Background: This study aimed to estimate the annual prevalence and incidence of urolithiasis stratified by work status based on a large nationwide sample. Methods: This study used data from the National Health Insurance Service-National Sample Cohort from 2002 to 2015. The prevalence and incidence of urolithiasis were estimated based on work status and gender stratification. The risk of urolithiasis among workers was calculated using age-standardized incidence ratio with stratification of work type. Results: The prevalence of urolithiasis was significantly higher in workers than in non-workers, especially men, during the follow-up period. The total estimated number of urolithiasis cases was 41,086 and the overall incidence of urolithiasis was 0.3%. The age-standardized incidence ratio of urolithiasis was significantly higher among the total workers (1.14; 95% confidence interval, 1.13–1.16), self-employed workers (1.08; 95% confidence interval, 1.06–1.11), and paid workers (1.19; 95% confidence interval, 1.17–1.21) than among the non-working population. Conclusions Workers, especially paid workers and men, were vulnerable to urolithiasis. Further studies are required to investigate the effects of working conditions on urolithiasis.

When stenting is applied to treat myocardial infarction, antiplatelet agents are administered to prevent thrombosis, which increases the risk of bleeding. Patients with myocardial infarction are also more likely to have osteoarthritis simultaneously, because both diseases occur frequently in elderly patients. Patients with osteoarthritis often use analgesics, especially nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs); hence, patients with both diseases use analgesics and antiplatelet agents simultaneously. The risk of bleeding increases with the use of antiplatelet agents and this is further increased when NSAIDs are added. We would like to report a case that reflects this situation. A 60-year-old man underwent stenting after ST-elevation myocardial infarction, and was treated with aspirin and clopidogrel. This patient also received a pelubiprofen prescription from another physician to treat osteoarthritis. After the patient took pelubiprofen twice, he found a bruise on his wrist and reported it to the pharmacist. It is unlikely that this is rare in community pharmacies, so pharmacists should pay careful attention to the concomitant administration of analgesics to patients receiving antiplatelet agents and should provide appropriate education to patients.
Aged ; Analgesics ; Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal ; Aspirin ; Contusions ; Education ; Hemorrhage* ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Myocardial Infarction ; Osteoarthritis ; Pharmacies ; Pharmacists ; Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors ; Prescriptions ; Stents ; Thrombosis ; Wrist

Here, we report a case of pulmonary paragonimiasis that was improved with initial anti-tuberculosis (TB) therapy but confused with reactivated pulmonary TB. A 53-year-old Chinese female presented with a persistent productive cough with foul smelling phlegm and blood streaked sputum. Radiologic findings showed subpleural cavitary consolidation in the right upper lobe (RUL). Bronchoscopic and cytological examination showed no remarkable medical feature. She was diagnosed with smear-negative TB, and her radiologic findings improved after receiving a 6-month anti-TB therapy. The chest CT scans, however, obtained at 4 months after completion of anti-TB therapy showed a newly developed subpleural consolidation in the RUL. She refused pathologic confirmation and was re-treated with anti-TB medication. Nevertheless, her chest CT scans revealed newly developed cavitary nodules at 5 months after re-treatment. She underwent thoracoscopic wedge resection; the pathological examination reported that granuloma caused by Paragonimus westermani. Paragonimiasis should also be considered in patients assessed with smear-negative pulmonary TB.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Cough ; Delayed Diagnosis* ; Female ; Granuloma ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Paragonimiasis* ; Paragonimus westermani ; Smell ; Sputum ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Tuberculosis

In Parkinson’s disease (PD) research, human neuroblastoma and immortalized neural cell lines have been widely used as in vitro models. The advancement in the field of reprogramming technology has provided tools for generating patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) as well as human induced neuronal progenitor cells (hiNPCs). These cells have revolutionized the field of disease modeling, especially in neural diseases. Although the direct reprogramming to hiNPCs has several advantages over differentiation after hiPSC reprogramming, such as the time required and the simple procedure, relatively few studies have utilized hiNPCs. Here, we optimized the protocol for hiNPC reprogramming using pluripotency factors and Sendai virus. In addition, we generated hiNPCs of two healthy donors, a sporadic PD patient, and a familial patient with the LRRK2 G2019S mutation (L2GS). The four hiNPC cell lines are highly proliferative, expressed NPC markers, maintained the normal karyotype, and have the differentiation potential of dopaminergic neurons. Importantly, the patient hiNPCs show different apoptotic marker expression. Thus, these hiNPCs, in addition to hiPSCs, are a favorable option to study PD pathology.
Cell Line ; Dopaminergic Neurons ; Fibroblasts ; Humans ; In Vitro Techniques ; Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells ; Karyotype ; Neuroblastoma ; Neurons ; Pathology ; Sendai virus ; Stem Cells ; Tissue Donors