Characteristics and difference of respiratory diseases in Korean adults aged ≥40 years: A cross-sectional study.

Purpose: National big data pertaining to the status of common respiratory diseases is essential to devising appropriate policies to promote proper treatment and prevention of respiratory diseases amid the prolonged coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The aim of this study is to investigate the prevalence of common respiratory diseases and their association with sociodemographic characteristics, comorbidities, and medical history using 11 years (2008-2018) of the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) data, ultimately to present foundational data for policy decision making and disease prevention measures.

Methods: Among the participants of the KNHANES survey (2008-2018), 93 028 adults aged ≥40 years who underwent a lung function test were included in this cross-sectional study.

Efficacy of Acupuncture for Insomnia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Patients with insomnia frequently use acupuncture as an alternative treatment to pharmacotherapy globally. The aim of this paper is to assess the effect of acupuncture on insomnia. Seven medical databases, including MEDLINE, EMBASE, CENTRAL, CNKI, RISS, NDSL, and OASIS, were used to identify studies published through July 09, 2020.

Individual Variation and the Bilingual Advantage-Factors that Modulate the Effect of Bilingualism on Cognitive Control and Cognitive Reserve.

This editorial is an introduction to the special issue 'Individual variation and the bilingual advantage-factors that modulate the effect of bilingualism on cognitive control'[...

The Relationship Between Linguistic Ability, Multilingualism, and Dementia.

In a recent article of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, Hack et al. (2019) argue that linguistic ability rather than multilingualism is a significant predictor of dementia. In their longitudinal study, they investigated 325 religious sisters who were older than 75 years of age.

Relationship Between Working Memory and Speech-in-Noise Recognition in Young and Older Adult Listeners With Age-Appropriate Hearing.

Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between working memory (WM) capacity and speech recognition in noise in both a group of young adults and a group of older adults. Method Thirty-three older adults with a mean age of 71.0 (range: 60.

A Systematic Review on the Possible Relationship Between Bilingualism, Cognitive Decline, and the Onset of Dementia.

A systematic review was conducted to investigate whether bilingualism has a protective effect against cognitive decline in aging and can protect against dementia. We searched the Medline, ScienceDirect, Scopus, and ERIC databases with a cut-off date of 31 March, 2019, thereby following the guidelines of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) protocol. Our search resulted in 34 eligible studies.

Does the Bilingual Advantage in Cognitive Control Exist and If So, What Are Its Modulating Factors? A Systematic Review.

Recently, doubts were raised about the existence of the bilingual advantage in cognitive control. The aim of the present review was to investigate the bilingual advantage and its modulating factors. We searched the Medline, ScienceDirect, Scopus, and ERIC databases for all original data and reviewed studies on bilingualism and cognitive control, with a cut-off date of 31 October 2018, thereby following the guidelines of the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis (PRISMA) protocol.

A study of the effects of 8-week acupuncture treatment on patients with Parkinson's disease.

Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a degenerative brain disorder, resulting in decreased neural responses in the supplementary motor area, putamen, and thalamus. Previous research showed that acupuncture was able to improve the motor dysfunction. The primary aim of this study is to assess the efficacy of longer acupuncture treatment for preventing brain degeneration in patients with PD.

Schizophrenia and Sleep Disorders: An Introduction.

This editorial is an introduction to the special issue 'Schizophrenia and Sleep Disorders'.[…].

Pharmacological Treatment for Long-Term Patients with Schizophrenia and Its Effects on Sleep in Daily Clinical Practice: A Pilot Study.

Pharmacological treatment is still the key intervention in the disease management of long-term patients with schizophrenia; however, how it affects sleep and whether gender differences exist remains unclear. Forty-six long-term outpatients with schizophrenia entered the study. The numbers of antipsychotics, sleep medications, antidepressants, and anxiolytics were analyzed.

Decreased expression of serum- and glucocorticoid-inducible kinase 1 (SGK1) promotes alpha-synuclein increase related with down-regulation of dopaminergic cell in the Substantia Nigra of chronic MPTP-induced Parkinsonism mice and in SH-SY5Y cells.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a chronically progressive neurodegenerative disease, with its main pathological hallmarks being a dramatic loss of dopaminergic neurons predominantly in the Substantia Nigra (SN), and the formations of intracytoplasmic Lewy bodies and dystrophic neurites. Alpha-synuclein (α-syn), widely recognized as the most prominent element of the Lewy body, is one of the representative hallmarks in PD. However, the mechanisms behind the increased α-syn expression and aggregation have not yet been clarified.

Acupuncture as Add-On Treatment of the Positive, Negative, and Cognitive Symptoms of Patients with Schizophrenia: A Systematic Review.

Schizophrenia is a severe psychiatric disorder that has a large impact on patients' lives. In addition to Western medicine, the use of additional treatments, such as acupuncture, in treating the positive, negative, and cognitive symptoms is increasing. We conducted a systematic review on the use of acupuncture as an add-on treatment for patients with schizophrenia that are in regular care, with a special focus on the treatment of the often accompanying sleep disorders.

Gender Differences in Laser Acupuncture-Results of a Crossover Study with Green and Yellow Laser at the Ear Point Shenmen.

One of the most commonly used auricular acupuncture points selected for different pain treatment regimens is Shenmen. This point on the ear has been recognized as having a wide number of applications, as found by scientific investigation. Within this crossover study, the ear acupoint Shenmen was stimulated with two different kinds of laser (green, 532 nm and yellow, 589 nm) in 22 healthy volunteers (13 female, 9 male; mean age ± SD = 25.

Acupuncture treatment of a male patient suffering from long-term schizophrenia and sleep disorders.

Objective: To investigate the effectiveness of acupuncture in the treatment of chronic schizophrenia and co-morbid sleep disorders.

Methods: A 42-year-old German male outpatient, suffering from long-term schizophrenia and sleep disorders, entered the study. Acupuncture was used as a non-pharmacological intervention.

Acupuncture in the Treatment of a Female Patient Suffering from Chronic Schizophrenia and Sleep Disorders.

. The use of acupuncture in the treatment of sleep disorders in patients with chronic schizophrenia is investigated. .

Ipsilateral Putamen and Insula Activation by Both Left and Right GB34 Acupuncture Stimulation: An fMRI Study on Healthy Participants.

The modulatory effects on the brain during right versus left side acupuncture stimulation of the same acupuncture point have been a subject of controversy. For clarification of this important methodological issue, the present study was designed to compare the blood oxygen level-dependent responses of acupuncture stimulation on the right versus left (GB34). Twenty-two healthy subjects received right or left GB34 acupuncture.

Schizophrenia and depression: The relation between sleep quality and working memory.

Sleep is known to be markedly disturbed in patients with depression, but in patients with schizophrenia these problems are underestimated. This research aimed to determine if a relationship existed between sleep problems in patients with schizophrenia and with depression and their reduced working memory (WM) performance. Thirty outpatients with schizophrenia, 30 outpatients with depression, and 30 healthy control participants were enrolled in this study.

Sex differences in acupuncture effectiveness in animal models of Parkinson's disease: a systematic review.

Background: Many animal experimental studies have been performed to investigate the efficacy of acupuncture in Parkinson's disease (PD). Sex differences are a major issue in all diseases including PD. However, to our knowledge, there have been no reviews investigating sex differences on the effectiveness of acupuncture treatment for animal PD models.

Gender differences in the neural response to acupuncture: clinical implications.

Objective: To examine gender differences and similarities in the psychophysical and brain responses to acupuncture at GB34, a point that is frequently used to treat motor function issues in Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Methods: Functional MRI (fMRI) was used to measure brain activation in response to acupuncture at GB34 (on the right) in 19 healthy participants (9 male, 10 female). De qi sensations were rated to measure their psychophysical responses.