Telemedicine is a health care system that contains new-media techniques and medical special knowledge, using information techniques such as audio, moving picture, and communication provided to patients in distant areas with medical service such as diagnosis, consultation, education. Especially during medical transportation, it is possible that transferred patient can be rapidly taken care of by telemedicine. Our study reports 65 cases between a doctor in a hospital on ground and a patient during medical evacuation by telephone, e-mail and facsimile. Sixteen of 65 cases (25%) were immediately transferred to a hospital by sailing or helicopter. Other 49 cases were successfully taken care of by telemedicine.Telemedicine is economic and reasonable solving medical problems that may occur during medical evacuation where access to medical facilities is impossible.
Aircraft ; Delivery of Health Care ; Diagnosis ; Education ; Electronic Mail ; Humans ; Telemedicine* ; Telephone ; Transportation

BACKGROUND: Aminoglycosides that are widely used in the treatment of Gram (-)-infected diseases have side effects such as ototoxicity and nephrotoxicity. These side effects are closely related to oxidative stress. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of antioxidants on the aminoglycoside-induced cochlear cell damage. METHODS: HEI-OC1 was used as an experimental cell line. The number of cells was counted after administration of streptomycin or gentamicin plus Vitamin E, taurine, or one of the components of green tea (EGCG, EGC, ECG, EC) under cell proliferating conditions (33oC). RESULTS: Streptomycin and gentamicin decreased the number of HEI-OC1 cells in a dose dependent manner. Aminoglycoside-induced cell death was recovered by the addition of Vitamin E, taurine, or green tea. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that Vitamin E, taurine, or green tea components block aminoglycoside-induced ototoxicity via the suppression of the increased production of reactive oxygen species.
Aminoglycosides ; Antioxidants* ; Cell Death ; Cell Line ; Electrocardiography ; Gentamicins ; Oxidative Stress ; Reactive Oxygen Species ; Streptomycin ; Taurine ; Tea ; Vitamin E ; Vitamins

BACKGROUND: The present study was undertaken to know health-related lifestyles of Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) pilots and to investigate prevalence of obesity of them.METHODS: 1284 KAF pilots were checked their height, weight, and body composition (% body fat). We also tried questionnaires on their health-related lifestyles which included the effort to be healthy, whether they know weight training is beneficial to G-tolerance, exercise habit and smoking history. RESULTS: Pilots' attitude for health promotion was relatively passive. Many of them know that weight training is good for their G-tolerance, but only 8.1% of the pilots carried out that training. They engaged much more in aerobic training, and also fighter pilots are less participated in weight training than transport pilots. The prevalence of obesity (29.4%) determined by bioelectrical impedance analysis was much higher than that assessed on the basis of height and weight (BMI, body mass index). It is suggested that many pilots who were normal in BMI have abdominal or visceral obesity. CONCLUSION: The health promotion program and physical conditioning program related to increasing G tolerance of KAF pilots flying high-performance aircraft are very important. These programs must be organized and progressed with flight surgeon and Aeromedical center in Chung-ju as leaders.
Aircraft ; Body Composition ; Chungcheongbuk-do ; Diptera ; Electric Impedance ; Health Promotion ; Life Style* ; Obesity ; Obesity, Abdominal ; Prevalence ; Republic of Korea ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Surveys and Questionnaires

BACKGROUND: Although hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) -100% oxygen at two to three times the atmospheric pressure at sea level-has a number of beneficial biochemical, cellular, and physiologic effects, it is intrinsically associated with the potential for producing mild to severe toxic effects. The contribution of the cellular adhesion molecules and macrophages in the renal oxygen toxicity is not well understood. Thus, we have investigated the toxic effect of HBO expressed by the analysis of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and infiltration of macrophages in rat kidney. METHODS: Male Sprague-Dawley rats weighing about 250 g were exposed to HBO at 3 ATA of 100% O2 for 4 hours. The expression of ICAM-1 and infiltration of CD68-positive macrophages were serially observed by immunohistochemical analysis. RESULTS: At 3 days after HBO exposure, CD68-positive macrophage counts were increased in glomeruli and tubulointerstitium of kidney. The expression of ICAM-1 was enhanced 1 day after HBO exposure and increased more for 3 days. There was a significant correlation between ICAM-1 expression and macrophage accumulation in the glomeruli. At 7 days after HBO, those alterations recovered to normal status. CONCLUSION: The 4-hour HBO exposure induced ICAM-1 expression and macrophage accumulation in the kidney and these change lasted for 3 days. Therefore, sustained activation of macrophages in renal oxygen toxicity may occur after prolonged (more than 4 hours) or repetitive exposures to HBO.
Animals ; Atmospheric Pressure ; Humans ; Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1* ; Kidney* ; Macrophages ; Male ; Oxygen* ; Rats* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

BACKGROUND: With increasing number of female pilots who fly high-performance aircraft, the gender specific factors have become one of the most important aeromedical considerations. It has been raised that the changes of serum female hormone levels by menstrual cycle may affect vasoregulation and female G-tolerance ultimately. However, the exact relationship between serum female hormone levels and G-tolerance is still unknown. Moreover, well-controlled subjects without taking oral contraceptives are needed to examine the possible effect of menstrual cycle on female G-tolerance. The purpose of this study was to determine how female hormones and menstrual cycle affect female relaxed G-tolerance. METHODS: Eight female subjects were studied to test their relaxed G-tolerance. Seven out of 8 subjects had regular menstrual cycle during the study period. Each subject were exposed to human centrifuge once a week for 4 weeks (one complete menstrual cycle) and blood samplings were performed twice at 2nd and 4th week just before exposure to human centrifuge. The profile of centrifuge training consisted of gradual-onset run (0.1 G/sec) acceleration to the visual endpoint. RESULTS: The changes of 4 different serum female hormone levels failed to show any trend related to relaxed G-tolerance including estrogen. There was no significant difference in relaxed G-tolerance in any menstrual cycle time points. CONCLUSION: We conclude that the changes of female hormone levels and the menstrual cycle have no effect on female relaxed G-tolerance.
Acceleration ; Aircraft ; Contraceptives, Oral ; Diptera ; Estrogens ; Female* ; Humans ; Menstrual Cycle*

BACKGROUND: Infections and vascular disorders are the two most widely accepted probable causes of sudden hearing loss. Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) is major pro-inflammatory cytokine that is thought to be important in the pathogenesis of sudden deafness. However, the functions of genetic polymorphism in this cytokine have not been throughly examined in the context of sudden deafness pathology. In an effort to discover polymorphism in genes whose variants have been implicated in sudden deafness phenotypes, we examined the genetic effects of TNF-alpha polymorphisms in Koreans with sudden deafness. METHODS: Two common single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in TNF-alpha gene were genotyped in a Korean sudden deafness. Ninety nine patients with sudden deafness (45 males and 54 females) were selected from Keimyung University Dongsan Medical Center. The control subjects consisted of healthy 285 males and 319 females. RESULTS: Human genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood sample. The SNP at position -863 C/A and -857 C/T of TNF-alpha promoter were analyzed by PCR and pyrosequencing. Genotype distribution and allele frquencies in subjects were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (p>0.05). No significant association was found between TNF-alpha -863 C/A and -857 C/T polymorphism and sudden deafness. We examined whether the relation between TNF-alpha polymorphism and sudden deafness varied according to tinnitus. Statistical analysis of TNF-alpha polymorphism at -857 C/T showed that there was a significant difference between SD without tinnitus and the control in both genotype distribution (p<0.05) and allele frequency [OR (95% CI)=2.63 (1.29-5.34)], but not between SD with tinnitus. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest TNF-alpha polymorphisms at -863C/A, -857 C/T are likely to play a role in SD.
Alleles ; DNA ; Female ; Gene Frequency ; Genotype ; Hearing Loss, Sudden* ; Humans ; Male ; Pathology ; Phenotype ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide* ; Tinnitus ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha*

BACKGROUND: Heterophoria has been considered a disqualifying condition to flying performance because heterophoria, when exposed to high altitude hypoxia, becomes heterotropia causing double vision. However, there has been no actual evidence supporting this assumption. We investigated the binocular fusional ability and symptoms in the subjects having heterophorias upon exposure to acute hypobaric hypoxia. METHODS: 15 subjects having heterophorias and 7 normal controls were included. All the subjects had exophoria and 1 subject had exophoria and hyperphoria. High altitude hypobaric hypoxic condition was simulated in a decompression chamber. Using Worth 4 dot test we measured the binocular fusional ability. To analyze the quality of binocular vision, we measured the stereoscopic visual acuity. By comparing the data between subjects and controls, we evaluated the binocular vision and fusional ability of subjects having heterophorias. RESULTS: All the subjects and controls showed no disruption of binocular fusion on Worth 4 dot test upon exposure to hypoxia. On the whole, 7 of 15 subjects and 3 of 7 controls showed decreased level of stereopsis without significant differences between the two groups. There were no differences in binocular vision including fusional ability and stereopsis between the subjects and the controls in acute hypoxic condition. CONCLUSION: The subjects with heterophorias had stable binocular fusional ability resistant to acute hypobaric hypoxia, which showed no difference from the normal controls. Conclusively, we could not find any disadvantage in heterophoric persons with regard to flying performance. Visual standards for aviation personnel regarding heterophorias also need to be more lenient.
Altitude ; Anoxia* ; Aviation ; Decompression ; Depth Perception ; Diplopia ; Diptera ; Exotropia ; Humans ; Telescopes* ; Vision, Binocular ; Visual Acuity

This study was conducted to identify the factors for serum cholesterol level among Korean Air Force pilots. We obtained risk factors for 408 pilots examined during period from January 1996 through March 1997. The associations between total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, triglyceride, HDL-cholesterol and age, body mass Index(BMI), smoking, drinking, blood pressure, flight time and fat intake were analyzed. The mean serum total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, and triglyceride levels were 161.8+/-31.0 mg/dl, 475+/-11.0 mg/dl, 93.1+/-30.2 mg/dl, and 106.5+/-61.3 mg/dl respectively. Possible risk factors were total flight time, BMI, smoking, drinking, exercise, flight, and fighter or not. Total flight time and BMI were statistically significant factors In serum cholesterol level while controlling for the effect of the remaining factors. The longer the total flight time, the higher the level of serum total cholesterol. Total flight time, BMI, and drinking amount were statistically significant factors in serum HDL-cholesterol while controlling for the effect of the remaining factors. The higher the BIM, the lower the level of HDL-cholesterol. BMI was a statistically significant factor in seurm LDL-cholesterol while controlling for the effect of remaining factors. Total flight time, BIM, and flight were statistically significant factors in serum triglyceride while controlling for the effect of the remaining factors. Conclusively, BIM was a only significant factor in all four lipid levels, and total flight time took an affect to total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, and triglyceride levels.
Blood Pressure ; Cholesterol ; Drinking ; Risk Factors ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Triglycerides

Experiments, using CO intoxicated male Sprague-Dawley rats, were carried out (1) to see the change of the oxygen tree radical reaction according to partial pressure of oxygen, and (2) to assess the effectiveness of superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, malondialdehyde (MDA), and ethane as a parameter of the reaction. Ethane was measured in exhaled breath anti SOD activity and MDA In brain tissue. Experimental group consist of (1) Control group (=breathing with air[ambient air]), (2) HBO group (=exposed to hyperbaric oxygen(HBO, 3ATA, l00%] after all breath), (3) CO-Air group (=exposed to CO [3,970 ppm] after air breath followed by air breath), (4) CO-HBO group (=exposed to CO after air breath followed by HBO treatment), and (5) CO group (=exposed to CO after air breath, only for SOD activity & MDA measuring). Amount of ethane exhaled during 30 minutes of HBO treatment after GO exposure was significantly greater than those of all the other groups (p-value= .002) , suggesting more oxygen free radical reaction is taken place in CO intoxicated rats treated with higher partial pressure of oxygen. The long-term follow-up studies are required to differentiate the adverse effects of HBO treatment from the sequelae of CO poisoning itself, and to develop the preventive measures for the adverse effect of HBO treatment. And there was no significnat difference among the five groups in SOD activity and MDA measuring (p-value>.05). This result may be accounted for the rapid recovery of SOD activity and the metabolic degradation and excretion of MDA in a short time. In conclusion, measurement of ethane in exhaled breath is more effective than those of SOD activity and MDA as a parameter to assess the oxygen free radical reaction produced by HBO treatment for CO poisoned rats as a whole
Animals ; Brain ; Carbon Monoxide* ; Carbon* ; Ethane ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Malondialdehyde ; Oxygen* ; Partial Pressure* ; Poisoning ; Rats* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Superoxide Dismutase

It Is known that free radical is produced by many environmental factors and leads to a variety of pathophysiological lesions often resulting in metabolic Impairment and cell death. Many researches have been performed to limit production of the tree radical. The superoxide dismutase (SOD) has been known to cure of disease relevant to oxygen poisoning. The bis-carboxylethylgemanium sesquioxide (Ge-132) has been suggested to show scavenging activity to precent oxygen damage from lesions. In this study, bioeffects of SOD and Ge-132 for dismutation and scavenging ol the harmful free radical were investigated in Sprague-Dawely rats exposed to the hyperbaric oxygen (HBO 100% oxygen) and hyperbaric ambient air (HAA) under 3.0 atmospheres absolute (ATA) for 180 minutes. When rats were treated with SOD alone anti SOD plus Ge-132 after exposed to HBO, concentrations of potassium and sodium tended to significantly decrease to those in control at levels of p<0.05 and p<0.01, respectively. In contrast, when rats were treated with the SOD only and the SOD only Ge-132 after HBO exposure, creatine phosphokinase significantly increased to the normal level in control. To see whether the SOD anti SOD plus Ge-132 could heal lesions due 4o the tree radicals, rats were exposed to the HBO environment and treated with the SOD alone and SOD plus Ge-132 and then those lung tissues were histopathologically observed using transmission electron microscope (TEM). Lung In exposure to the HAA environment was congested and its alveolar sac was filled with several erythrocytes. Lung to the HBO environment was filled with more erythrocytes than in the HAA. In addition, there were severe lesions of cellular necrosis, hemorrhage, infiltration of inflammatory leucocytes. When rats in exposure to HBO were treated with SOD alone or SOD plus Ge-132, no pathological changes in the lung were observed in comparison with control group. These data indicated that the Ge-132 may synergistically Influence the SOD to remove the tree radicals harmful to tissue.
Animals ; Atmosphere ; Cell Death ; Creatine Kinase ; Erythrocytes ; Estrogens, Conjugated (USP) ; Hemorrhage ; Lung ; Necrosis ; Oxygen* ; Poisoning ; Potassium ; Rats* ; Sodium ; Superoxide Dismutase