Suicide by charcoal burning is common in Asian countries such as Hong Kong and Taiwan. Suicide by charcoal burning has recently shown a rapid increase in Korea, following a celebrity suicide, which was extensively reported by the media. Not only is suicide by charcoal burning fatal, but it also causes delayed neuropsychiatric symptoms through carbon monoxide poisoning. Risk factors associated with charcoal-burning suicide include middle age, male, divorced or unmarried, and economically active but with financial difficulties. To prevent suicide by charcoal burning, limited access to charcoal, responsible media reporting as recommended by international guidelines, and detoxification of charcoal by modifying the raw material should all be considered. In addition, suicide prevention programs should increasingly focus on suicide by charcoal burning. Relevant measures to prevent suicide by charcoal burning will be essential in order to lower the overall suicide rate in Korea.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Burns* ; Carbon Monoxide Poisoning ; Charcoal* ; Divorce ; Hong Kong ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Risk Factors ; Single Person ; Suicide* ; Taiwan

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the perinatal outcome of vaginal delivery in twin pregnancy according to the presentation of the fetus. METHODS: A total of 274 cases suitable to this objective were selected from the 301 cases of twin pregnancy delivered between March 2000 and February 2005. They were categorized into 3 groups according to the presentation of the fetus; vertex/vertex as the group A (133 cases), vertex/nonvertex as the group B (80 cases), nonvertex in the first twin as the group C (61 cases). And then each group also was divided into 2 subgroups according to the mode of delivery; vaginal delivery and cesarean delivery. The difference between the subgroups in each group as to perinatal outcome was retrospectively compared and analyzed for statistical significance. RESULTS: The incidence of vaginal delivery in group A (46/133, 34.6%) was significantly higher than in group B (5/80, 6.3%) and C (5/61, 8.2%). A total of 218 (79.6%) cases were underwent the cesarean delivery and the most common indication of cesarean delivery was elective twin cesarean delivery in all 3 groups (65.4%, 93.8%, 91.8% respectively). The incidence of neonatal admission to the neonatal intensive care unit was, however, higher in vaginal delivery (40.2%) than in cesarean delivery (32.8%) in group A. The most common cause for neonatal intensive care unit admission was low birth weight for simple observation, and average admission dates of vaginal delivery was 17.0 days and cesarean delivery was 16.8 days. CONCLUSION: Vaginal delivery of twins depends on the presentation of the fetus, but no significant difference in perinatal outcome of group A were observed between the mode of delivery. Therefore attempt to decrease the incidence of elective twin cesarean delivery in group A is demanded.
Fetus ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infant, Low Birth Weight ; Infant, Newborn ; Intensive Care, Neonatal ; Pregnancy, Twin* ; Retrospective Studies

OBJECTIVE: To determine pathologic variables associated with disease free interval and overall survival of patients with stage IB1 cervical cancer who underwent radical hysterectomy and pelvic lymph node dissection. METHODS: The records of 91 patients with stage IB1 cervical carcinoma who underwent radical hysterectomy and pelvic lymphadenectomy from 1997 to 2003 at Gil Medical Center were reviewed retrospectively. Clinical and pathologic variables including tumor size, histologic type, involvement of resection margin, parametrium invasion, lymph node metastasis, lymph-vascular space invasion (LVSI), depth of invasion and age were analyzed by the Kaplan-Meier curves and the log-rank test. Independent prognostic factors were determined by Cox's proportional hazards model. RESULTS: Univariate analysis revealed no significant differences in subgroups according to age, tumor size, histologic type and lymph-vascular space invasion (LVSI). However, significant differences in disease free interval were found in subgroups according to lymph node metastasis and depth of invasion. There were significant differences in overall survival in only subgroups according to lymph node metastasis. Multivariate analysis revealed that lymph node metastasis was the only independent significant prognostic factor. CONCLUSION: These results show that lymph node metastasis was the only independent prognostic factor in stage IB1 cervical cancer managed surgically.
Humans ; Hysterectomy ; Lymph Node Excision ; Lymph Nodes ; Multivariate Analysis ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Retrospective Studies ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms*

Background/Aims: Patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) frequently experience nighttime heartburn and sleep disturbance. Tegoprazan is a new potassium-competitive acid blocker that can rapidly block acid secretion. This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of tegoprazan compared with esomeprazole in relieving nighttime heartburn and sleep disturbances. Methods: Patients with erosive esophagitis, nighttime heartburn, and sleep disturbances were randomized to receive tegoprazan 50 mg or esomeprazole 40 mg for 2 weeks. The primary endpoint was time to first nighttime heartburn-free interval. The percentage of nighttime heartburn-free days was also compared between the 2 groups. Results: A total of 46 patients were enrolled in this study. Time to the first nighttime heartburn-free interval was shorter with tegoprazan than with esomeprazole but the difference was not statistically significant (1.5 days vs 3 days, P = 0.151). The percentage of nighttime heartburn-free days was higher in the tegoprazan group but the difference was insignificant (57.8% vs 43.1%, P = 0.107). Adverse events occurred in 2 patients. They were mild in severity. Conclusions Tegoprazan may induce faster relief of nighttime heartburn symptoms and may improve sleep disorders associated with nighttime heartburn. Further large-scale studies are required to validate our findings.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of black soybean (CJ-3) testa extracts on lipid profiles in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats. METHODS: One control group and four STZ-induced diabetic groups with different doses of black soybean (CJ-3) testa extracts treatment [0 mg/kg (diabetic control, EX), 250 mg/kg (EX-250), 500 mg/kg (EX-500), 1,000 mg/kg (EX-1000)] were orally administered for 4 weeks. RESULTS: All CJ-3 treatment groups had remarkably lower serum triglyceride (TG) levels than that of EX group (p < 0.05) whereas hepatic TG contents did not show any differences. Results from serum total cholesterol (TC) concentrations of EX-250 and EX-1000 groups were decreased compared to EX group (p < 0.05). Furthermore, protein levels of 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-Coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase from the liver decreased in all treatment groups (p < 0.05). However, significant differences were not observed in serum glucose and insulin, and glucose transporter 4 (GLUT-4) protein expression in skeletal muscle tissue. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that black soybean testa extracts could be useful for improvement of hyperlipidemia and hypercholesteremia in diabetes.
Animals ; Anthocyanins ; Blood Glucose ; Cholesterol ; Glucose Transport Proteins, Facilitative ; Hypercholesterolemia ; Hyperlipidemias ; Insulin ; Liver ; Muscle, Skeletal ; Oxidoreductases ; Rats* ; Soybeans* ; Streptozocin ; Triglycerides