BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Vocabulary knowledge is used as a representative index of general intelligence, and is regarded as a marker for cognitive reserve in elderly people. However, vocabulary knowledge mainly depends on formal education, hence, it may not fully represent cognitive functioning in elderly people with poor educational backgrounds. Herein, we investigated whether vocabulary knowledge is a measure of general cognitive ability among normal elderly people with few years of formal education. METHODS: The association between vocabulary knowledge and general cognitive functioning was compared between 35 elderly females with very low educational attainment and 68 elderly females with higher education. RESULTS: The vocabulary knowledge was a significant predictor of general cognitive functioning in elderly individuals with more than primary education, even after controlling the effects of age and years of education. However, it was not a significant predictor of general cognitive functioning in elderly individuals with very low educational attainment. CONCLUSIONS: Vocabulary assessment was effective in estimating general cognitive functioning in elderly individuals who received ≥6 years of education. Our findings suggested that vocabulary knowledge may not be an effective proxy of premorbid intelligence or cognitive reserve in people who have not completed elementary schooling.
Aged* ; Cognitive Aging ; Cognitive Reserve ; Education ; Female ; Humans ; Intelligence ; Proxy ; Vocabulary*

OBJECTIVE: The cognitive reserve theory explicates individual differences observed in the clinical manifestation of dementia despite similar brain pathology. Education, a popular proxy of the cognitive reserve, has been shown to have protective effects delaying the onset of clinical symptoms including memory. This study was conducted to test whether education can moderate the negative effect of depressive mood on memory performance in elderly women residing in the community. METHODS: 29 elderly “unschooled” female (less than 6 years of formal education) and 49 “schooled” female (6 or more years) people were compared with regard to association between depressive mood and verbal memory functioning, which were measured by the Geriatric Depression Scale and the Elderly Verbal Learning Test, respectively. RESULTS: The results showed that completing or receiving more than primary school education significantly reduced the negative association between depressive mood and memory performance. Participants who did not complete primary schooling showed a decline in memory test scores depending on the level of depressive mood; whereas participants who have completed or received more than primary education displayed relatively stable memory function despite varying level of depressive mood. CONCLUSION: Our findings imply that education in early life may have protective effects against memory impairment related to elderly depression.
Aged ; Brain ; Cognitive Aging ; Cognitive Reserve ; Dementia ; Depression ; Education ; Female ; Humans ; Individuality ; Memory ; Pathology ; Protective Factors ; Proxy ; Verbal Learning

The purpose of this study was to examine the association among bone mineral density (BMD), biochemical bone markers, nutrients, and salt intake in premenopausal and postmenopausal women. We evaluated 431 subjects who visited a health promotion center of a university hospital between January 2008 and July 2009. We excluded those who were taking medications or who had an endocrine disorder affecting osteoporosis. The subjects were divided into premenopausal (n = 283) and postmenopausal (n = 143) women. We evaluated the correlation among BMD of the lumbar spine, femoral neck, and total femoral, as well as biochemical bone markers, hormone, serum profiles, general characteristics, nutrient intakes, and food intake frequencies. From a stepwise multiple regression analysis, lumbar spine BMD was positively correlated with weight (p < 0.001) and negatively correlated with osteocalcin (OC)(p < 0.001), Femoral neck BMD was positively correlated with weight (p < 0.001) and negatively correlated with C-telopeptide (CTx) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP)(p < 0.001, p < 0.05). In premenopausal women, femoral total BMD was positively correlated with BMI (p < 0.001) and negatively correlated with CTx (p < 0.001). In postmenopausal women, lumbar spine BMD was positively correlated with calcium intake (p < 0.01) and negatively correlated with sodium intake (p < 0.01). Femoral neck and femoral total BMD were both positively correlated with weight (p < 0.001), and femoral neck BMD was negatively correlated with age and ALP (p < 0.001, p < 0.05). Femoral total BMD was negatively correlated with age and OC (p < 0.001, p < 0.01). These results suggest that reducing sodium intake may play an important role delaying bone resorption and preventing a decrease in BMD.
Alkaline Phosphatase ; Bone Density ; Bone Resorption ; Calcium ; Collagen Type I ; Eating ; Female ; Femur Neck ; Health Promotion ; Humans ; Osteocalcin ; Osteoporosis ; Peptides ; Sodium ; Spine

BACKGROUND: Numerous metatarsal osteotomies have been developed for the treatment of Freiberg's disease. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical outcomes of modified Weil osteotomy in the treatment of Freiberg's disease. METHODS: From November 2001 to July 2008, nineteen patients (twenty feet), treated surgically for Freiberg's disease, were included in this study. The average age of the patients was 33.6 years (range, 17 to 62 years), the mean follow-up period was 71.6 months (range, 41 to 121 months). Clinical outcomes were evaluated according to visual analogue scale (VAS), American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) lesser metatarsophalangeal-interphalangeal scale, the patients' subjective satisfaction and range of motion (ROM) of metatarsophalangeal (MTP) joint. In the radiologic evaluation, initial metatarsal shortening by Freiberg's disease compared to opposite site, metatarsal shortening after modified Weil osteotomy compared with preoperative radiography and term for radiologic union were observed. RESULTS: VAS showed improvement from 6.2 +/- 1.4 to 1.4 +/- 1.5 at last follow-up (p < 0.0001). Points of AOFAS score increased from 63.3 +/- 14.9 to 80.4 +/- 5.6 (p < 0.0001). ROM of MTP joints also improved from 31.3 +/- 10.1 to 48.3 +/- 13.0 degrees at last follow-up (p < 0.0001). According to Smillie's classification system, there was no significant improvement of VAS, AOFAS score and ROM between early stages (stage I, II, and III) and late stages (stage IV and V). Out of twenty cases, nineteen (95%) were satisfied, reporting excellent or good results. CONCLUSIONS: Modified Weil osteotomy is believed to be a useful method for the treatment of Freiberg's disease, not only in the early stages but also in the late stages. It relieves pain and improves function via shortening of metatarsals and restoration of MTP joint congruency.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Metatarsal Bones/pathology/radiography/surgery ; Metatarsus/abnormalities/pathology/radiography/surgery ; Middle Aged ; Osteochondritis/*congenital/pathology/radiography/surgery ; Osteotomy/*methods ; Pain Measurement ; Range of Motion, Articular ; Statistics, Nonparametric ; Treatment Outcome

The objective of this study is to evaluate short-term results of total laparoscopic hysterectomy with those of total abdominal hysterectomy and laparoscopically assisted vaginal hysterectomy in a retrospective study. We compared patient's age, mean uterine weight, total operating time, length of hospital stay and perioperative hemoglobin concentration change between total laparoscopic hysterectomy (300 patients) and total abdominal hysterectomy (100 patients) and laparoscopically assisted vaginal hysterectomy (52 patients). There were no differences in terms of patient's age, parity between the three groups. There were 7 minor complications in the laparoscopically assisted vaginal hysterectomy group compared with 9 minor complications in the abdominal hysterectomy group and 14 minor complications in the total laparoscopic hysterectomy group (P not significant). The length of hospital stay was significantly shorter for total laparoscopic hysterectomy than laparoscopically assisted vaginal hysterectomy and total abdominal hysterectomy (p<.001). This study demonstrates that laparoscopic-assisted vaginal hysterectomy and total laparoscopic hysterectomy appears to be as safe as laparotomy and may replace abdominal hysterectomy in most patients and generally has the advantage of shorter hospital stay and earlier return to normal activities.
Female ; Humans ; Hysterectomy* ; Hysterectomy, Vaginal* ; Laparotomy ; Length of Stay ; Parity ; Retrospective Studies

Accelerated idioventricular rhythm is defined as a ventricular rhythm of 60-100 beats per minute or a ventricular tachycardia that does nor exceed 120 beats per minutes. Although, it rarely converts to a fatal arrhythmia like ventricular fibrillation, it needs to be differentiated from AIVR, which is from another origin. AIVR may occur due to ischemic heart disease (ST elevated myocardial infarction), cardiomyopathy, rheumatic fever and digitalis intoxication. We report here on a case of AIVR that was related to desflurane administration.
Accelerated Idioventricular Rhythm ; Anesthesia ; Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; Cardiomyopathies ; Digitalis ; Isoflurane ; Methyl Ethers ; Myocardial Ischemia ; Rheumatic Fever ; Tachycardia, Ventricular ; Ventricular Fibrillation

Muscle atrophy is characterized by the loss of muscle function. Many efforts are being made to prevent muscle atrophy, and exercise is an important alternative. Methylglyoxal is a well-known causative agent of metabolic diseases and diabetic complications.This study aimed to evaluate whether methylglyoxal induces muscle atrophy and to evaluate the ameliorative effect of moderateintensity aerobic exercise in a methylglyoxal-induced muscle atrophy animal model. Each mouse was randomly divided into three groups: control, methylglyoxal-treated, and methylglyoxal-treated within aerobic exercise. In the exercise group, each mouse was trained on a treadmill for 2 weeks. On the last day, all groups were evaluated for several atrophic behaviors and skeletal muscles, including the soleus, plantaris, gastrocnemius, and extensor digitorum longus were analyzed. In the exercise group, muscle mass was restored, causing in attenuation of muscle atrophy. The gastrocnemius and extensor digitorum longus muscles showed improved fiber cross-sectional area and reduced myofibrils. Further, they produced regulated atrophy-related proteins (i.e., muscle atrophy F-box, muscle RING-finger protein-1, and myosin heavy chain), indicating that aerobic exercise stimulated their muscle sensitivity to reverse skeletal muscle atrophy. In conclusion, shortness of the gastrocnemius caused by methylglyoxal may induce the dynamic imbalance of skeletal muscle atrophy, thus methylglyoxal may be a key target for treating skeletal muscle a

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate clinical outcomes of sodium tetradecyl sulphate (STS) sclerotherapy for conservative treatment of lateral malleolar bursitis of the ankle. Methods: We reviewed data from 20 consecutive patients (20 ankles) who underwent STS sclerotherapy between August 2018 and June 2019. After aspiration of fluid from the lateral malleolar bursal sac, 2 mL (20 mg) STS was injected into the sac. Clinical outcomes and side effects and complications were evaluated at 2 weeks, 3 months, 1 year, and 2 years after sclerotherapy. Responses to treatment were assessed according to degree of fluctuation, shrinkage of the bursal sac, and soft-tissue swelling. The 36-item short form survey (SF-36) was completed for each patient before and after therapy. Results: Complete response was observed in 17 patients (85%), and partial response was observed in 3 patients (15%) after STS sclerotherapy. SF-36 physical component scores improved from 62.2 (interquartile range, 5.2) before therapy to 70.0 (interquartile range, 7.9) at last follow-up (p < 0.05). One patient (5%) experienced transient hyperpigmentation at the injection site. No major complications occurred. Conclusions STS sclerotherapy was an effective and safe treatment for patients with lateral malleolar bursitis of the ankle.

OBJECTIVE: Memory Impairment has been proposed as the first sign in preclinical and early Alzheimer's disease (AD). This study aims to assess the utility of a new memory test based on Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test using pattern cue that seems useful for detecting memory impairments associated with AD. METHODS: Twenty-six patients with mild cognitive impairment, 24 AD patients at a mild stage, 35 normal controls and 8 Lewybody dementia (LBD) patients at a mild stage took part in the study. A newly devised Pattern Cued Recall Test (PCRT) was compared with established memory test, the word list recall from the Korean version of the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Packet (CERAD-K). To assess the ability of the PCRT subtests and CERAD-K to screen dementia, receiver operating characteristic curves were plotted. RESULTS: The distinctive feature of the PCRT was that encoding specificity was increased by adding an immediate cued recall stage at the encoding phase. PCRT was confirmed as having sufficient validity to diagnose dementias. Compared to CERAD-K, the PCRT had similar accuracy of discriminating AD. But the analysis showed better diagnostic validity of PCRT than CERAD-K in LBD. Therefore, this test appears to be, especially, well suited for the diagnosis of mild LBD. CONCLUSION: This study showed that a memory test based on controlled encoding and retrieval condition and especially using pattern cue could be effective methodology for mild AD and LBD from normal control. PCRT could be an alternative to diagnose LBD by testing visual impairments, which is a hallmark symptom of LBD. Therefore, a further clinical study should be promising.
Alzheimer Disease ; Cues* ; Dementia ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Memory ; Mild Cognitive Impairment ; ROC Curve ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Vision Disorders

BACKGROUND: Melatonin has been shown to attenuate the reflex sympathetic increases that arise in response to orthostatic challenges. We tested the hypothesis that the attenuated sympathetic increase induced by melatonin premedication may weaken the arterial blood pressure (ABP) preserving the capability during acute hypotension, thereby altering dynamic cerebral autoregulation and causing a further decrease in cerebral blood flow (CBF). METHODS: Acute hypotension was induced in 12 healthy subjects by releasing bilateral thigh cuffs before and after an oral dose of melatonin (0.2 mg/kg). Heart rate (HR), arterial blood pressure (ABP), Modelflow estimate of cardiac output (CO), total peripheral resistance (TPR) and cerebral blood flow velocity (CBFV) by transcranial Doppler were measured. RESULTS: Steady state HR, the mean arterial pressure and CBFV were not altered 60 minutes after melatonin ingestion. Reduced systolic arterial pressure (DeltaSAP), changes in HR (DeltaHR), CO (DeltaCO), and TPR (DeltaTPR), DeltaHR/DeltaSAP and percentage restoration of SAP were not affected after a temporal decrease in ABP induced by thigh cuff release. In the cerebral circulation, melatonin did not affect changes in CBFV, cerebrovascular resistance index, the rate of regulation and percentage restoration of CBFV following a sudden decrease in ABP. CONCLUSIONS: Contrary to our hypothesis, melatonin did not affect the rapid vasodilatory and recovery responses of cardiovascular and dynamic cerebral autoregulation. These results suggest that melatonin premedication may not impair ABP and CBF preserving capability induced by sudden postural changes or hemorrhage.
Arterial Pressure ; Blood Flow Velocity ; Blood Pressure ; Cardiac Output ; Cerebrovascular Circulation ; Eating ; Heart Rate ; Hemorrhage ; Homeostasis ; Humans ; Hypotension ; Male ; Melatonin ; Premedication ; Reflex ; Thigh ; Vascular Resistance