A multi-center clinical trial: Evaluation on effectiveness and safety of different dosages of Pudilan Xiaoyan Oral Liquid in treatment of infantile acute pharyngitis-tonsillitis with lung-stomach excess-heat syndrome / 中草药

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of different dosages of Pudilan Xiaoyan Oral Liquid (PXOL) in treatment of infantile acute pharyngitis-tonsillitis with lung-stomach excess-heat syndrome. Methods: A randomized controlled, double-blind, positive drug parallel controlled, and multi-center clinical trial was conducted. Totally 324 children from seven research centers were included, 108 cases in experimental high dose group (A Group), 108 cases in experimental low dose group (B Group), 54 cases in positive medicine group (Xiaoer yanbian Granula, C Group), and 54 cases in placebo group (D Group), with the ratios of 2:2:1:1.5 in a course. Results: (1) Totally 317 cases were in full analysis set (FAS), 284 cases in per-protocol set (PPS) and 324 cases in Safety Set (SS). (2) Evaluation on effectiveness: There was significant difference (P<0.001) between each two groups in the total effective rate of pharyngalgia and pharyngeal swelling. A Group and B Group were both superior to D Group, and were non-inferior to C Group. B Group was non-inferior to A Group. There was significant difference (P<0.001) between each two groups in total effective rate of syndrome of traditional Chinese medicine. There was significant difference (P<0.05) between each two groups in the median time of improving pharyngalgia syndrome. There was significant difference (P<0.001) between each two groups in the median time of pharyngalgia syndrome disappearing. There were significant differences (P<0.05) between each two groups in total effective rate of halitosis, cough, thirst, deep-colored urine, and dry stool. The analysis on PPS agrees with that of FAS. (3) Evaluation on safety: No adverse reactions in clinical significant laboratory examination were found during the trial. Conclusion: High and low dosages of PXOL show advantages over placebo and are non-inferior to the positive medicine Xiaoer Yanbian Granula. High dose group does not show advantage comparing with low dose group. No adverse reactions are found during the trial. Low dose therapy is recommended.

Intestinal Parasite Infections among Inhabitants in Yanbian Prefecture, Jilin Province, China

To investigate the prevalence of intestinal parasite infections in Yanbian Prefecture, Jilin Province, China, epidemiological surveys were conducted on a collaboration basis between the Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Yanbian Center for Disease Control and Prevention. A total of 8,396 (males 3,737 and females 4,659) stool samples were collected from 8 localities and examined with the formalin-ether sedimentation technique, and additionally examined with the cellotape anal swab to detect Enterobius vermicularis eggs. The overall rate of intestinal parasites was 1.57%. The prevalence of Ascaris lumbricoides was the highest (0.80%), followed by Entamoeba spp. (0.23%), heterophyid flukes (0.15%), Clonorchis sinensis (0.08%), Enterobius vermicularis (0.07%), hookworms (0.06%), Trichostrongylus spp. (0.06%), Giardia lamblia (0.04%), Paragonimus spp. (0.02%), Diphyllobothrium spp. (0.02%), Trichuris trichiura (0.02%). The prevalence by sex was similar, 1.58% (n=59) in males and 1.57% (n=73) in females. By the present study, it is partly revealed that the prevalences of intestinal parasite infections are relatively low among the inhabitants of Yanbian Prefecture, Jilin Province, China.

The Establishment and operation of Longjing Medical College(龍井醫科大學): The History of Longjing Medical College as Frontier History: Focusing on its ‘Disconnection’ and ‘Continuity’ / 의사학

Longjing Medial College(龍井醫科大學), established in Longjing, Yanbian, China on September 12, 1945, existed for about 1 year and 6 months until it was renamed as the Medical Department of Dongbei Junzheng Daxue Jilin Fenxiao(東北軍政大學吉林分校) in April 1947. However, there are only few records and studies on Longjing Medical College in Yanbian as well as in Korea. In order to fill the gap, this study attempted to restore the history of Longjing Medical College built in Yanbian, China immediately after the liberation. In particular, it analyzed how and why the Longjing Medical College was founded and operated, and which relations the college had with the post-war medical educational institutions, focusing on the ‘disconnection’ and ‘continuity’ in the historical sense. Since the establishment of Manchukuo(滿洲國), the Japanese colonial government had made it a major “frontier” and actively promoted the mass migration of Japanese and Koreans. For them, the government also set up three Exploitation Medical Schools in 1940. As a part of these three institutions, Longjing Exploitation Medical School(龍井開拓醫學院) educated more than 150 students by 1945, of which about one third was Korean. After the liberation, the Longjing Educational Alliance(龍井敎育同盟) decided to pursue the return-movement of the Longjing Exploitation Medical School and took over the institution. On September 12, 1945, Longjing Medical College opened at the school site of Longjing Exploitation Medical School. Longjing Medical College was founded by people who had ‘the perspective of Korean nationality’ in an atmosphere where the ‘ethnicity’ of the Koreans exercised considerable power. Nevertheless, in 1946, when the Chinese Civil War began and the Yanbian region became an important base of the Chinese Communist Party, the Party began to expand and strengthen their influences in the region. Accordingly, the operation rights of Longjing Medical College were transferred to the Yanbian Administrative offices of Supervision(延邊行政督察專員公署) and Government of Jirinsheng(吉林省政府) which were the administrative institution by the Chinese Communist Party in turns. In the end, Longjing Medical College was reorganized into the Medical Department of Dongbei Junzheng Daxue Jilin Fenxiao (1947. 3) and the first branch of the Chinese Medical College (1948. 1), a medical education institution focused on nurturing the medical personnel required for the Chinese Civil War. In January 1949, the first branch moved to Harbin, merged with the second branch there, and was transformed into Harbin Medical College. Afterwards, the Yanbian Koreans played a major role to establish Yanbian Medical College(延邊醫科專門學校) in a basis of the teachers and buildings left by the moving-out of the first branch(1948. 10. 1). Now, Yanbian Medical College is the official body of Yanbian University Medical Center. Longjing Medical College, which has such a complicated history, is partially ‘disconnected’ from the Yanbian medical educational institutions in the post-war era in terms of its possession, operation objective, and academic system. However, many of the early members of the Longjing Medical College were not only teachers and students of the Longjing Exploitation Medical School, but also a few of them continued to teach at the Medical Department of Dongbei Junzheng Daxue Jilin Fenxiao, the first branch of the Chinese Medical College, and Yanbian Medical College. Particularly, several members actively participated in the establishment of each school or in the position of the top leader of the school. Also, all the medical education institutions referred to above used the building and facilities of Longjing Exploitation Medical School until the period of Yanbian Medical College. As such, the history of Longjing Medical College as frontier history, gives us a difficult, but significant question on the meanings of ‘disconnection’ and ‘continuity’ in history and their implications.

The Life of Dr. RO Kishun, a Reflection of Modern Korean Medical History of the Borders / 의사학

RO Kishun was born on February 2, 1893 in Ongjin County, Hwanghae Province of Joseon Korea. He graduated from the Medical Training Center, a campus associated with the Joseon Government-General Hospital, in 1915, and from Kyushu Imperial University School of Medicine in 1917. He continued his medical study at the university in 1929, majoring in biochemistry, and earned a doctorate in medicine in 1932. Dr. RO, one of the earliest pioneers in Korean biochemistry, was active in his research, publishing four studies in the Japanese Journal of Biochemistry between 1931 and 1932. After returning from Japan in 1932, Dr. RO opened a medical practice in Mokpo and Busan, port cities situated on the southern tip of Korea. Later in 1936, he moved north to Manchuria (northeast China) to practice medicine at the International Hospital in Mukden (present-day Shenyang). He also served as president of Tumen Public Hospital between 1942 and 1946. When Japan signed unconditional surrender bringing World War II to an end, Dr. RO relocated to Yanbian and began providing medical training to ethnic Koreans. In October 1946, he was appointed dean of the First Branch School of China Medical University in Longjing, and in October 1948 the first dean of Yanbian Medical School, the predecessor of Yanbian University College of Medicine. Dr. RO dedicated his life to medical practice, teaching and training students, and mentoring younger faculty. A brilliant clinician, he also inspired and helped his colleagues with his outstanding ability to diagnose and treat patients. He was one of the founding members of Yanbian University College of Medicine. RO Kishun died on June 7, 1957 at age 64. Ethnic Koreans hailed him as Sinui (literally, the physician of God), and a bronze statue of himself was erected in front of the medical college in 1988. Dr. RO's life brings modern historians' attention to the issue of determining geographical territories and nationality, in that his life unfolded at the borderlands or frontiers of Joseon Korea, China, and Japan, where the history of the three nations met and intermingled with one another. He was a biochemist and researcher, practicing physician and medical professor of the era under Japanese Rule and the one following it. In modern Korean medicine, his life is viewed as a history of the borders, or a transnational legacy going beyond individual history of Korea, China, and Japan.

The Relationships among Social Support, Stress, and Loneliness in Migrant Yanbian Korean Workers / 성인간호학회지

PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to examine the relationships among social support (network, composition, and satisfaction), stress, and loneliness in migrant Yanbian Korean workers. METHOD: Data were collected by using Social Support Questionnaire 6, Visual Analogue Scale, and the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale. RESULT: Results indicate that means for social support were 1.52 for network size and 4.83 for satisfaction. The proportion percentage of network for kin members was 67.37. Subjects felt the moderate level of stress and loneliness. The level of loneliness was negatively related to the level of social support. CONCLUSION: This study showed that there is necessity to reduce stress and loneliness among migrant Yanbian Korean workers. Adequate social support satisfaction is crucial to reduce the level of loneliness in migrant Yanbian Korean workers.

The Association of Perception of Health Status with Lifestyle of Yanbian Koreans and Yanbian Chinese / 예방의학회지

To find the association of perception of health status with lifestyle of different ethnic groups living in north-eastern part of China, a cross-sectional questionnaire survey was done by 10 local health workers for 375 Korean immigrants and 217 Chinese whose age was 30 years old or more. Because Korean immigrants showed higher mortality than Chinese, we expected to find significant lifestyle related with perception of health status which was known to be a predictor of mortality by different ethnic groups. The results were as follows: 1. We found that 59.7% of Yanbian Koreans and 42.9% of Yanbian Chinese felt unhealthy (p=0.000). 2. For Yanbian Koreans, significant variables associated with perception of health status were selected through logistic regression analysis and they were sex; female to male with an OR=2.45 (95% confidence interval[CI]: 1.06, 5.64), prevalence of chronic illness with an OR=8.48 (95% CI: 4.62, 15.56), amount of meal; small or moderate to full with an OR=2.67 (95% CI: 1.40, 5.09), preference of spicy food with an OR=1.78 (95% CI: 1.04, 3.04), and less amount intake of vitamin B2 with an OR=2.29 (95% CI: 1.33, 3.93). 3. For Yanbian Chinese, significant variables associated with perception of health status were prevalence of chronic illness with an OR=4.97 (95% CI: 2.11, 11.68), history of taking ginseng with an OR=3.72 (95% CI: 1.33, 10.43), and less intake of vitamin C with an OR=0.18 (95% CI: 0.07, 0.46). In conclusion, sex, presence of chronic illness, dietary habit, and amount of vitamin- B1 intake were associated with perception of health status in Yanbian Koreans. Presence of chronic illness, experience of ginseng intake, and amount of vitamin C intake were associated with perception of health status in Yanbian Chinese. To prove cause-effect relation between perception of health status and lifestyle, further study is needed for these different ethnic groups.

Cross-cultural study of alcoholism: comparison between Kangwha, Korea and Yanbian, China

A cross-cultural comparison study of alcohol use disorder between Kangwha and Yanbian was conducted using the Korean version of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS). The subjects of the two areas studied were all native Koreans but lived in different sociocultural environments. A significant difference in lifetime prevalence rate of alcohol abuse (Kangwha 16.48%, Yanbian 6.95%; p less than 0.05) and similarity of alcohol dependence (Kangwha 10.23%, Yanbian 11.50%; p less than 0.05) were found. Among a total of 21 items of alcoholic symptoms, 14 items showed significant differences in frequencies between the two areas. The authors have suggested that alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence are two different diagnostic categories in origin, alcohol abuse is more related to socio-cultural environment and alcohol dependence to biogenetic background. The authors have discussed the possible reasons for a higher prevalence rate of alcohol abuse in Kangwha compared to Yanbian.