Analysis on the Pass-through Effects of Imported Medicine Price on Domestic Western Medicine / 中国卫生经济

Objective: To explore the imported medicine price’s pass-through effect on domestic western medicine’s price. Methods: Based on the time-series data from January 2003 to March 2013, the empirical research studied the effect of imported medicine’s price and other variables on domestic western medicine price. Results: The imported medicine’ price has short significant effect on domestic medicine. Conclusion: To reduce the effect of imported medicine price’s fluctuation, the government should intervene the medicine price moderately; the drug company and the hospital should pay attention to the efficacy and the promotion of the domestic western medicine.

Mental Exercises for Cognitive Function: Clinical Evidence / 예방의학회지

The purpose of this study was to examine the beneficial effects of a new cognitive intervention program designed for the care and prevention of dementia, namely Learning Therapy. The training program used systematized basic problems in arithmetic and Japanese language as training tasks. In study 1, 16 individuals in the experimental group and 16 in the control group were recruited from a nursing home. In both groups, all individuals were clinically diagnosed with senile dementia of the Alzheimer type. In study 2, we performed a single-blind, randomized controlled trial in our cognitive intervention program of 124 community-dwelling seniors. In both studies, the daily training program using reading and arithmetic tasks was carried out approximately 5 days a week, for 15 to 20 minutes a day in the intervention groups. Neuropsychological measures were determined simultaneously in the groups both prior to and after six months of the intervention. The results of our investigations indicate that our cognitive intervention using reading and arithmetic problems demonstrated a transfer effect and they provide convincing evidence that cognitive training maintains and improves the cognitive functions of dementia patients and healthy seniors.

Generalization of Treatment Effect on Motor Learning after Stroke

Approximately two thirds of stroke survivors have residual neurological deficits that persistently impair function. Hence, alternative strategies are needed to reduce the long-term disability and functional impairment from severe weakness of limbs. Generalization of treatment effect takes place when the effects of the therapy spread to a variety of related behaviors and similar movements. And the transfer effect that training of the limbs on one side of the body appeared to be shared by those on the other side simultaneously. The two concepts are closely linked together. These forms of learning are organized through a higher-level cerebral mechanism and can be associated corpus callosum. Several promising new rehabilitation approaches such as bilateral training are based on the transfer effect. The purpose of this review is to introduce transfer effect of treatment on motor learning after stroke.