Bahk Eun-ji has been with The Korea Times since 2012, building a career across multiple desks. She began at the Business Desk, where she conducted in-depth interviews with key figures in Korea's corporate world. Later, she moved to the Politics & City Desk, focusing on education policy and social affairs. She later served as team leader of the digital content team, leading curation efforts on the newspaper’s homepage and reshaping print stories for social media audiences to enhance digital reach. Now back on the Politics Desk, she covers the National Assembly and the Ministry of National Defense, with a renewed focus on political developments.
Herbal medicine found to prevent lung damage from fine dust
A research paper about Kwangdong Pharmaceutical's drug, Kyung-Ok-Ko (KOK), that prevents pulmonary damage from fine dust inhalation has been published in the International Journal of Environmental Health Research, the company said Tuesday.
KOK is a traditional herbal medicine that has long been used in Oriental medicine as a tonic for age-related diseases.
In the study, researchers investigated the beneficial effect of KOK on fine particular matter-induced lung endothelial cell (EC) barrier disruption and pulmonary inflammation through tests on mice, according to the company.
The researchers induced lung injury in the mice with particulate matter with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers, or PM2.5. Divided into two groups, one was given KOK and the other group was not.
While the mice had abnormally high levels of vasopermeability after being exposed to PM2.5, the levels of the group given KOK became significantly lower. The levels of their reactive oxygen species in the endotheliocyte of the lung also decreased 58 percent compared with the group that did not have KOK.
“This test proves scientifically that KOK helps reduce vascular protein leakage and leukocyte infiltration, and protect respiratory system,” said leader of the study, professor Bae Jong-sup of Kyungpook National University's College of Pharmacy.