaningful and expected to be applied to the subsequent research. And also, we hope to improve the instrument and make up for this study through various research and discussion.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
• /
• v.20 no.3
• /
• pp.572-574
• /
• 2006

The Dangguibohyel-tang (DBT) was used to treat anemia in traditional Korean medicine. Acute oral toxicity of DBT was studied in ICR mice. ICR mice were administered orally with dosages of 100 mg/kg (low dosage group), 200 mg/kg (middle dosage group), and 400 mg/kg (high dosage group) of DBT. We daily examined number of deaths, clinical signs, body weights and gross findings for 14 days. DBT did not show any toxic effect in ICR mice and oral LD50 value was over 400 mg/kg in ICR mice.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
• /
• v.24 no.3
• /
• pp.426-429
• /
• 2010

This study was conducted to investigate the acute toxicity and safety of Pyungwi-san (Pingwei-san) in Sprague-Dawley rat though the current regulatory guideline. The preliminary study showed that the single oral administration of Pyungwi-san (Pingwei-san) did not induce any toxic effect at a dose level of 2000 mg/kg. Based on the results, 2000 mg/kg was selected as the limited dose. In this study, 10 rats of each sex were randomly assigned to two groups of 5 rats each and were administrated singly by gavage at dose levels of 0 and 2000 mg/kg. After single administration, Mortalities, clinical signs, body weight changes, gross findings were observed for the 15-day period. Throughout the study period, no treatment-related deaths were observed. There were no adverse effects on clinical signs, body weight, and gross findings at all treatment groups. These results showed that the single oral adminstration of Pyungwi-san (Pingwei-san) did not cause any toxic effect at the dose levels of 2000 mg/kg in rats. In conclusion, the $LD_{50}$ of Pyungwi-san (Pingwei-san) was considered to be over 2000 mg/kg body for both sexes.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
• /
• v.24 no.6
• /
• pp.1094-1098
• /
• 2010

With the high prevalence of functional dyspepsia in the world, it was difficult to get objective diagnosis, treatment and assessment for the reason that there were many different symptoms and signs. The purpose of this study is to develop a standard instrument of pattern identification for functional dyspepsia which will be applied to clinical research. The items and structure of the instrument were based on review of published literature. The advisor committee on this study was organized by 11 oriental division of gastroenterology professors of oriental medical colleges nationwide. The experts discussed developing the instrument, and we also took professional advices by e-mail. We divided the symptoms and signs of functional dyspepsia into 6 pattern identification, such as disharmony of liver and stomach, retention of undigested food, damp-heat in the spleen and stomach, simultaneous occurrence of cold and heat syndromes, deficiency and cold of the spleen and the stomach, and insufficiency of stomach eum. We got the mean weights to each symptom of six pattern identification which had been scored on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 to 5 by the 11 experts. We made out the Korean instrument of the pattern identification composed of 45 questions for functional dyspepsia. Although there are some limitations in our study, the instrument is meaningful and certain worth of its own. We hope to improve the instrument through the further clinical studies and discussions.