BACKGROUND: Postherpetic neuralgia(PHN) is a distressing complication of herpes zoster that can persist for months or even years. Information on this condition is important because antiviral therapy may change the clinical course of the disease. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to estimate prevalence of PHN according to several risk factors. METHODS: We observed prevalence of PHN in 96 patients who had herpes zoster with severe pain and treated with antiviral therapy during the admission. Also, we compared them by age group, dermatomal distribution, and starting day of antiviral therapy, respectively. RESULTS: The prevalence of PHN according to the age was 5.9% in patients younger than 49 years, 40.0% in 50~59 years, 46.9% in 60~69 years, and 58.8% in 70 years and older. Sex and dermatomal distribution were not predictors of PHN. The odds ratio per one day difference in antiviral therapy was 1.62(95% confidence interval, 1.56 to 2.23). CONCLUSION: In herpes zoster with severe pain, age and starting day of antiviral therapy may be significant predictors of PHN.
Herpes Zoster* ; Humans ; Neuralgia, Postherpetic* ; Odds Ratio ; Prevalence ; Risk Factors

OBJECTIVETo explore the relationship between obesity and migraine.

METHODSThe online databases inlcuding PubMed, EMBASE, Wanfang, CNKI and Chinese Biological Medicine Database were searched for studies assessing the relationship between obesity and migraine according to the Cochrane Collaboration guidelines. Stata12.0 software was used for meta- analysis. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to assess the relationship between obesity and the risk of migraine.

RESULTA total of 14 studies involving 193 274 individuals were included in the analysis. The results of meta-analysis showed that obese individuals had an increased risk of migraine by 19% as compared with normal weight individuals [OR, 1.19; 95% CI, 1.02-1.38; P=0.029) and by 19% as compared with non-obese individuals (OR, 1.19; 95%CI, 1.02-1.38; P=0.024).

CONCLUSIONObesity is associated with an increased risk of migraine.

INTRODUCTION: A promising strategy for HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer (mBC) is to target the veascular endothelial growth factor receptor using bevecizumab. Several randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have consistently demonstrated improvement in progression-free survival (PFS).
METHODS: This meta-analysis was undertaken to determine the added benefit of bevacizumab (BV) to chemotherapy in HER2-negative locally recurrent and mBC. RCTs that compared the efficacy and safety of BV+chemotherapy to placebo+chemotherapy in the first- or second-line setting were selected. The primary outcome was PFS. The secondary outcome measures were overall survival (OS) and objective response rate (ORR). Analysis of safety was done by pooling grades 3-5 toxicities. Four RCTs were included in the meta-analysis: E2100, AVADO, RIBBON-1, and RIBBON-2.
RESULTS: The use of BV+chemotherapy showed statistically significant improvement in PFS (HR 0.73 [0.65, 0.82] 95% Cl, p<0.0001); subgroup analysis of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) also showed statistically significant increase in PFS (HR 0.56 [0.47, 0.67] 95% Cl, P<0.00001). The ORR was statistically significant with a risk ratio of 1.36 in favour of BV (P<0.00001). OS did not reach statistical significance (HR 0.85 [0.56, 1.27] 95% Cl, p=0.42). Grades 3-5 toxicities were consistently higher in the BV arm with a risk ratio of 1.90 (p<0.00001).
CONCLUSION: BV prolongs PFS and increases ORR in patients with HER2-negative locally-recurrent and mBC. OS was comparable in both arms. Toxicities significantly increased with the addition of BV to chemotherapy, but fatal reactions were rare in all four trials. The addition of BV to conventional first- or second-line chemotherapy is justified in TN mBC since there is still no standard treatment fot this. 

BACKGROUND: Exposure to organic dust has been widely investigated as a potential risk factor for asthma with different results. To clarify a potential relationship, we performed the present meta-analysis to integrate the results of studies examining the association of organic dust exposure with asthma. METHODS: A comprehensive literature search in the electronic databases including EMBASE, PubMed and Cochrane Library databases (up to August 2018) was conducted. The adjusted odds ratios (ORs) with corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) for organic dust exposure and asthma were retrieved and pooled to generate summary effect estimates in Revman 5.2. RESULTS: Database searches retrieved 1,016 records. A total of 17 studies containing 3,619 cases and 6,585 controls were finally included in our meta-analysis. The summary estimates suggested that organic dust exposure was positively associated with asthma (OR, 1.48; 95% CI, 1.26–1.75; P < 0.00001), whether among population-based case-control studies (OR, 1.24; 95% CI, 1.13–1.35; P < 0.00001) or hospital-based case-control studies (OR, 2.79; 95% CI, 1.27–6.12; P = 0.01). Subgroup analysis showed that paper/wood (OR, 1.62; 95% CI, 1.38–1.90; P < 0.00001), flour/grain (OR, 1.48; 95% CI, 1.11–1.97; P = 0.008), and textile dust (OR, 1.50; 95% CI, 1.08–2.09; P = 0.02) exposure were significantly associated with asthma. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the studies evaluated, our meta-analysis results prompt that organic dust exposure is a risk factor inducing asthma, although precise analysis focus on specific organic dust materials is still warranted.
Asthma ; Case-Control Studies ; Dust ; Odds Ratio ; Risk Factors ; Textiles

OBJECTIVE: Korea Institute of Drug Safety and Risk Management works for signal detection and safety information generation by analyzing spontaneous adverse event reports database. As the number of reports and detected signals of aripiprazole by each data mining indices were more than other drugs, aripiprazole was selected as a subject of study. METHODS: 1989-2012 spontaneous reporting database was analyzed and the model drug ingredient was aripiprazole. We estimated proportional reporting ratio, reporting odds ratio, and information component for data mining. Then we assessed the causality through review of local and foreign drug labels and literatures. RESULTS: In reconstructed 1989-2012 spontaneous reporting database, there were 2,062 reports on aripiprazole and 2,565 aripiprazole-adverse events pairs. As a result of data mining analysis and signal prioritization, 78 adverse events were detected, 20 adverse events of them were not included in drug label. After literature review, back pain, epistaxis, xerophthalmia and ejaculation disorder were generated as novel safety information on aripiprazole. CONCLUSION: Those 4 novel safety informations of Aripiprazole, back pain, epistaxis, xerophthalmia and ejaculation disorder had become listed on the local label in April 2013.
Back Pain ; Data Mining ; Ejaculation ; Epistaxis ; Korea ; Male ; Odds Ratio ; Risk Management ; Xerophthalmia ; Aripiprazole

This study was performed to determine the dietary risk factors associated with hypertension. The hypertensive group were composed of 112 hypertensive patients (male 53, female 59) who first visited the hypertension clinic and had been diagnosed as having primary hypertension (SBP > or = 140 mmHg or DBP > or = 90 mmHg). The regular visitors or the subjects on special diets or medical therapies were excluded. The normal group consisted of as subjects (male 41, female 54) matched with age and socioeconomic levels. The subjects having higher intakes (above the 75 percentile) in energy, protein, iron, vitamin A or C showed significantly higher hypertension risk estimated with odds ratio after the covariance factors (age, sex and BMI) were adjusted. More than 2400 mg of sodium (6 g of salt) intake was associated with significantly higher risk of hypertension (odds ratio: 1.773, CI: 1.014 - 3.014 for SBP > or = 140 mmHg; odds ratio: 2.373, CI: 1.359 - 4.215 for DBP > or = 90 mmHg). Hypertensive group showed significantly increased intakes of vegetables and fish and shell fish compared to the normal group. When the vegetable intakes were classified into Kimchi, fresh vegetables and cooked vegetables with seasoning, the hypertensive group was observed as having higher intakes of Kimchi and cooked vegetables with seasoning. The intakes of highest quartile for vegetables (> or = 327 g/day)(odds ratio: 3.164, CI: 1.740 - 5.752), fish and their products (> or = 102 g/day)(odds ratio: 2.756, CI: 1.486 - 5.109), grains(> or = 311 g/day)(odds ratio 2.393, CI: 1.186 - 4.832), meats and their product (> or = 106 g)(odds ratio: 2.210, CI: 1.225 - 3.987) compared to the lower were significantly associated with the higher risk of hypertension estimated with DBP (> or = 90 mmHg) after covariance factors were adjusted. In conclusion, our findings confirm that higher intake of energy or sodium are associated with the increased risk of hypertension. Because increased intake of vegetable or fish was associated with the higher risk of hypertension, in contrast with the finding of western countries, choosing or preparation of vegetables or fish with reduced salt is recommended.
Diet ; Female ; Humans ; Hypertension* ; Iron ; Meat ; Odds Ratio ; Risk Factors* ; Seasons ; Sodium ; Vegetables ; Vitamin A

BACKGROUND: Hyperhomocysteinemia is an independent risk factor for cerebrovascular disease. MTHFR 677TT genotype can induce hyperhomocysteinemia. However, the association between this 677TT genotype and ischemic stroke still remains controversial. This study was undertaken to determine whether MTHFR 677TT genotype was associated with certain subtype of ischemic stroke. METHODS: The case group consisted of 129 patients with ischemic stroke and the control group consisted of 157 healthy individuals. We checked their fasting plasma homocysteine levels and analyzed the C677T mutation in the MTHFR gene. The relative risk of MTHFR 677TT genotype was assessed by odds ratios using multivariate logistic regression. RESULTS: Homocysteine levels in plasma were significantly higher in ischemic stroke patients (10.386.44 mol/L) than in controls (8.002.40) (P<0.05). In small-artery disease (11.366.01), the same result was found (P<0.05). On the other hand, the prevalence of the homozygote mutation was not significantly higher in ischemic stroke patients (20.2%) than in controls (13.4%) (adjusted OR 1.39, 95% CI 0.65 to 2.96). The adjusted OR and 95% CI was 2.59 (1.08 to 6.25) for the TT genotype in patients with small-artery disease compared to controls. The 677TT genotype was increased in small-artery disease compared to large-artery disease (adjusted OR 7.60, 95% CI 1.66 to 34.77). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that the homozygous C677T mutation in the MTHFR gene is a risk predictor in the subtype of ischemic stroke, such as small-artery disease.
Fasting ; Genotype ; Hand ; Homocysteine ; Homozygote ; Humans ; Hyperhomocysteinemia* ; Logistic Models ; Odds Ratio ; Plasma ; Prevalence ; Risk Factors ; Stroke*

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have revealed that sleep duration is linked to both obesity and hypertension. Here, we evaluated the association between sleep duration and hypertension in obese and non-obese premenopausal women using representative national survey data from the Korean population. METHODS: A total of 4,748 subjects over 20 years of age from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2010 to 2012 were included. To control for risk factors, multivariable logistic regression was used to calculate the adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals of hypertension across the following sleep duration categories: <6, 6-8, and >8 h/d. RESULTS: Among the participants, 367 subjects (7.7%) had hypertension. Their mean sleep duration was 7 hours. In the non-obese subjects, after controlling for potential confounding variables, the odds ratio for hypertension was 1.86 fold greater in those with a sleep duration of <6 hours (odds ratio, 1.79; 95% confidence interval, 1.05 to 3.03) as compared to those who slept for 6.8 hours. However, there was no association between sleep duration and the risk of hypertension in obese subjects. Long sleep duration (over 8 h/d) was not associated with hypertension in either the non-obese or the obese subjects in this study. CONCLUSION: Short sleep duration (less than 6 h/d) may be a significant risk factor for hypertension in non-obese premenopausal women. However, there is no association between sleep duration and the risk of hypertension in obese women.
Confounding Factors (Epidemiology) ; Female ; Humans ; Hypertension* ; Korea* ; Logistic Models ; Nutrition Surveys ; Obesity ; Odds Ratio ; Risk Factors

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to investigate the clinical manifestations and the risk factors of recurrent Kawasaki disease(KD). METHODS: From March 1995 to June 2003, 14 children with recurrent KD in Ewha Womans University Hospital were etrospectively evaluated by reviewing their admission reports. The clinical characteristics, laboratory findings, treatment and complications of the recurrent KD group were compared to that of a control group. The control group was admitted once for KD. Also, for the patients in the recurrent KD group, the clinical characteristics, laboratory findings, treatment and com plications were compared between an initial and a second episode. RESULTS: Among the 561 children with KD, 14 cases(2.4%) were included in the recurrent KD. At the initial episode of recurrent KD group, the sex ratio was 1.3 : 1(male : female) and the mean age was 23+/-13 months. There were no differences in demographic characteristics, clinical characteristics, laboratory results, treatment and complications between the recurrent KD group and control group. The interval between two episodes in the recurrent KD group was 17.9+/-16.2 months(1-60 months). The total febrile period showed no differences between the two episodes in the recurrent KD group but the febrile period before admission was shorter in the second episode(P=0.02). The clinical characteristics, laboratory findings, treatment and coronary artery complications were not different in the two episodes of the recurrent KD group. CONCLUSION: There were no predictive clinical characteristics or laboratory findings for recurrent KD. Treatment and coronary artery complications were not different between an initial and a second episode of the recurrent KD.
Child ; Coronary Vessels ; Female ; Humans ; Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome* ; Recurrence ; Risk Factors ; Sex Ratio

BACKGROUND/AIMS: This study evaluated the relationship between hyperuricemia and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) by comparing the incidence rates of NAFLD in relation to serum uric acid levels in apparently healthy subjects during a 5-year period. METHODS: Among 15,638 healthy Korean subjects who participated in a health-screening program in 2003 and 2008, respectively, 4954 subjects without other risk factors were enrolled in this study. We compared the incidence rates of NAFLD in 2008 with respect to baseline uric acid levels. RESULTS: In 2003, serum uric acid levels were categorized into the following quartiles: 0.6-3.9, 3.9-4.8, 4.8-5.9, and 5.9-12.6 mg/dL. The incidence of NAFLD in 2008 increased with the level of baseline uric acid (5.6%, 9.8%, 16.2%, and 20.9%, respectively; p<0.05). Multiple logistic regression analysis demonstrated that hyperuricemia was associated with the development of NAFLD. When compared to the subjects in quartile 1, the odds ratio (OR) for the incidence of NAFLD for quartiles 2, 3, and 4 were 1.53 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.09-2.16; p=0.014], 1.69 (95% CI, 1.17-2.44; p=0.005), and 1.84 (95% CI, 1.25-2.71; p=0.002), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: High serum uric acid levels appear to be associated with an increased risk of the development of NAFLD.
Cohort Studies ; Fatty Liver ; Hyperuricemia ; Incidence ; Logistic Models ; Odds Ratio ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Uric Acid