No abstract available.
Ethics*

The most common disease in Korea is smoking and the number of the sufferers is about twelve million. The prevalence of smoking among doctors may indicate the likelihood of success of population-based anti-tobacco campaigns. It has been established that the decline in the prevalence of smoking among physicians has preceded the decline in the general population according to the Kunz's two-phase model in smoking epidemic. There is also evidence that physicians who smoke are less likely to counsel patients about the hazards of smoking. For these three reasons it is important to understand the current smoking status among medical doctors. The smoking rate was reported to be 34.9% among Korean doctors in male and 2.3% in female in 2000. In the same period it has been reported to be 67.6% in male and 3% in female in the general population. According to Kunz, Korea is a mature country in terms of smoking epidemic. All the doctors should be well aware that there are effective and scientific ways of smoking cessation. But the proportion of doctors who have never been educated for smoking cessation was 97.9%. Undergraduate and continuous medical education for smoking cessation should be reinforced. The drop smoking rate among Korean medical doctors is mandatory.
Education, Medical ; Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Prevalence ; Smoke* ; Smoking Cessation ; Smoking*

No abstract available.
Tobacco Smoke Pollution*

BACKGROUND: It has been found that sterss challenge with heat shock produces the acquisition of cellular resistance to ischemin injury in the hearts, which is associated with stress protein induction. The conventional heat shock(42degrees C of rectal temperature for 15min, anesthetized animal), however, is strong enough to endanger the animal life and then not suitable for practiocal application in human. The present study was performedd in an attempt to search the safely applicabel stress modalities to acquire the myocardial tolerance to ischemia-reperfusion in jury. METHODS: Male, Sprague-Ddawley rats(200-250g) were exposed to various stressful conditions, such as heat stimulation(environmental temperature of 42degrees C for 30min, live animal), swimming(20min), immobilization(60min), treadmill exercise(20M/min, 30min) and hyperbaric oxygenation(3atm, 60min) given once a day for 5 days. Twenty-four hours after the last application the hearts were isolated and perfused with oxygenated Krebs-Henseleit buffer solution by Langendorff method. Ischemia-reperfusion injury was produced by 20 min-global ischemia followed by 30 min-reperfusion. Cardiac mechanical function, lactate dehydrogenase release, the induction of stree proteins were assayed and compared dbetween the stressed dand the control animals. RESULTS: Upon reperfusion after ischemia the recovery of cardiac function was significantly improved in the stressed animals. The percentile recovery at 30min of reperfusion was in a range from 55.3%(swimming) to 89.3%(treadmill exercise), which was significantly higher than that of the control hearts(38%). The functional recovery of the conventional heat shocked heart was 57.7%. In stressed animals, lactate dehydrogenase release, which indicates myocardial cell injury, was significantly reduced by 20 to 30% compared to that for the control. The expression of an inducible form of 70 series stress protein, SP72, which was assayed by immunoblotting method, was markedly increased by heat stimulation while the other stress modalities failed to increase, it. There were no appreciable inductions of SP73(constitutive form) and GRR78 in the stressed animals. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that the cardiac protection from the ischemia-reperfusion injury could be induced by the repetitive non-fatal stress stimulations and that SP70 family proteins may be partly involved in the cardioprotective effect produced by heat stimulation, but not play the essential roles in anti-ischemic effects produced by other stress modalities.
Animals ; Heart* ; Hot Temperature ; Humans ; Immunoblotting ; Ischemia ; L-Lactate Dehydrogenase ; Male ; Oxygen ; Rats* ; Reperfusion ; Reperfusion Injury ; Shock

No abstract available.
Humans ; Patient Education as Topic* ; Primary Health Care*

No abstract available.
Chest Pain* ; Thorax*

No abstract available.
Humans

BACKGROUND: There were a lot of problems in the health care system of Korea, which was divided into Western and Korean Traditional Medicine since 1951. In 1976 WHO published program of The promotion and development of traditional medicine. In 1977, Korean Medical Association(KMA) asked unification of health care system to government. But there was no progress because there were the lacks of mutual respect and understanding be-tween doctors of Western and Korean Traditional Medicine. As one health care group competed with the other, so KMA proposed the unification of health system again in 1997. The objectives of this research are to analyze attitude and opinions of western medical doctors on Korean Traditional Medicine and to analyze the opinions on the unification of medical care system in Korea. METHODS: A list of western medical doctor in Seoul and Incheon was obtained from Korean Medical Association. We sampled 937 doctors by stratified random sampling method. We sent them a postal questionnaire with a prepaid return envelope two times during March and April 1997. Of the 937 questionnaire, 266 replies were received. We analyzed the preference score related referral, Korean Traditional Medicine education and unification of medical care system We analyzed the data by Chisquare test, t-test, ANCOVA. RESULTS: This study shows that the western doctors have negative attitude on Korean Traditional Medicine(M=1K8, SD=5.2). They thought Korean Traditional Medicine was not reliable because it was not scientific(79.4%). Doctor, who didn't take oriental medical education, preferred unification of health care system, but it was not statistically significant. Those who experienced oriental medical education used oriental medical treatment more frequently(F=1.17, p=0.04). The more positive attitude they have about Korean Traditional Medicine, the more frequently they refereed the patient to oriental medical doctor(t =3.57, p =0.0004). CONCLUSIONS: Western medical doctors have a negative attitude on Korean Traditional Medicine. Doctors, who did not have oriental medical education, preferred unification of health care system, but it was not statistically significant. In summary, the lack of mutual respect and understanding between doctors of the Western and Korean Traditional Medicine prevent unification of medical care system.
Delivery of Health Care ; Education ; Education, Medical ; Humans ; Incheon ; Korea ; Medicine, Korean Traditional* ; Medicine, Traditional ; Referral and Consultation ; Seoul ; Surveys and Questionnaires

The origin of the periodic health examination can be traced to Horace Dobell, a British physician. The periodic health examination became popular in the early 20th century with many advocates such as the life insurance companies, private corporate industry, medical professionals, and the prepaid health care in North America. The contents and legitimacy of periodic health examination has changed markedly over time according to the objectives. There were various objectives of the periodic health examination according to the advocates: reduction of morbidity and mortality, scientific knowledge, economic savings, professional empowerment, the patient-physician relationship, satisfaction of patient demand, and efficient administration. Recent remarkable changes led by Canadian Task Force and U.S. Preventive Services Task Force were the emphasis of reduction of disease-specific morbidity and mortality, risk adjusted application, and the inclusion of counseling, immunization, and chemoprophylaxis. Health screening has become a promising medical practice in Korea. The main environment of the periodic health examination in Korea is fee-for-service system, the national medical insurance system, and Korean cultural background. However, the consensus of Korean government and society for controlling medical cost will limit the irrational prosperity of periodic health examination in near future.
English Abstract ; History of Medicine, 20th Cent. ; Patient Education/*history ; Preventive Health Services/*history