Even though suicide ranks as the fourth cause of death and is causing a significant loss in Korea, it seems that the conventional notion regarding suicide as a feasible way of solving a troublesome life situation hinders early recognition and proper management of suicide. This article reviews suicide prevention strategies recommended based on robust experience and scientific understanding of the characteristics of the suicide problem. In the UK, a suicide prevention strategy was formed at the national level suggesting significant goals to reduce the rate of suicide. In the US, the Institute of Medicine study committee examined the state of the science base, gaps in knowledge, strategies for prevention, and research designs for the study of suicide. This recommendation includes more science-based, coherent and well-coordinated multidisciplinary approaches, and thus suggests important practical recommendations for a suicide prevention strategy of Korea. The author concludes that suicide should be defined as a treatable and even preventable medical condition. Constructing a national network of suicide research, data surveillance, developing tools for suicide prevention including early detection and safety planning, and comprehensive insurance coverage are recommended.
Cause of Death ; Depression ; Institute of Medicine (U.S.) ; Insurance Coverage ; Korea ; Research Design ; Suicide

Objective: The Clinical Data Interchange Standards Consortium (CDISC) proposed outcome measures for clinical trials on Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in the Therapeutic Area User Guide for AD (TAUG-AD). To investigate how well the clinical trials on AD registered in the ClinicalTrials.gov complied with the recommendations on outcome measures by the CDISC. Methods: We compared the outcome measures proposed in the TAUG-AD version 2.0.1 with those employed in the protocols of clinical trials on AD registered in ClinicalTrials.gov. Results: We analyzed 101 outcome measures from 305 protocols. The TAUG-AD listed ten scales for outcome measures of clinical trials on AD. The scales for cognition, activities of daily living, behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia, and global severity listed in TAUG-AD were most frequently employed in the clinical trials on AD. However, TAUG-AD did not include any scale on quality of life. Also, several scales such as Montreal Cognitive Assessment, Alzheimer’s Disease Cooperative Study–Activities of Daily Living, and Cohen- Mansfield Agitation Inventory not listed in the TAUG-AD were commonly employed in the clinical trials on AD and changed over time. Conclusion To properly standardize the data from clinical trials on AD, the gap between the TAUG-AD and the measures employed in real-world clinical trials should be filled.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate effects of the modified bent arm tornado exercise on weight shift movement and muscle activity of the impact section in the top of the drive swing. Methods: Twenty subjects were divided professional golfer group and amateur golf group. Subjects were required to complete following modified bent arm tornado exercise. The activity and weight shift of the gluteus group and lower extremity muscles between the two groups were measured and the Wilcoxon rank test was analyzed. Results: The distribution of weight shift in the professional golfer group was higher than that of the amateur golfer group (p < 0.05). During the golf downswing of the professional golfer group, muscle activation of the lower extremities was higher than that of the amateur golfer group (p < 0.05). The distribution of weight shift after exercise by the amateur golfer group was higher than before (p < 0.05). Conclusion We could confirm was increased significantly of muscle activity and weight shift by applying modified bent arm tornado exercise through this study. This result suggests that exercise is needed to improve weight shift.

An interdigital pilonidal sinus is considered a rare occupational disease related to individuals with short hair. We describe a case of a 44-year-old man who presented with a tender nodule with a purulent discharge in the fourth interdigital web space of the left foot. The biopsy specimen showed a sinus tract surrounded by keratin and squamous epithelium, and the track contained acute and chronic inflammatory cells. The skin lesion was improved with occlusion of the fistula by using 100% bichloracetic acid. We herein report on a rare case of a interdigital pilonidal sinus in the foot, and this occurred with no relation to the patietn's occupation.
Adult ; Biopsy ; Epithelium ; Fistula ; Foot ; Hair ; Humans ; Keratins ; Occupational Diseases ; Occupations ; Pilonidal Sinus ; Skin ; Track and Field

No abstract available.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Malformations of Cortical Development*

PURPOSE: Thyroid cancer is the most common malignancy in Korean females and can be treated with good prognosis. However, drugs to treat aggressive types of thyroid cancer such as poorly differentiated or anaplastic thyroid cancer have not yet been established. To that end, we analyzed the effects of berberine on human thyroid cancer cell lines to determine whether this compound is useful in the treatment of aggressive thyroid cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The two thyroid cancer cell lines 8505C and TPC1, under adherent culture conditions, were treated with berberine and analyzed for changes in cell growth, cell cycle duration, and degree of apoptosis. RESULTS: Following berberine treatment, both cell lines showed a dose-dependent reduction in growth rate. 8505C cells showed significantly increased levels of apoptosis following berberine treatment, whereas TPC1 cells showed cell cycle arrest at the G0/G1 phase. Immunobloting of p-27 expression following berberine treatment showed that berberine induced a little up-regulation of p-27 in 8505c cells but relatively high up-regulation of p-27 in TPC1 cells. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that berberine treatment of thyroid cancer can inhibit proliferation through apoptosis and/or cell cycle arrest. Thus, berberine may be a novel anticancer drug for the treatment of poorly differentiated or anaplastic thyroid cancer.
Antineoplastic Agents/*pharmacology ; Apoptosis/drug effects ; Berberine/*pharmacology ; Cell Cycle/drug effects ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation/drug effects ; Humans ; Thyroid Neoplasms/*metabolism

Bee sting therapy is sometimes used for the treatment of chronic recalcitrant neuralgia and arthralgia and chronic eczema in traditional Korean herbal medicine. The stings of many insects are withdrawn after stinging. However, in certain cases, retained sting materials at the treatment site may induce granulomatous inflammation. A 76-year-old man presented with an erythematous plaque containing a central ulcer and granulation tissue after he had undergone bee sting therapy for a palpable subcutaneous nodule in the right axilla area and eczema on the back. The biopsy specimen showed a granulomatous response marked by histiocytes and giant cells surrounding foreign material. Histologic examination of the subcutaneous nodule in the right axilla showed mature fat cells consistent with a lipoma. Thus, we report a rare case of a foreign body granuloma with skin necrosis occurring after bee sting therapy.
Adipocytes ; Aged ; Arthralgia ; Axilla ; Bees ; Biopsy ; Bites and Stings ; Eczema ; Foreign Bodies ; Giant Cells ; Granulation Tissue ; Granuloma, Foreign-Body ; Herbal Medicine ; Histiocytes ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Insects ; Lipoma ; Necrosis ; Neuralgia ; Skin ; Ulcer

Objective: We investigated the effects of fusidic acid (FA) on human cervical, thyroid, and breast carcinoma cell lines to determine the potential usefulness of FA in cancer treatment. Methods: Six cancer cell lines (cervical cancer: Caski, HeLa; thyroid cancer: 8505C, TPC1; and breast cancer: MCF-7, MDA-MB-231) were treated with FA. Furthermore the changes in cell growth, cell cycle duration, and extent of apoptosis were analyzed. Results: After FA treatment, the cancer cells showed a decrease in growth rate. In the cell death assay, the cell populations were similar in each cell type after treatment with FA, indicating that growth inhibition by FA was not related to the induction of apoptosis. FA induced cell cycle arrest at a dose that inhibited growth rate, which varied in different cell types. G0/G1 phase arrest occurs in breast cancer, S phase arrest in 8505C thyroid cancer, and G2/M phase arrest in cervical cancer. These results indicate that FA reduces growth rates by inducing cell cycle arrest. Conclusion FA treatment can interfere with cell proliferation by inducing cell cycle arrest in human cervical, thyroid, and breast carcinoma cell lines. Thus, FA can be useful in treating human cervical, thyroid, and breast carcinomas.

Radiation therapy is one of the cardial therapeutic modality on breast cancer. Three decades ago, the heart was considered to be radioresistant, but now it is generally recognized that the heart is also radiosensitive. The most common clinical syndromes after irradiation are pericarditis in acute and chronic forms, cardiomyopathy, valvular disease and, to a lesser degree, complete atrioventricular block. However, lesions of coronary vessels had been considered exceptionally rare and even questionable. And then there have been a few case reports for acute myocardial infartion after irradiation for left sided breast cancer and it may be considered that radiation therpy can injure endothelium of coronary artery and cause ischemic coronary artery disease. We report the case of a 38 years old women who developed acute anterior wall myocardial infarction after irradiation for left sided breast cancer.
Adult ; Anterior Wall Myocardial Infarction ; Atrioventricular Block ; Breast Neoplasms* ; Breast* ; Cardiomyopathies ; Coronary Artery Disease ; Coronary Vessels ; Endothelium ; Female ; Heart ; Humans ; Myocardial Infarction* ; Pericarditis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic autoimmune disorder which can affect all of the synovial joints including the cervical spine. Cervical involvement typically begins early in the disease process and shows relatively slow progression. Fractures of the odontoid process are mainly noted after a major trauma to the cervical spine. A case of a 77-year-old woman with paresthesia of the extremities caused by spontaneous atraumatic fracture of the odontoid process, which was revealed as a manifestation of RA, is presented in this report.
Aged ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid* ; Extremities ; Female ; Fractures, Spontaneous ; Humans ; Joints ; Odontoid Process* ; Paresthesia ; Spine