Human diphyllobolthriasis is chiefly caused by infection with Diphyllobothrium latum(D. latum) through eating raw or unproperly cooked fish such as salmon, trout or perch. D. latum is worldwidely distributed, but not a common parasite of humans, and its prevalence in Korea is not high. The first worm-proven case of D. latum infection was first reported in 1971 and about 30 cases have been reported in Korea until now. However, with the increasing popularity of eating raw salmon, trout and perch, this tapeworm infection tends to increase in Korea. Most of the patients infected by D. latum have not showed the specific symptoms and only non-specific gastrointestinal symptoms(anorexia, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain). We report a case which includes a chain whitish, threadlike tapeworm segments spontaneously discharged in the patients stool. On reviewing the literature, the present case is the first report of D. latum infection by eating cultured salmon. The patient was treated with 600mg single dose of Praziquantel.
Cestoda ; Cestode Infections ; Diarrhea ; Diphyllobothrium* ; Eating ; Humans ; Korea ; Nausea ; Parasites ; Perches ; Praziquantel ; Prevalence ; Salmon ; Trout ; Vomiting

No abstract available.
Adult* ; Humans ; Risk Factors*

The word "Delayed" in the legend of Figure 2 should have been written as "Controls."

No abstract available.
Hypertriglyceridemia*

Obesity is one of the well-known risk factors of breast cancer. We evaluated the relationship between serum adiponectin and resistin levels and breast cancer risk in 41 biopsy-proven breast cancer patients and 43 age- and body mass index-matched controls. The mean serum adiponectin level was lower in the breast cancer group than the control group (6.93+/-3.2 microgram/mL, vs. 7.60+/-3.5 microgram/mL), but this difference did not reach statistical significance (p=0.37). There was a statistically significant difference in serum resistin levels between the groups (breast cancer group 5.23+/-6.9 ng/mL vs. control 1.46+/-2.0 ng/mL; p<0.001). The risk of breast cancer was significantly increased in the highest tertile group for serum resistin level compared to the lowest tertile group (adjusted odds ratio 2.77 [95% CI 1.40-5.50]). The lymph node metastasis was significantly increased in the patients with less than the median adiponectin level (p=0.017). In the patients whose resistin level was higher than the median, the frequency of tumor with the highest histological grade was significantly increased (p=0.025). In conclusions, both the low serum adiponectin levels and high resistin levels are likely to be associated with increased breast cancer risk in Korean women.
Resistin/*blood ; Odds Ratio ; Middle Aged ; Insulin Resistance ; Humans ; Female ; Case-Control Studies ; Breast Neoplasms/*blood/etiology/pathology ; Adult ; Adiponectin/*blood

BACKGROUND: Recently in Korea, the rate of addictive drug abuse is rapidly increasing in men on salary, housewives, and even in adolescents, who have been considered to be free from drugs, which presents a serious problem to the society. Especially, the habituation to gateway drug, such as cigarettes and alcohol, before 15 years old, would lead to the increased possibility of other drug abuse, including illicit drugs. Thereupon in this study, we intended toreview the effect of adolescents smoking an the drug abuse and deviated behaviors. METHODS: On September, 1997, randomly selected were 12 classes, an the basis of 2 classes per grade, from the two schools which was located each in Seoul and Buchean. And survey was dane on 610 students with non non-nominl, self-reported questionnaire. RESULTS: The rate of adolescent smoking was 28.1% in male students and had increasing tendency of "the higher the grades, the higher the smoking rate"(17.0% in the 1st gade, 31.5% in the 2nd grade, 35.9% in the 3rd grade). The smoking rate of female students was 12.3%. From the 2nd grade of middle school to the 2nd grade of high school was the critical period when the smoking habit was initiated in almost 90% of the students. The experiencing rates of drug abuse in studied subjects were as follows : drinking(79.0%), stimulants(4.8%), sedatives(4.1%), hypnotics(3.1%), glue sniffing(1.5%), butane gas(0.7%), marijuana/hemp(0.2%). They were higher in the smoking group than in the nansMoking group, showing statistical significances in most items except hypnotics and marijuana/hemp. Also simihr results were shown in deviated behaviors between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: With the concerted efforts of family, school, society and natian, we as family physicians should make efforts to delay and prevent adolescent's smoking, which is a gateway to drug abuse and deviated behaviors, and to increase people's recognition of health risks caused by smoking, and to provide proper program for adolescents to stop smoking.
Adhesives ; Adolescent ; Critical Period (Psychology) ; Female ; Humans ; Hypnotics and Sedatives ; Korea ; Male ; Physicians, Family ; Salaries and Fringe Benefits ; Seoul ; Smoke* ; Smoking* ; Street Drugs ; Substance-Related Disorders* ; Tobacco Products ; Surveys and Questionnaires

OBJECTIVES: We compared the effects of two different nano-sized calcium supplements (synthesized by wet-chemical method or the dry-grinding method of calcium carbonate) and one micro-sized calcium supplement (calcium carbonate) on intestinal absorption and bone turnover in 20 young women. MATERIALS & METHODS: This study was carried out with a three week cross-over design. The subjects ingested one of three different calcium supplements (1 dose of 500 mg Ca++) at 8 AM, which was repeated three times weekly. Serum and urine samples were collected before and after the calcium load using a time table (serum sampling 0, 2 hr, 4 hr, 8 hr after loading; urine sampling 0, 4 hr, 8 hr after loading). RESULTS: Serum ionized calcium and parathyroid hormone concentrations significantly changed in response to all calcium supplements loading, the difference among calcium supplements was not significant. However, the postload urinary excretion of calcium and the N-telopeptide/creatinine ratio were significantly different among three calcium supplement over time by repeated measured ANOVA. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study suggest the effect of nano-sized calcium supplements synthesized by the wet-chemical method is superior to the other calcium supplements in intestinal calcium absorption and bone turn-over.
Absorption ; Calcium ; Cross-Over Studies ; Intestinal Absorption ; Parathyroid Hormone

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Gastric stasis in migraineurs remains controversial. The aim of this study is to investigate gastric emptying (GE) time, and any associations between GE parameters and dyspeptic symptoms among patients with functional dyspepsia (FD) and migraine without any gastrointestinal symptoms during the interictal period. METHODS: We enrolled 27 migraine patients, 32 FD patients and 12 healthy people as controls, and performed GE scintigraphy as gastric function test. Gastrointestinal symptoms were evaluated in the FD and migraine. RESULTS: The age-adjusted mean gastric half-emptying time in FD (125.51 +/- 52.55 minutes) patients was longer than in migraineurs (100.82 +/- 23.94 minutes, P = 0.035) and controls (95.25 +/- 23.29 minutes, P = 0.021). The percentage of gastric retention was higher in FD than in migraine. However, migraineurs did not show an obvious delayed gastric emptying or an increase of gastric retention when compared to the normal controls. The association between each dyspeptic symptom and GE parameters was not significant, but postprandial fullness and early satiety showed a tendency of delayed GE. In migraineurs, GE time did not show significant association with nausea and vomiting during interictal periods. CONCLUSIONS: Delayed GE does not appear to be a mechanism that patients with FD and migraine have in common. Migraineurs without dyspepsia during interictal period had normal GE, and further study for association with FD should be investigated.
Dyspepsia ; Gastric Emptying ; Gastroparesis ; Humans ; Migraine Disorders ; Nausea ; Retention (Psychology) ; Vomiting

Background: Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) is frequently used to diagnose obesity in clinical setting, but the usefulness of BIA in children is not become known accurately. We analyzed the usefulness of BIA and anthropometric measurement compared with Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) as a diagnostic tool of childhood obesity. Methods: 205 volunteer primary and middle school children were recruited. We measured weight and height, and analyzed the body composition by BIA and DXA. By paired t-test and Bland-Altman plots, mean difference and limit of agreement were calculated between DXA and BIA according to sex and age groups. Sensitivity and specificity were displayed with the gold standard of PBF above 35% by DXA. Results: There was significantly positive correlation between DXA and BIA in fat mass (FM) (r=0.982, P<0.001), fat free mass (FFM) (r=0.990, P<0.001), and percent body fat (PBF) (r=0.956, P<0.001). Mean difference between DXA and BIA in FM, FFM, and PBF were -0.4+/-1.4 kg (P<0.001), -0.6+/-1.3 kg (P<0.001), and 0.5+/-2.8% (P=0.016), respectively. Limit of agreement in FM, FFM, and PBF were -0.4+/-2.7 kg, -0.6+/-2.5 kg, and 0.5+/-5.5%, respectively. The most sensitive method of diagnosis of obesity was Korean BMI standards for 85 percentile (94.7%) and IOTF BMI 25 kg/m2 (94.7%). The sensitivity and specificity by BIA were 90.7% and 97.7%. Conclusions: BIA was not interchangeable with DXA. However because of higher diagnostic accuracy and correlation, it could be used to measure body composition as simple field method. We recommend Korean BMI standards for 85 percentile or IOTF BMI 25 kg/m2 as the screening test for diagnosis of Korean childhood obesity.
Absorptiometry, Photon* ; Adipose Tissue ; Body Composition ; Child ; Diagnosis ; Electric Impedance ; Humans ; Mass Screening ; Obesity ; Pediatric Obesity* ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Volunteers

BACKGROUND: It is well known that heavy alcohol consumption may result in various lesions on multiple organs and tissue, especially liver. The aim of this study was to measure prevalence of raised liver derived enzymes in healthy men and possible association with alcohol consumption, smoking and body mass index. METHODS: All subjects were 450 men who received Adult Health Examination at Seoul Hospital of Konkuk medical center from May, 1998 to October, 1998. We carried out telephone survey and analyzed 360 men, excluding men with HBs Ag(+), hepatic problems within 6 months, medication drug that could change serum activity of hepatic enzyme or joints, myscles, cardiac problem and non responder to telephone survey. We examined prevalence of raised liver enzymes and its possible association with alcohol consumption, smoking, and body mass index, applying logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: In 20.3% of study subjects, we found raised levels of lver derived enzymes. If the alcohol consumption was higher than 270 g/week, the odds ratio(OR) for raised liver enzymes, adjusted for body mass index and smoking, increased ; serum gamma glutamyltransferase(gamma GTP)(OR: 9.48), serum aspartate aminotransferase(AST)(OR: 13.09), and serum alanine aminotransferase(ALT)(OR: 7.40). Smoking was not associated with the risk of raised liver enzymes and obesity(body mass index 25 kg/m2) showed a positive association with two enzymes; gamma GTP(OR: 1.92) and ALT(OR: 2.08). CONCLUSION: If alcohol consumption was higher than 270 g/week, the risk of raised liver enzymes increased dramatically and gamma GTP, AST were shown more sensitive than ALT in alcoholic liver disease.
Adult ; Alanine ; Alcohol Drinking* ; Aspartic Acid ; Body Mass Index ; Guanosine Triphosphate ; Humans ; Joints ; Liver Diseases, Alcoholic ; Liver* ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Prevalence ; Seoul ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Telephone