BACKGROUND: Atherosclerosis of the coronary artery is related to the obstructive coronary artery disease. The coronary artery calcium score test is a non-invasive and useful indicator of atherosclerosis. The Framingham risk scoring system is a traditional indicator of the cardiovascular risk. This cross-sectional study was performed to evaluate the relation of the coronary artery calcium scores with Framingham risk scores. METHODS: We evaluated 135 patients who visited the Department of Family Medicine in Severance Hospital and had a test of the coronary artery calcium scores from January 5th, 2005, to August 12th, 2006. The Framingham risk scores were calculated. We analyzed the correlation between the coronary artery calcium scores and the Framingham risk scores and tested the difference between the groups divided by categorization of the calcium scores. RESULTS: The coronary artery calcium scores were significantly correlated with the Framingham risk scores (r=0.282, P<0.01). There was a significant correlation in case of women (r=0.349, P<0.01), but not in case of men. There was a significant difference between the group whose calcium score was 0 and the group whose calcium scores were above 0 (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: There was a positive correlation between the coronary artery calcium scores and the Framingham risk scores. The coronary artery calcium score seems to be a significant factor to assess the cardiovascular risk.
Atherosclerosis ; Calcium ; Coronary Artery Disease ; Coronary Vessels ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Female ; Humans ; Male

BACKGROUND: In these days the metabolic syndrome threatens many people of Korea. Several studies have suggested that the dietary habits are associated with the risk of the metabolic syndrome. The purpose of this study was to find out relations between the components of the metabolic syndrome and the dietary habits. METHODS: The subjects of this study included 1,005 non-smoking premenopausal females aged from 20 to 49 years old who visited the health promotion center of a university hospital. Dietary questionnaire was composed of dietary habits and specific food intake frequency during the past 3 months. RESULTS: The subjects who had more than one metabolic components were 361 (36%), and those who had the metabolic syndrome was 35 (3.5%). After multivariate logistic analysis adjusted with age, BMI, smoking status, alcohol intake, and exercise, the abdominal obesity risk was significantly increased in those who had irregular meals (P for trend= 0.049), skip meals (P for trend=0.050), faster meal time (P=0.017), and intake of saturated fat more frequently (P=0.043). The abdominal obesity risk was significantly increased in those who overate or binged eating 7gt; or =3 times/week than <1 time/week {OR (95% CI), 2.49 (1.07~5.80)}, intake fruit <1 time/week than 6~7 times/week {OR (95% CI), 4.46 (1.20~16.54)}. A risk for high blood pressure was significantly increased in those who had breakfast 1~2 times/week than those had it 6~7 times/week {OR (95% CI), 1.91 (1.07~3.42)}. The risk for impaired fasting glucose was significantly increased in those had breakfast <1 time/week than those who had 6~7 times/week {OR (95% CI), 2.27 (1.20~4.28), P for trend=0.018}. CONCLUSION: There was a correlation between dietary habits and metabolic syndrome components. Among the dietary habits, irregular meals, skipping breakfast, skipping meals, fast meal time, overeating or binge eating tendency, low intake of fruits and high intake of saturated fat were associated with the risk of the metabolic syndrome components.
Aged ; Breakfast ; Bulimia ; Eating ; Fasting ; Female ; Food Habits ; Fruit ; Glucose ; Health Promotion ; Humans ; Hyperphagia ; Hypertension ; Korea ; Meals ; Obesity, Abdominal ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Surveys and Questionnaires

BACKGROUND: Appetite control and weight reduction is important for the treatment of chronic disease such as obesity, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus. Visual analogue scales (VAS) is widely used to assess appetite. We investigated the reproducibility and the validity of the Korean version of VAS for appetite which will be helpful for clinical use. METHODS: The subjects received the same test meal and 8 VAS questionnaires between 6 weeks. They started to fill out the questionnaire before lunch, continued after lunch every hour, and ended after dinner. The questionnaire was asked about hunger, satiety, fullness, prospective consumption, sweet, salty, savoury, and fatty. During the test meal, the subjects could eat ad libitum until 'comfortable satisfaction'; and after the test meal we calculated energy intake. We assessed the correlation between test-retest VAS for each appetite and evaluated the validity of VAS for hunger with energy intake as "gold-standard". RESULTS: The VAS curves of each appetite were similar between the test and the retest. The VAS of each appetite on the test day was strongly correlated with that on the retest day. The CRs of 4.5 hour mean VAS (20~34 mm) was smaller than the CRs of fasting VAS (35~54 mm). The correlation coefficient of Hunger VAS before dinner and the energy intake was 0.436 on the test day and 0.400 on the retest day. The VAS of the sweet was correlated to the total glucose intake (P<0.05), and the VAS of salty to the salt intake. CONCLUSION: The validity of the VAS score for appetite, especially hunger, sweet and salty taste was good. Indeed, the reliability of VAS for appetite was good to use this scale in a clinical setting.
Appetite ; Chronic Disease ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Energy Intake ; Fasting ; Glucose ; Hunger ; Hypertension ; Lunch ; Meals ; Obesity ; Sensation ; Weight Loss ; Weights and Measures ; Surveys and Questionnaires

No abstract available.
Chronic Disease ; Glycemic Index

Dengue fever is an acute febrile illness caused by dengue virus infection. Found predominantly in tropical urban areas, dengue virus is transmitted to humans by a female mosquito vector, Aedes aegypti. The clinical features of dengue fever include fever, headache, skin rash and bleeding. These symptoms are usually mild and not fatal, but dengue hemorrhagic fever is life threatening without proper management. The diagnosis of dengue fever can be established with a dengue virus-infected cell culture or with isolated dengue IgM. No specific treatment exists for dengue fever except for symptomatic management. With the recent global increase of dengue fever incidence, the number of cases of dengue fever in returning travelers is on the increase in Korea. Therefore, it is possible that Korean primary physicians will confront dengue fever cases. We report two cases of dengue fever that we experienced in the Department of Family Medicine in 2007.
Aedes ; Cell Culture Techniques ; Culicidae ; Dengue ; Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever ; Dengue Virus ; Exanthema ; Female ; Fever ; Headache ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin M ; Incidence ; Korea

BACKGROUND: It is well recognized that thyroid hormone stimulates bone turnover, increasing bone resorption, thus affecting bone mineral density, but few data are available on untreated subclinical hypothyroidism. The aim of this study was to examine whether bone mineral density is increased in postmenopausal subclinical hypothyroidism patients compared with postmenopausal normal thyroid function women, and to evaluate the relationship between thyroid hormones (TSH, FT(4)) and bone mineral density or various biochemical markers of bone metabolism. METHODS: This was a cross sectional study of 132 postmenopausal women aged from 51 to 70 who undertook health screening program in Pundang CHA general hospital from 1996 to 2001. They were divided into two groups; subclinical hypothyroidism group (n=52) and normal thyroid function group (n=80) matched by age. RESULTS: The total bone mineral density was significantly increased in the subclinical hypothyroid group than in the normal group (P<0.05). The serum osteocalcin was lower in the subclinical hypothyroidism group (P<0.05), but neither the alkaline phosphatase nor the deoxypyridinoline showed any significance. For all participants in this study, TSH, but not FT(4), exhibited significant correlation with the total bone mineral density (r=0.188, P<0.05), and with the osteocalcin (r=-0.191, P<0.05). Multiple regression analysis identified the TSH as an independent predictor of the total bone mineral density (beta=0.0410; P< 0.05). CONCLUSION: This study indicated that subclinical hypothyroidism is one of the factors which can elevate bone mineral density in postmenopausal women.
Aged ; Alkaline Phosphatase ; Amino Acids ; Biomarkers ; Bone Density ; Bone Resorption ; Female ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Hypothyroidism ; Mass Screening ; Osteocalcin ; Thyroid Gland ; Thyroid Hormones

BACKGROUND: The present study purposed to execute group temperance education for heavy drinkers, and to examine how much the participants' drinking behavior is improved. METHODS: We ran a drinking class composed of 4 sessions of group temperance education with 40 male heavy drinkers selected through the case management program of the National Health Insurance Corporation, and compared their drinking behavior before, right after, and 12 weeks after the class. RESULTS: The mean (SD) drinks per week was 4.8 (1.8) before the drinking class, 3.3 (2.3) (P<0.001) right after the completion of the class, and 3.6 (2.2) (P<0.001) 12 weeks after the class, showing a significant decrease. The mean (SD) alcohol intake per drink also decreased significantly from 14.4 (15.6) drinks before the drinking class to 9.3 (15.5) (P<0.001) right after the completion of the class and to 12.0 (16.6) (P<0.001) 12 weeks after the class. The mean (SD) alcohol use disorder identification test score improved significantly from 27.7 (6.3) before the drinking class to 17.8 (11.1) (P<0.001) right after the completion of the class and 20.5 (8.8) (P<0.001) 12 weeks after the class. The number of heavy drinkers decreased significantly from 40 (100.0%) before the drinking class to 26 (65.0%) right after the completion of the class and 28 (70.0%) 12 weeks after the class (P<0.001), and the number of binge drinkers also decreased significantly from 40 (100.0%) before the drinking class to 27 (67.5%) right after the completion of the class and 28 (70.0%) 12 weeks after the class (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: The results of this study showed that group temperance education by primary care physicians improved heavy drinkers' drinking behavior.
Case Management ; Drinking ; Drinking Behavior ; Humans ; Male ; National Health Programs ; Physicians, Primary Care ; Temperance

BACKGROUND: Many clinical measures have been used to assess fall risk in elderly adults. The first objective of this study was to assess the clinical availability of maximal step length (MSL) as a measurement predicting falling probability in future. The second objective of this study was to try to find out how to use MSL more easily in a clinical setting. METHODS: The study population consisted of 50 community-dwelling people (> or =60 yrs). Demographic data were reviewed by self-recorded questionnaire and MSL, US and TUG had been done when the subjects visited a clinic in March and April 2004. They revisited the clinic after one year and information of fall incidence was obtained and their visual acuity was examined. To examine the association between many performance tests (MSL Unipedal stance, Timed up and go) and their real falling after tests, we analysed data by Mann-Whitney rank Test, pearson correlation and multiple regression. RESULTS: The average MSL predicted future falling (P-value 0.025), but Unipedal stance, Timed up and go did not. The predicting ability of MSL was preserved using many MSL measures (average MSL corrected by leg length and height, one direction measure among six directions of MSL, and average of left and right three directions of MSL). CONCLUSION: This study showed that MSL had the ability to predict elderly adults' falling in future. And this study showed that MSL can be used more easily in a clinical setting.
Adult ; Aged ; Humans ; Incidence ; Leg ; Visual Acuity ; Surveys and Questionnaires

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to evaluate weight reduction effect of topiramate on Korean overweight epileptic patients. METHODS: A total of 45 adult overweight epileptic subjects taking topiramate who visited an epilepsy clinic of Dongsan Medical Center, Daegu, Korea, were enrolled for this study. Anthropometric data were collected whenever they visited the clinic in 12 weeks. None of subjects participated in a non-pharmacological weight-loss program. This study compared the weight change of Korean overweight epileptic subjects with 75 mg or less of topiramate (group A) and those with 100 mg or above of topiramate (group B). RESULTS: The mean body weight at 12 weeks was significantly reduced by 2.3+/-2.1 kg in group A and 5.4+/-3.2 kg in group B than the baseline body weight (P<0.05). Weight loss of 5% and 10% of the baseline weight were achieved by 36.4% and 0% in subjects of group A, and 65.2% and 13.0% in group B, respectively. Weight changes were significantly different at 4, 6, 8 and 12 weeks between group A and B (P<0.05). Improvements were observed in blood pressure, lipid profiles and fasting glucose in group A or B. CONCLUSION: In topiramate treatment of Korean overweight epileptic patients, weight change was more significant in subjects with 100 mg or above of topiramate than in subjects with 75 mg or less. Further investigation of topiramate's efficacy and safety in Korean overweight subjects is needed.
Adult ; Blood Pressure ; Body Weight ; Epilepsy ; Fasting ; Fructose ; Glucose ; Humans ; Korea ; Overweight ; Weight Loss

BACKGROUND: Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy is a very important and highly sensitive method to detect gastroduodenal lesions. But the investigation and diagnosis of gastrointestinal diseases might be delayed by discomfort, pain and anxiety in patients during endoscopy. This study was performed to evaluate the effect of family member's attendance on relief of discomfort in patients and to identify the predictors for pain and discomfort during upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. METHODS: From July to August 2005, 147 clients who underwent gastrointestinal endoscopy were enrolled in this study. The subjects were randomly grouped into family-attended (n=70) group and non-family-attended group (n=77). The patients recorded their pain and discomfort during endoscopy by Visual-Analogue Scale (VAS) score. And also the client's demographic characteristics and endoscopy related factors (procedure duration, previous endoscopy experience, biopsy, endoscopist etc.) were evaluated. We studied the relationship between the various characteristics and discomfort during endoscopy. RESULTS: There were no significant differences of clients' demographic characteristics and endoscopy related factors between the two groups. There was a significant difference of VAS scores between the family-attended group (3.51+/-1.90) and non-family-attended group (4.35+/-2.10) (P= 0.012). Oxygen saturation and pulse rate during the procedure were lower in the family-attended group than in the non-attended group. Recipients' demographic characteristics and various factors related with the procedure (waiting time, biopsy, and previous experience, etc) were not associated with the degree of discomfort. CONCLUSION: Family member's attendance decreased pain and discomfort during endoscopy. The recipients' demographic characteristics and factors related to the procedure had no influence on the degree of discomfort during endoscopy. In conclusion, attendance of a family member should be considered during endoscopy in order to decrease pain and discomfort during the procedure.
Anxiety ; Biopsy ; Endoscopy ; Endoscopy, Gastrointestinal ; Gastrointestinal Diseases ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Oxygen ; Pain Measurement