ABSTRACT
Alpha-lipoic acid, a physiological form of thioctic acid, is a strong antioxidant that relieves diabetic neuropathic symptoms. R(+)-α-lipoic acid shows superior antioxidative effects to its racemate. We compared the pharmacokinetics (PKs) and tolerability of R(+)- and S(-)-α-lipoic acid after a single oral dose of R(+)-α-lipoic acid, Dexid®, and its racemate, thioctic acid in healthy male subjects. We used an open-label, randomized, single-dose, three-treatment, parallel study design to compare the PK exposure of the active form, R(+)-α-lipoic acid. Thirty subjects completed the study with no clinically relevant safety issues. The peak concentrations (C(max), mean±SD) of R(+)-α-lipoic acid after doses of R(+)-α-lipoic acid 200 mg, 300 mg and thioctic acid 600 mg were 4186.8±1956.7, 6985.6±3775.8 and 6498.4±3575.6 µg/L, respectively, and the areas under the plasma concentration-time curve from 0 to the last measurable concentration (AUC(last)) were 1893.6±759.4, 3575.2±1149.2 and 3790.0±1623.0 µg·h⁻¹·L⁻¹, respectively. The geometric mean ratio and 90% confidence intervals of R(+)-α-lipoic acid 200 mg to thioctic acid 600 mg for the C(max) and AUC(last) were 0.71 (0.43–1.15) and 0.51 (0.37–0.70), respectively. The corresponding R(+)-α-lipoic acid 300 mg to thioctic acid 600 mg values were 1.11 (0.68-1.80) and 0.97 (0.71-1.34), respectively. In conclusion, R(+)-α-lipoic acid 300 mg showed PK characteristics similar to those of thioctic acid 600 mg and both formulations were well tolerated.
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Pharmacokinetics , Plasma , Thioctic AcidABSTRACT
PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to provide a disease management, nutrition education, and group exercise program for three months to the moderately frail elderly whose physical functions have deteriorated, and to investigate its effects in order to develop an intervention program. METHODS: As a quasi-experiment, this study was conducted based on non-equivalence studies designed as a similar experiment. The milk intake group and calcium intake group participated in the disease education, individual nutrition education, and group exercise program for three months, and the control group was visited once in the three months by a nurse who provided disease education, nutrition education, and oral instruction of exercise, and asked them to exercise on their own every day. For the data analysis, χ2-test, ANOVA and Scheffé test were used. RESULTS: After three months of intervention, there was a significant difference in the frailty level (p=.029) and bone density (p=.001) between the groups. CONCLUSION: The comprehensive intervention program had an effect on the bone density and the frailty level of the socially-vulnerable and moderately frail elderly, suggesting that the program can be used as a nursing intervention to prevent functional deterioration and damage of the moderately frail elderly.
Subject(s)
Aged , Humans , Bone Density , Calcium , Disease Management , Education , Frail Elderly , Milk , Nursing , Statistics as TopicABSTRACT
PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to understand the effect of taking calcium/vitamin D supplements and performing Taekkyeon exercises on the frailty of the elderly targeting a vulnerable senior social group. METHODS: A total of 124 people aged 65 and older consisting of 60 persons in the experimental group, and 64 persons in the control group participated in this study, and this study is a non-equivalent control group pre/post-test design quasi-experimental study. This study analyzed the homogeneity between the experimental group and the control group using a chi-square test and t-test while analyzing the difference in the degree of frailty and bone density with the practice of Taekkyeon and a calcium agent using t-test and GEE. RESULTS: The study results showed that the frailty and bone density of the experimental group significantly improved. CONCLUSION: Through this study, it was confirmed that calcium/vitamin D intake and Taekkyeon exercises were an effective intervention which strengthened the elderly's physical condition.
Subject(s)
Aged , Humans , Bone Density , Calcium , Exercise , Frail Elderly , Non-Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic , Vitamin DABSTRACT
Coronary artery milking is defined as a systolic compression of the coronary artery, usually resulting from myocardial bridging. Rarely, congenital heart disease, pulmonary hypertension and ventricular aneurysm can lead to coronary artery milking, and there has been a reported case of left anterior descending coronary artery milking after coronary stenting. Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is an emerging strategy for treatment of stenosis in the left main stem. We report a case of symtomatic systolic milking at the left main stem treated by direct stenting during PCI in a patient with unstable angina pectoris.
Subject(s)
Humans , Aneurysm , Angina, Unstable , Constriction, Pathologic , Coronary Vessels , Hypertension , Milk , Myocardial Bridging , Percutaneous Coronary Intervention , Pulmonary Heart Disease , StentsABSTRACT
PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of a local community based multi-factorial program for high-risk younger and older elderly people. METHODS: The quasi-experimental research design (pretest-post test) was employed. Participants were recruited in Seoul and a total of 98 elders completed an 8-week multi-factorial program for preventing frailty. Descriptive statistics, chi2-test and GLM were used in the data analysis with SPSS/WIN 15.0. RESULTS: The high-risk elderly people in the younger and older stages showed differences in IADL, TUG and BMI, and after being provided with the multi-factorial program for preventing frailty, some effects were shown on improving the total score of frailty, a physical function, TUG, BMI, depression, subjective feeling of health, and social interaction. CONCLUSION: The 8-week multi-factorial program for preventing frailty had positive effects on improving physical, emotional and social functions of the high-risk elderly people. It is necessary to evaluate the effects after individual intervention as well as group intervention and to evaluate the effects of the program by setting a control group in the future.
Subject(s)
Aged , Humans , Depression , Frail Elderly , Research Design , Statistics as TopicABSTRACT
PURPOSE: This study is exploratory research to check the survey instrument KDSQ-C used to measure cognition for agreement between the elderly and their caregivers. METHODS: Elderly persons from 170 families, who are aged over 65, have never been diagnosed with dementia, and who have caregivers in S City and K City were randomly selected by their nurses. A survey was conducted in the time from September to November, 2009 through personal interviews using a questionnaire. RESULTS: In terms of consistency among items, there was high consistency (0.813) in the responses regarding complex task competence for the statement 'it is hard to reach a destination alone with public transportation'. There was relatively low consistency (0.63) in the responses regard memory for the statement 'they forget an appointment'. When the subject elderly and caregiver live together, as when their children or spouses responded, consistency was greater than when the caregiver lived in a different home. CONCLUSION: KDSQ-C showed high agreement in measurement between the subject elderly and their caregivers, demonstrating that it can be used as a measurement scale for cognition which can be directly applied to the subject elderly.
Subject(s)
Aged , Child , Humans , Caregivers , Cognition , Dementia , Memory , Mental Competency , Reproducibility of Results , SpousesABSTRACT
PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to explore violent experiences of home visiting health care workers in Korea. METHODS: This study was a cross-sectional survey. Data were collected using self-report questionnaires from 1,640 health care workers. Data collection was done between September 1, 2009 and June 30, 2010. RESULTS: Of the respondents, 70.6% had experienced work-related violence. Shouting (51.9%) was the most common verbal violence, followed by verbalizing sexual remarks to the health care workers (19.0%) and touching the hands (16.5%), the most common acts relating to sexual harassment. Of the respondents who had experienced violence, 50.9% told their peers about the incidents. However, the major reasons why they did not report these incidents was due to the fact that they felt it was useless to file reports and that they expected such incidents to occur as part of their job. The majority of the respondents (86.4%) wanted education on how to deal with such violence at work. CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicate that efforts should be made to increase awareness and to minimize violence in the workplace. Also, educational programs should be designed to improve knowledge and to prevent workplace violence.
Subject(s)
Adult , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Young Adult , Adaptation, Psychological , Attitude of Health Personnel , Cross-Sectional Studies , Home Care Services , Home Health Aides/psychology , Surveys and Questionnaires , Republic of Korea , Sexual Harassment , ViolenceABSTRACT
PURPOSE: This study was done to investigate factors affecting perceived financial burden of medical expenditures. METHOD: The participants were 2,024 inpatients who were enrolled in a survey on the benefit coverage rate of the National Health Insurance in 2006. The collected data were analyzed using t-test, ANOVA-test, Mann-Whitney-test, Kruskal-Wallis-test, Chi-square test and logistic regression. RESULTS: The crucial factors for perceived financial burden were age, job, equivalence scale, ratio of annual family income vs medical expenditure, and private health insurance. Perceived financial burden was higher for people who were older, who were unemployed, whose medical expenditures were high compared to annual family income, whose index of family equalization was low and for those who had no private health insurance. CONCLUSION: The results of the study indicate a demand for system reform that will enable management of no-pay hospital bills in the National Health Insurance to decrease the medical expense of people in the low-income bracket.
Subject(s)
Humans , Health Expenditures , Inpatients , Insurance, Health , National Health ProgramsABSTRACT
PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify effects of Artemisia A. Smoke(Ssukjahun) on primary dysmenorrhea. METHOD: This study was a pretestposttest design with a nonequivalent control group. Data were collected from May 1, 2007 to May 27, 2008. A total of 40 women with dysmenorrhea participated in the study. Among them, 20 women were assigned to an experimental group and the other 20 to a control group. Artemisia A. Smoke(Ssukjahun) was provided daily for 4 days, starting 7 days prior to next expected menses in the experimental group. The instruments used in this study included MDQ (Moos' Menstrual Distress Questionnaire) by Kim (1995), Visual Analogue Scale by Keele (1948), and PGF2alpha by urine. RESULT: The results of this study are as follows; The experimental group was lower than the control group in the degree of menstrual distress (t=5.25, p=0.000), intensity of dysmenorrhea (t=7.71, p=0.000), and prostaglandin F2alpha levels (t=4.56, p=0.000). CONCLUSION: Artemisia A. Smoke (Ssukjahun) was proved as an effective nursing intervention to reduce dysmenorrhea in young women. Its convenience and accessibility may make it a useful intervention in nursing practice and education.
Subject(s)
Female , Humans , Artemisia , Dinoprost , Dysmenorrhea , SmokeABSTRACT
To identify osteoporosis and examine the relationship between health behavior and the self-efficacy of middle-aged women, a descriptive survey was conducted. The subjects were 465 healthy female residents of Kyunggido, Korea, who underwent ultrasound measurement and a health examination at the Kangmeung-Ci Health Center between July and August 2000. They were 40 to 60 years old, with a mean age of 46.7 years. The subjects completed a self- reported questionnaire that consisted of seven items concerning health behavior and twelve items concerning self-efficacy related to osteoporosis. Bone density was evaluated from ultrasound measurements of the right heel. All the data were analyzed using the program SAS-PC. The study found that the mean T score related to bone density was -1.30, and ranged from -3.52 to 3.06. Based on the T score, 74.8% of the subjects were normal, 12.9% had osteopenia, and 12.3% had osteoporosis. The mean osteoporosis self-efficacy score was 41.17 and ranged from 12 to 60. Osteoporosis self-efficacy differed significantly with health behavior related to health supplementary food (t=5.63, p=.018), exercise (t=6.65, p=.010), alcohol drinking(t=10.80, p=.001), and smoking (t=10.23, p=.001). A community-based health promotion program should be developed to prevent osteoporosis in middle-aged women.
Subject(s)
Female , Humans , Middle Aged , Bone Density , Bone Diseases, Metabolic , Health Behavior , Health Promotion , Heel , Korea , Osteoporosis , Surveys and Questionnaires , Smoke , Smoking , UltrasonographyABSTRACT
No abstract available.