A noncommunicable disease (NCD) is a medical condition or disease that is by definition non-infectious and non-transmissible among people. Currently, NCDs are the leading causes of death and disease burden worldwide. The four main types of NCDs, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic lung disease, and diabetes, result in more than 30 million deaths annually. To reduce the burden of NCDs on global health, current public health actions stress the importance of preventing, detecting, and correcting modifiable risk factors; controlling major modifiable risk factors has been shown to effectively reduce NCD mortality. The World Health Organization's World Health Report 2002 identified tobacco use, alcohol consumption, overweight, physical inactivity, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol as the most important risk factors for NCDs. Accordingly, the present report set out to review the prevalence and trends of these modifiable risk factors in the Korean population. Over the past few decades, we observed significant risk factor modifications of improved blood pressure control and decreased smoking rate. However, hypertension and cigarette smoking remained the most contributable factors of NCDs in the Korean population. Moreover, other major modifiable risk factors show no improvement or even worsened. The current status and trends in major modifiable risk factors reinforce the importance of prevention, detection, and treatment of risk factors in reducing the burden of NCDs on individuals and society.
Alcohol Drinking/adverse effects/epidemiology/prevention & control ; Chronic Disease/epidemiology/*prevention & control ; Female ; Humans ; Hypercholesterolemia/complications/epidemiology/prevention & control ; Hypertension/complications/epidemiology/prevention & control ; Male ; Overweight/complications/epidemiology/prevention & control ; Prevalence ; *Public Health Practice ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Risk Factors ; Sedentary Lifestyle ; Smoking/adverse effects/epidemiology/prevention & control ; World Health Organization

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the effect of 3-month kale (Brassica oleracea acephala) juice supplementation on coronary artery disease risk factors among hypercholesterolemic men.

METHODSThirty-two men with hypercholesterolemia (> 200 mg/dL) were recruited after annual health examinations among the faculty and staff at university. The subjects consumed 150 mL of kale juice per day for a 12-week intervention period. Dietary and anthropometric assessments were performed and blood samples were collected to evaluate biochemical profiles before and after supplementation.

RESULTSSerum concentrations of HDL-cholesterol, and HDL- to LDL-cholesterol ratio were significantly increased by 27% (P<0.0001) and 52% (P<0.0001), respectively. The LDL-cholesterol concentration and the atherogenic index were significantly reduced by 10% (P=0.0007) and 24.2% (P<0.0001), respectively without affecting body mass index, waist and hip circumferences, or nutrient intakes after three months of supplementation. While there was no difference in the concentration of malondialdehyde, significant increase in glutathione peroxidase activity (P=0.0005) were accompanied by a significant increase in the serum selenium level (P=0.0132). It was also found that the responses of these risk factors to kale juice administration were dependent on smoking status.

CONCLUSIONRegular meals supplementation with kale juice can favorably influence serum lipid profiles and antioxidant systems, and hence contribute to reduce the risks of coronary artery disease in male subjects with hyperlipidemia.

Adult ; Antioxidants ; metabolism ; Beverages ; Brassica ; Cholesterol, HDL ; blood ; Cholesterol, LDL ; blood ; Coronary Artery Disease ; complications ; epidemiology ; prevention & control ; Glutathione Peroxidase ; blood ; Humans ; Hypercholesterolemia ; complications ; Lipid Peroxidation ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Risk Factors ; Spectrophotometry, Atomic ; Trace Elements ; blood

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to identify and assess the factors related to the awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension based on jurisdictional areas of primary health care posts in a rural community of Korea. METHODS: This study was performed on 4598 adults aged over 30 years in a rural community and we measured their blood pressure (BP) from October. 2007 to August. 2009. Hypertension is defined as a condition characterized by a systolic BP > or =140 mmHg, a diastolic BP > or =90 mmHg or reported treatment with antihypertensive medications. We analyzed the factors related with the prevalence, awareness, treatment and control of hypertension using chi-square test and multivariate logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: The age-adjusted prevalence of hypertension was 34.7%. The age-adjusted rates of hypertension awareness, treatment and control were 50.6%, 93.9% and 64.1%, respectively. Awareness of hypertension was related with increasing age. Higher awareness was found among men who were felt more stress, were obese and had hypercholesterolemia, and among women who were regulary taking medicine for hypertension, were obese and had diabetes mellitus. In women, the hypertension treatment was related a Medical aid and education for hypertension management. Controlled hypertension was more common among men who were educated about the management of hypertension and among women who had hypercholesterolemia. CONCLUSIONS: The awareness of hypertension was low and the control of hypertension was high compared with the nationwide data (KNHANES 2005). The results suggest that understanding the characteristics of hypertension in a community is important to perform a community based hypertension control program.
Adult ; Age Factors ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Ambulatory Care Facilities ; Antihypertensive Agents/therapeutic use ; Blood Pressure ; Diabetes Complications ; Female ; Humans ; Hypercholesterolemia/complications ; Hypertension/drug therapy/epidemiology/*prevention & control ; Interviews as Topic ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Obesity/complications ; Republic of Korea ; Risk Factors ; Rural Population ; Sex Factors ; Stress, Psychological/complications