Effects of Combined Upper Limb Robotic Therapy in Patients With Tetraplegic Spinal Cord Injury

OBJECTIVE: To confirm the effects of combined upper limb robotic therapy (RT) as compared to conventional occupational therapy (OT) in tetraplegic spinal cord injury (SCI) patients and to suggest the optimized treatment guidelines of combined upper limb RT. METHODS: After subject recruitment and screening for eligibility, the baseline evaluation for outcome measures were performed. We evaluated the Graded and Redefined Assessment of Strength, Sensibility, and Prehension (GRASSP), the American Spinal Injury Association upper extremity motor score, grip and pinch strength, and the Spinal Cord Independence Measurement III (SCIM-III). In this study, the pre-tested participants were divided randomly into the RT and OT group. The utilized interventions included combined upper limb RT using ArmeoPower and Amadeo (RT group), or conventional OT (OT group) in addition to daily inpatient rehabilitation program. The participants underwent 40 minutes×3 sessions×5 weeks of interventions. RESULTS: A total of 30 tetraplegic SCI patients completed entire study program. After 5 weeks of intervention, both groups demonstrated increases in GRASSP-strength and SCIM-III. The manual muscle test scores of elbow flexion, elbow extension, 2-5th metacarpophalangeal extension, and SCIM-III subscores of bathing-upper, dressing-upper, and grooming as well as the GRASSP-qualitative prehension score were noted to have been significantly increased in the RT group as evaluated. The OT group showed improvements in the GRASSP-quantitative prehension score and some items in grip and pinch strength. There was no significant difference between the two groups in almost all measurements except for the SCIM-III bathing-upper subscore. CONCLUSION: Combined upper limb RT demonstrated beneficial effects on the upper limb motor function in patients with tetraplegic SCI, which were comparable with conventional OT.

The Associations between Alcohol Intake and HDL Cholesterol Subclasses in Korean Population

OBJECTIVE: Alcohol intake has been found to be associated with high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol. However, the association of alcohol intake with HDL cholesterol subclasses is unclear. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the association between alcohol intake and HDL cholesterol subclasses among Koreans. METHODS: This study included in 1,101 healthy Koreans (men: 765, women: 336) who underwent health check-up at two hospitals in the Korean Cancer Prevention Study 2 (KCPS2). The amounts of alcohol intake were classified into 4 groups: non-, light, moderate, and heavy drinkers (0, or =50.0 g/day, respectively). The proportions of HDL cholesterol subclasses were measured after subclasses were identified by 4-30% gradient gel electrophoresis. Multiple regression models were used to estimate regression coefficients after multivariate adjustments. RESULTS: The concentration of HDL, HDL2 and HDL3 significantly increased with increasing amount of alcohol intake. After adjusted for age, body mass index (BMI), waist and smoking status, alcohol consumers of <12.5 g/day, 12.5-49.9 g/day and more than 50.0g/day showed significant positive associations with HDL, HDL2 and HDL3 concentration when compared to non-alcohol drinkers in men. In particular, The strongest positive associations were obtained with HDL2b and HDL3c. CONCLUSION: HDL2 and HDL3 were significantly associated with increasing amount of alcohol intake in Koreans. In particular, HDL2b among HDL2 and HDL3c among HDL3 showed the strongest positive association with increasing amount of alcohol intake.

Clinical Report of Effects of Pre and Post-partum Thyroiditis (PPT) / 대한내분비학회지

BACKGROUND: Excessive iodine intake increases the occurrence of autoimmune thyroid disorders by enhancing immunogenecity of iodine-rich thyroglobulin, In Korea, most of postpartum women take a large amount of iodine-rich seaweed. Although the excessive iodine intake may affect the thyroid function, only a few reports were available concering iodine intake, especially on postpartum period. METHODS: A prospective study was undertaken in 146 of normal delivered postpartum women. Dietary intake and urinary excretion of iodine, serum T3, T4, TSH, anti-TPO Ab and anti-Tg Ab were measured before and 1, 6, 12 and 24 weeks after delivery. Iodine intake was analyzed by one-to-one interview using 24hr recall and food frequency questionnaire. RESULTS: 1. PPT was occurred in 6 (10.3%) postparturn women, It presented as hypothyroidism alone in 1 (16.7%), transient thyrotoxicosis followed by hypothyroidisrn in 3 (50.0%), and thyrotoxicosis alone in 2 (33.3%) of the follwed-up patients. 2. During pregnancy, no difference was found in age, serum T3, T4 and TSH between PPT and normal thyroid function group. 3. In PPT group, anti-TPO and anti-Tg Ab were significantly higher than those of normal thyroid function group during pregnancy, and their sensitivity for PPT was 40% and 33%, respectively. But there was no correlation between dietary iodine intake and the titer of thyroid auto-antibodies. 4. There was no correlation between pre and post-partum dietary iodine intake and occurrence of PPT. CONCLUSION: In Korea, the incidence of PPT was slightly higher than other nations. The sensitivity of thyroid auto-antibodies was too low to use for prediction of PPT. Pre and post-partum iodine intake had no effect on the occurrence of PPT and post-partum thyroid function.