Background: According to Mao Zedong’s orders, the Communist Party of China made efforts to perform the system of ‘barefoot doctors’ even during the political mayhem of the Cultural Revolution. This pioneering medical system made a great contribution to medical services for rural communities and the public health system from 1960s to 1970s. Attracting new attention in the beginning of the 21st century, the barefoot doctor system influenced the formation of the Chinese medical system of unique structure. 

Methods: Utilizing and analyzing the currently existing research outcomes on ‘barefoot doctors’, we investigated the two overlooked characteristics in the Chinese medical system originated from the barefoot doctor system; i) why the barefoot doctor system attracts new attention in the 21^st century and ii) why and how Western and Chinese medicine could systematically be combined, which is the unique phenomenon in the world.

Results: The barefoot doctor system satisfied the Chinese government’s political aims and realistic request under the banner of Cultural Revolution simultaneously. In reality, this system gratified prevention-oriented modernized public health policy, reducing serious gap of medical services between cities and rural areas. Yet, this leading system was abolished in 1980s without timely use.

Conclusion: In the present, the barefoot doctor system is holding limelight again as a successful precedent to intensify preventive public health service all over China, especially for underdeveloped areas. Moreover, Chinese medicine-friendly stance to utilize ‘doctors of Chinese medicine’, absolute majority over those of Western medicine, created the uniqueness of integrative medicine.

Background: This study aimed to investigate the trend of physical activity and daily sports participation in the Korean aged population through the review of ‘Research on Public Daily Sports Participation’ published by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. The main purpose was to suggest the best health and sports policy for the future.

Methods: The result of the research conducted by the government was published 13 times in total from 1989 to 2015. The aged were defined as people in their 60s and 70s since 2006. Based on the research published 7 times from 2006 to 2015, this study analyzed the changes and the trend recognition of health status, physical activities, sports activity effects and environment in the aged population in South Korea.

Results: Majority of the aged population was found to hardly recognize their health status, but positively aware of physical and sports activity effect, particularly that the sports facility environment has been improving. Therefore, it is encouraged to set up elderly-friendly routine sports environment to motivate their participation and consequently establish healthy exercise culture.

Conclusion: This study has great significance as it suggests the direction of future health and sports policy by analyzing the trend of previous physical activities and daily sports participation among the aged population based on the government-published research.

 Background: Recently, there has been  a trend that cigarette smoking rate in Asian and Africa adults has increased while the age group to start smoking has decreased gradually. This study aimed to investigate the relationships between lifetime smoking and hypertension, diabetes, obesity, waist measure, fasting blood pressure and food consumption, in order to look into health status depending on smoking status in Koreans.

Methods: Totally, 1075 men and 697 women with no disease participated in this study, in which one-way ANOVA was conducted by using SPSS version 18.0 for statistical process. The level of statistical significance was 0.05.

Results: As a result of analysis on relationship between lifetime smoking and hypertension, obesity and diabetes, statistically significant differences were revealed.

Lifetime smoking was found to be significantly associated with increased waist measure, higher level of fasting blood sugar, and more ingestion of nutrients (carbohydrate, fat, and protein).

Conclusion: Increased amount of lifetime cigarette smoking was shown to negatively influence various health factors, which might become to be a drive to cause diseases. Therefore, method to improve health factors must be sought for via education and campaign to control an amount of cigarette smoking in Korean adults.

Background: The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of blueberry supplementation on exercise performance time, inflammation markers, energy substrates, insulin, and TAS levels during two periods: non-supplemented period and supplemented period.

Methods: Eight young active participants were recruited from the Department of Physical Education at some universities in Busan City, Republic of Korea. The test period was divided into two Sections: non-supplemented period and supplemented period. Vo2 max and exercise performance time of participants were measured, with or without blueberry supplementation, with a portable gas analyzer and ECG, respectively.

Results: Vo2 max and exercise performance time were increased in the blueberry supplementation period. IL-6 and CRP levels were significantly lowered in blueberry supplementation period following exercise.

Conclusion: The blueberry supplementation can potentially increase the exercise performance and decrease the IL-6 and CRP levels caused by an increased TAS level.

Background: In this study, we presented a theoretical model to measure aging rate in OECD countries, quantitatively measuring the effect of aging rate on disease patterns in each country and explaining how these effects were obtained. The purpose of this study was to investigate how disease burden varies according to the level of medical infrastructure and changes in aging index using OECD aging data and WHO disease burden data.

Methods: This study used OECD Health data and global burden of disease data from the WHO in 2000 and 2012. We applied a difference-in-differences (DID) model was used to analyze effects of aging.

Results: Disease burdens increased over time, especially in the aging population of middle-aged. In the case of loss of life due to premature death, the number of middle- aged and older population was increased significantly. When we examined the econometric model after controlling related factors, there was a significant increase in loss of life due to illness and premature death. On the other hand, the group of piles at the aging level had a significant positive effect on Years of Life Lost (YLL). Although the interaction effect as an important variable showing double difference effect of aging did not affect Disability adjusted Life Year (DALY), it showed a significant positive effect on YLL.

Conclusion: Loss of life due to death of the elderly was relatively higher than that of the elderly. Therefore, the impact of population aging on medical resources and medical expenditures in the future should consider population structure changes, disease burden by age group, and interactions of these two incremental factors.

Background: The purpose of this study was to explore the level of mental health knowledge among North Korean refugees residing in South Korea and to analyze the factors related to their attitude towards people with mental disorders.

Methods: The survey was conducted on 150 people and the analysis included results from 138 participants in 2013. A multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to analyze the factors related to the attitude towards people with mental illness.

Results: The education level attained in South Korea and the duration of stay in the South were effective factors associated with anti-authoritarianism. Age, marital status, education level in the North, and level of mental health knowledge were significant factors for benevolence. Time spent in South Korea and knowledge of mental health played a significant role in determining their attitude towards social restrictiveness (P=0.014).

Conclusion: The knowledge of mental illness in refugees was associated with their attitude towards people with mental illness. This study suggests the need to educate refugees on mental illness to enhance their attitudes.

Background: The objective of this study was to identify behaviors and culture of drinking alcohol in Korean people.

Methods: Among a panel of subjected enrolled in existing domestic survey companies, adults aged 19 to 59 yr old who replied that their drinking frequency was more than once a month for the past one year were selected in 2017. Sample size and methods used for analysis were determined by considering demographically proportioned stratified sampling and monthly alcohol drinking rate. A total of 1,185 subjects (731 males and 454 females) responded to questionnaires.

Results: Most drinking behaviors were in the domain of leisure time. Drinking for two or more times a month and binge drinking were mainly concentrated in five occasions types: going out with friends (44.2%), going out with colleague (34.2%), drinking at home or friend’s home with friends (32.9%), drinking at home alone (29.3%), and drinking with meals at home (27.5%). Regarding the ratio of experiences in drinking for subjects according to occupations, ‘Directors/Managers’ who participated in receptions of guests, either hosted by or invited thereto, had the highest percentage (64.2%), followed by ‘Individual Proprietors’ (56.4%). Differences between each type of occupation were found to be statistically significant (P< 0.001).

Conclusion: The drinking culture in Korea was characterized by more social drinking than by drinking alone at home. The drinking behavior was often one-shot at a time rather than drinking a little sip. The practices of collective drinking should be improved to avoid secondary harmful effects.

Background: The propagation of modern medicine in the colonies has often been described in terms of modernism and nationalism, focusing on the action-reaction conflict with colonial power, but the propagation of modem medical care and hygiene in colonial Chosun seems not to be explained by this perspective. So how can we explain this aspect? Answering this question could provide new implications for the many controversies surrounding the “colonial modern" acceptance.

Methods: In order to examine the pattern of colonial acceptance of modern medicine, three cases of Britain and India, Japan and Taiwan, Japan and Chosun were set and compared, and the characteristics of colony Chosun were examined in-depth.

Results: The existence of the 'traditional medicine doctors' who played an important role in the dissemination of public health in colonial Chosun can be explained from the understanding of the identity of Confucian intellectuals who played a role in the traditional Chosun society.

Conclusion: The proliferation of modern medicine in the colonies has often been explained in terms of modernism and nationalism; however, the acceptance of a modern sanitary system in colony Chosun has been influenced by the traditional elements of the society. When considering these factors, the relationship between colonialists and the colonized society can be examined from a more interrelated perspective.

Background: The effects of circuit training was investigated according to the feedback type on the psychological (social anxiety, anxiety, positive emotion) health and physical (body composition, physical fitness) health of social anxiety disorder workers.

Methods: Sixty male workers in H Company in Seoul, South Korea with social anxiety disorder were divided into four groups (positive, negative, mixed, no feedback) by conducting a circuit training program in sport center of H company during 3 times per week, total 8 weeks from Feb 1st to Mar 31st, 2017. The results of the pre - test and post - test were analyzed as follows.

Results: 1) In effect of social anxiety, there were significant differences in the positive, negative, and mixed feedback groups. 2) In the effect of anxiety, there were significant differences in the positive, negative, and mixed feedback groups. 3) In the effect of positive emotion, there were significant differences in the positive, negative, mixed, and no feedback groups. 4) In the effect of body composition, body fat mass and body fat percentage have significant differences in the positive, negative, mixed, and no feedback groups. And fat free mass has significant differences in the positive and mixed feedback groups. 5) In the effect of physical fitness, grip strength, wall squat, bending forward have significant differences in positive, negative, mixed, and no feedback groups.

Conclusion: The circuit training program improves the social anxiety disorder and positively affects the psychological health and physical health of participants. To participate in continuous exercise, personal training should be accompanied by the correct feedback of the leader.

Background: We investigated whether a combination of aerobic and resistance exercise administered over a period of 12 weeks enhanced heart rate variability (HRV) and dynamic pulmonary function (DPF) in obese and elderly Korean women.

Methods: The study was conducted in 2016 in the Konkuk University (Seoul, Korea). The study participants included 20 older obese women [aged 66.4±0.8years; >30 BMI and >30% in percent body fat]. The subjects were divided into a non-exercise group (n=10, control group; CON) and a combined exercise group (n=10, experimental group; EXP). Total power (TP), low frequency (LF), high frequency (HF), and LH/HF ratio were measured as frequency-domain methods. Salivary cortisol levels were analyzed by ELISA. The participants underwent dynamic pulmonary function (DPF) test.

Results: The EXP group showed a significantly decrease in body weight (P=0.002) and % body fat (P<0.001) following 12 weeks of combined exercise training. The CON group revealed a significant increase in LF (P=0.011), LF/HF ratio (P<0.001), salivary cortisol (P=0.015) and decrease in HF (P=0.003). However, the EXP presented a significant decrease in LF (P=0.006) and salivary cortisol (P=0.046), and a significantly increase in MVV (P<0.001).

Conclusion:  Twelve wk of combined aerobic and resistance exercise improves heart rate variability, reducing mental stress in obese older women.  In addition, the exercise program was found to be effective in reducing body fat and improving lung function in obese elderly women in East Asian countries with similar body composition and cultural patterns. Therefore, further collaborative research is needed to investigate obese older women in East Asian countries.

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