BACKGROUND: Hypertension is one of the common diseases which family physicians encounter to manage. Various research proved that appropriate aerobic exercise had effect on lowering blood pressure efficiently. This study was to find out the status of exercise, the change of exercise according to time and its predicting factors in hypertensive patients. METHODS: A total of 193 of the followed-up hypertensive patients of family physicians in Seoul and kyoungkido from May 11, 2001 to June 10, 2001 were interviewed by doctor according to the previously designed structured questionnaire. RESULTS: Eighty two patients (42.57) were male and mean and was 57.4 +/- 9.9 fears. Using Kaplan-Meier's method, 8% of non-exercise group (N= 115) in diagnosing hypertension started exercise after 1 fear and 40%, after 5 years. Otherwise, 5% of exercise group(N=78) stopped exercise after 1 year and 30%, after 5 years. The characteristics of 5 exercise groups according to sex, age, level of education and adequacy of exercise showed significant difference. In average blood pressure, lately started group showed the lowest (137/84 mmHg) and non-exercise group, the highest (146/91 mmHg) In the degree of recommendation. sporadic group showed the highest and non-exercise group, the lowest which showed significant difference (p =0.0024) . CONCLUSION: I conclude that lately started group among non-exercise group and continuous exercise group were mainly affected by recommendation to exercise of physician. As well as exercise, other nonpharmacologic treatment should be promoted by physician as an important strategy for treatment of hypertension.
Blood Pressure ; Education ; Exercise ; Gyeonggi-do ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Male ; Physicians, Family* ; Seoul ; Surveys and Questionnaires

The frequency of HLA-B27 antigen in 24 patients with psoriasis vulgaris and 11 patients with psoriatic arthritis were examined using the standard micro-lympho- cytotoxicity technique. There was a high frequency of HLA-B27 in psoriatic spondylitis with or without peripheral arthritis (83.3%) compared to controls (4.7%) and the relative risk of HLA-B27 for developing psoriatic spondylitis was 82.5% which indicates a strong association between HLA-B27 and psoriatic spondylitis in Korean populations. However, there was no stastical significance observed in the groups of patients with peripheral arthritis alone or psoriasis vulgaris in regard to the frequency of HLA-B27.
Arthritis ; Arthritis, Psoriatic ; HLA-B27 Antigen ; Humans ; Psoriasis* ; Spondylitis

OBJECTIVE: To examine the synergistic effects of both computer-assisted cognitive rehabilitation (CACR) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on cognitive function in patients with stroke. METHODS: The current double-blind, sham-controlled study enrolled a total of 11 patients who were newly diagnosed with stroke. The patients of the tDCS group (n=6) completed sessions of the Korean computer-assisted cognitive rehabilitation program five times a week for 30 minutes a session during a mean period of 18.5 days concomitantly with the anodal tDCS over the bilateral prefrontal cortex combined with the CACR. The patients of the control group (n=5) also completed sessions of the sham stimulation during a mean period of 17.8 days. Anodal tDCS over bilateral prefrontal cortex (F3 and F4 in 10-20 EEG system) was delivered for 30 minutes at an intensity of 2 mA. Cathode electrodes were applied to the non-dominant arm. All the patients were evaluated using the Seoul Computerized Neuropsychological Test (SCNT) and the Korean Mini-Mental State Examination. RESULTS: Mann-Whitney U test revealed a significant difference between the two groups. The patients of the tDCS group achieved a significant improvement in the post/pre ratio of auditory continuous performance test and visual continuous performance test on the SCNT items. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that the concomitant use of the tDCS with CACR to the prefrontal cortex may provide additional beneficial effects in improving the cognitive dysfunction for patients with stroke.
Arm ; Electrodes ; Electroencephalography ; Humans ; Neuropsychological Tests ; Pilot Projects* ; Prefrontal Cortex* ; Rehabilitation* ; Seoul ; Stroke*

No abstract available.
Leukemia*

objective: This study was conducted to assess effects of intramuscular stimulation (IMS) in comparison with that of dry needling and intramuscular electrical stimulation (IMES) in the patients with myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) of upper trapezius. METHOD: Thirty patients with MPS were assigned randomly to three groups, such as dry needling group (n=10), IMES group (n=10), and IMS group (n=10). In dry needling group, dry needling was applied to the trigger point of upper trapezius muscle. In IMES group, IMES was applied to the trigger point of upper trapezius muscle. In IMS group, IMS was applied to the trigger point of upper trapezius and parcervical muscles. Treatment were done three times a week for 2 weeks. Effects were assessed on 3rd day, 7th day and 14th day after treatment by visual analogue scale (VAS), McGill pain questionnaire (MPQ), and passive range of motion (PROM) of cervical spine. RESULTS: Significant changes of VAS and PROM were noticed in IMS group, compared with other groups. No significant difference of MPQ was noticed in IMS group, compared with other groups. CONCLUSION: IMS may be more effective treatment modality than dry needling and IMES in patients with MPS of upper trapezius muscle.
Electric Stimulation ; Humans ; Muscles ; Myofascial Pain Syndromes* ; Pain Measurement ; Range of Motion, Articular ; Spine ; Superficial Back Muscles* ; Trigger Points

We found that one phrase should be corrected.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate neuroradiological and neurophysiological characteristics of patients with dyskinetic cerebral palsy (CP), by using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), voxel-based morphometry (VBM), diffusion tensor tractography (DTT), and motor evoked potential (MEP). METHODS: Twenty-three patients with dyskinetic CP (13 males, 10 females; mean age 34 years, range 16-50 years) were participated in this study. Functional evaluation was assessed by the Gross Motor Functional Classification System (GMFCS) and Barry-Albright Dystonia Scale (BADS). Brain imaging was performed on 3.0 Tesla MRI, and volume change of the grey matter was assessed using VBM. The corticospinal tract (CST) and superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF) were analyzed by DTT. MEPs were recorded in the first dorsal interossei, the biceps brachii and the deltoid muscles. RESULTS: Mean BADS was 16.4+/-5.0 in ambulatory group (GMFCS levels I, II, and III; n=11) and 21.3+/-3.9 in non-ambulatory group (GMFCS levels IV and V; n=12). Twelve patients showed normal MRI findings, and eleven patients showed abnormal MRI findings (grade I, n=5; grade II, n=2; grade III, n=4). About half of patients with dyskinetic CP showed putamen and thalamus lesions on MRI. Mean BADS was 20.3+/-5.7 in normal MRI group and 17.5+/-4.0 in abnormal MRI group. VBM showed reduced volume of the hippocampus and parahippocampal gyrus. In DTT, no abnormality was observed in CST, but not in SLF. In MEPs, most patients showed normal central motor conduction time. CONCLUSION: These results support that extrapyramidal tract, related with basal ganglia circuitry, may be responsible for the pathophysiology of dyskinetic CP rather than CST abnormality.
Basal Ganglia ; Cerebral Palsy* ; Classification ; Deltoid Muscle ; Diffusion ; Diffusion Tensor Imaging ; Dystonia ; Evoked Potentials, Motor ; Extrapyramidal Tracts ; Female ; Hippocampus ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Neuroimaging ; Parahippocampal Gyrus ; Putamen ; Pyramidal Tracts ; Thalamus

OBJECTIVE: To investigate neuroradiological and neurophysiological characteristics of patients with dyskinetic cerebral palsy (CP), by using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), voxel-based morphometry (VBM), diffusion tensor tractography (DTT), and motor evoked potential (MEP). METHODS: Twenty-three patients with dyskinetic CP (13 males, 10 females; mean age 34 years, range 16-50 years) were participated in this study. Functional evaluation was assessed by the Gross Motor Functional Classification System (GMFCS) and Barry-Albright Dystonia Scale (BADS). Brain imaging was performed on 3.0 Tesla MRI, and volume change of the grey matter was assessed using VBM. The corticospinal tract (CST) and superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF) were analyzed by DTT. MEPs were recorded in the first dorsal interossei, the biceps brachii and the deltoid muscles. RESULTS: Mean BADS was 16.4+/-5.0 in ambulatory group (GMFCS levels I, II, and III; n=11) and 21.3+/-3.9 in non-ambulatory group (GMFCS levels IV and V; n=12). Twelve patients showed normal MRI findings, and eleven patients showed abnormal MRI findings (grade I, n=5; grade II, n=2; grade III, n=4). About half of patients with dyskinetic CP showed putamen and thalamus lesions on MRI. Mean BADS was 20.3+/-5.7 in normal MRI group and 17.5+/-4.0 in abnormal MRI group. VBM showed reduced volume of the hippocampus and parahippocampal gyrus. In DTT, no abnormality was observed in CST, but not in SLF. In MEPs, most patients showed normal central motor conduction time. CONCLUSION: These results support that extrapyramidal tract, related with basal ganglia circuitry, may be responsible for the pathophysiology of dyskinetic CP rather than CST abnormality.
Basal Ganglia ; Cerebral Palsy* ; Classification ; Deltoid Muscle ; Diffusion ; Diffusion Tensor Imaging ; Dystonia ; Evoked Potentials, Motor ; Extrapyramidal Tracts ; Female ; Hippocampus ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Neuroimaging ; Parahippocampal Gyrus ; Putamen ; Pyramidal Tracts ; Thalamus

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of peripheral nerve stretching on motor evoked potentials (MEP) as a method of facilitation. METHODS: Twenty three normal healthy volunteers were enrolled. Transcranial magnetic stimu lation (TMS) was applied to the contralateral scalp at 7 cm lateral to Cz using 90 cm round coil. Intensity of stimulation was adjusted to 90% of maximal stimulation intensity. Recording was done on the abductor pollicis brevis muscle in three different conditions; firstly resting state, secondly voluntary contraction of abductor pollicis brevis muscle, and lastly with stretching of median nerve. The onset latency and amplitude were obtained and compared between three conditions. RESULT: The amplitude of MEP was significantly increased in the condition with muscle contraction and peripheal nerve stretching compared with resting state. The latency was shortened in the condition with muscle contraction with statistical significance and with peripheral nerve stretching without significance. CONCLUSION: We concluded that stretching of peripheral nerve can be used as a method of facilitation of MEP. This method is considered to be useful especially for the patients with motor paralysis or poor cooperarion for voluntary contraction.
Evoked Potentials, Motor* ; Healthy Volunteers ; Humans ; Median Nerve ; Muscle Contraction ; Nerve Expansion ; Paralysis ; Peripheral Nerves* ; Scalp ; Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

Plasmodium vivax malaria re-emerged in South Korea in 1993, and epidemics continue since then. We examined genetic variation in the region encompassing the apical membrane antigen-1 (PvAMA-1) of the parasites by DNA sequencing of the 22 re-emerging P. vivax isolates. The genotype of the PvAMA-1, which was based on sequence data previously reported for the polymorphic regions, showed that two haplotypes were present at one polymorphic site. Compared with reported data, the two types, SKOR type I and type II, were similar to Chinese CH-10A and CH-05A isolates, respectively. Thus, the present study showed that two genotypes of AMA-1 genes coexist in the re-emerging Korean P. vivax.
Adult ; Aged ; Amino Acid Sequence ; Animals ; *Antigens, Protozoan ; Base Sequence ; Child ; Female ; Genotype ; Human ; Korea ; Malaria, Vivax/*genetics ; Male ; Membrane Proteins/chemistry/*genetics ; Middle Aged ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Polymorphism (Genetics) ; Protozoan Proteins/chemistry/*genetics ; Support, Non-U.S. Gov't