BACKGROUND: Socio-economic factors, culture, and the health care delivery system are all associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, their significance and prevalence in Korea have not been precisely determined. The purposes of this study were to identify factors related to increased CVD risk among Koreans, and compare the results with those of previous studies. METHODS: This study is an analysis of secondary data collected through the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. For the purposes of this research, CVD is defined as medically diagnosed hypertension, stroke, angina, and myocardial infarction. Of the 38,746 survey participants, we analyzed 4,727 subjects who suffered from CVD. RESULTS: Before the age of 50, men have a greater risk of CVD than women while a woman's risk of CVD after 50 begins to rise with age. Socioeconomic factors such as education, income, single living pattern, chronic kidney disease (CKD), diabetes mellitus (DM), depression, rheumatic arthritis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, body mass index and waist circumference, lipids, physical activity, and diet are all associated with the prevalence of CVD. A multi-variate analysis demonstrated that CKD (odds ratio, OR=5.266, P<0.001) and DM (OR=2.872, P<0.001) are the strongest independent predictors of CVD among Koreans. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of CVD among Korean was about 12.2%. While most risk factors had similar influence on the development of CVD, depression, CKD, and DM showed stronger correlations than those seen in studies performed in other countries. Our results show that a greater importance should be placed on strict and early management of these diseases.
Body Mass Index ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; Chronic Disease ; Delivery of Health Care ; Depression ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Diet ; Female ; Health Promotion ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Korea ; Male ; Motor Activity ; Myocardial Infarction ; Nutrition Surveys ; Prevalence ; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive ; Renal Insufficiency, Chronic ; Rheumatic Fever ; Risk Factors ; Socioeconomic Factors ; Stroke ; Waist Circumference

No abstract available.
Carcinoma, Transitional Cell*

BACKGROUND: Proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells(VSMC) is a critical event in the development of atherosclerosis. Endothelin-1(ET-1), a vasoconstrictor peptide produced by endothelial cells and VSMC, might play a role in vascular remodeling. To investigate the proposed 'mitogenic' potential of ET-1, we examined the effects of ET-1 on the proliferation if cultured porcine aortic VSMC and on the potential synergism with platelet-derived growth factor(PDGF). MATERIALS AND METHODS: VSMC were obtained from porcine aorta and cultured in Dulbecco's modified Eagle medium supplmented with 10% fetal bovine serum(FBS). VSMC grown subconfluently in 12-well plate were stimulated by ET-1, PDGF, and ET-1 & PDGF and DNA synthesis was determined as the uptake of 3H-thymidine into cell cultures. We also examined the effects of BQ123, a selective ETA receptor antagonist, and NG-methyl-L-arginine(NMLA), a nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitor. RESULTS: ET-1 elicited a 2.5-fold increase of cultured VSMC DNA synthesis, comparing with basal medium, and PDGF elicited a 4.8-fold increase, whereas ET-1 and PDGF elicited a 8.8-fold increase, showing synergistic effect. Proliferative activity of ET-1 on VSMC was blocked(39%) by BQ123, however, the synergistic effect of ET-1 and PDGF was not blocked by BQ123. The synergistic effect of ET-1 and PDGF was increased when co-stimulated with NMLA. CONCLUSION: ET-1 is a co-mitogen for VSMC from porcine aorta, whose proliferative activity requires serum or other growth factors such as PDGF for its maximal activity. The proliferative activity of ET-1 is considered to be transduced partly by selective activation of the ETA receptor, however, the synergistic effect of of ET-1 and PDGF is to be stimulated by non-ETA receptor.
Aorta ; Atherosclerosis ; Cell Culture Techniques ; Cell Proliferation* ; DNA ; Eagles ; Endothelial Cells ; Endothelin-1* ; Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins ; Muscle, Smooth, Vascular* ; Nitric Oxide Synthase

There has been an increase in the incidence of elevator-related accidents in the Republic of Korea. Every year, approximately 10~20 elevator-related fatalities are reported in the Republic of Korea. According to research from the United States, 'falls' were the most common cause of death, followed by 'caught in/between'. In such investigations, it is important to distinguish between the manners of death. Herein, we report an elevator-related fatality, which required careful forensic investigation to determine the cause of death. A thorough forensic autopsy and reinvestigation of the death scene by medical examiners were required to determine if the death was caused as a result of the deceased falling from from a height or being caught in between the elevator and the wall of building.
Autopsy ; Cause of Death ; Coroners and Medical Examiners ; Elevators and Escalators ; Humans ; Incidence ; Republic of Korea ; United States

BACKGROUND: Studies of human coronary plaque specimens have shown that T lymphocytes and macrophages are present in all types of lesions, from fatty streaks to advanced plaques. There is growing evidence for a pathogenic role for immune response in progression of atherosclerosis. This study was designed to investigate cytokine production by mononuclear leukocytes from patients with myocardial infarction. METHOD: We measured the kinetics of secretion of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interferon-r (IFN-r) by mononuclear leukocytes from 8 control subjects and 12 patients with acute myocardial infarction. Mononuclear leukocytes were isolated and incubated with plant lectin mitogen concanavalin-A for 24 and 48 hours. TNF-alpha and IFN-r secretions were measured by ELISA. RESULTS:There were no significant differences between TNF-alpha and IFN-r secretions by mononuclear leukocytes at and before 24 hours of incubation from both patients and control subjects, but TNF-alpha and IFN-r secretions at 48 hours of incubation were higher (p<0.005, p<0.05) in patients when compared with control subjects. TNF-alpha and IFN-r secretions by mononuclear leukocytes after incubation correlated with the peak level of creatine phosphokinase (CK) and CK-MB. CONCLUSION: Increased cytokine secretory capacity of mononuclear leukocytes may be due to the acute inflammatory response of myocardial infarction. Further trials may be needed to determined the effects of increase in secretory capacity of mononuclear leukocytes before myocardial infarction.
Atherosclerosis ; Creatine Kinase ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Humans ; Kinetics ; Leukocytes, Mononuclear* ; Macrophages ; Myocardial Infarction* ; Plants ; T-Lymphocytes ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha*

BACKGROUND: Most studies of Mycoplasma pneumonia involve a group of admitted patients in hospital, usually with major medical illness. So we investigated the epidemiologic and radiologic features during the course of outbreak of pneumonia in Chunnam coastal area. METHODS: We retrospectively studied the epidemiologic and clinical feature of 105 patients with serologically proven Mycoplasma pneumonia treated at Kwang-Yang Hospital during a epidemic period of Jun. 1993 to Dec. 1993. All cases of pneumonia developed in this period were also reviewed and compared with serologically proven group. RESULTS: 1) There were 63 males and 42 females. 2) More than half(57%) of cases belonged to 5-9 years of age group, and mean age was 6.5 years old. Mean age was steadily decreased as prevalence of Mycoplasma pneumonia had been subsided. 3) A major determinant of the outbreak seemed to .to the population density rather than the population size. 4) The common radiologic features were interstitial in type, and 67 cases was restricted to one lobe. Lobar types are more common in late childhood, and interstitial or diffuse types in early childhood. CONCLUSION: These epidemiologic and radiographic characteristics would contribute to the diagnosis of Mycoplasma pneumonia.
Diagnosis ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Mycoplasma pneumoniae* ; Mycoplasma* ; Pneumonia* ; Pneumonia, Mycoplasma* ; Population Density ; Prevalence ; Retrospective Studies

We report unusual 3 cases of adult coronary arteriovenous fistula(CAVF) diagnosed by coronary arteriography in Soonchunhyang University Hospital. In one patient with mitral stenoinsufficiency, multiple CAVFs originated from left anterior descending and left circumflex coronary areries. In another patient with significant stenosis(90%) in distal right coronary artery, new CAVF was seen in mid right coronary artery during consecutive coronary arteriography. In the remaining one, it was arose from contus branch of right coronary artery. Surgical correction was performed in two cases.
Adult* ; Angiography ; Arteriovenous Fistula* ; Coronary Vessels ; Humans

No abstract available.
Extracellular Matrix* ; Glucose* ; Mesangial Cells*

In order to understand epidemiologic characteristics of dioxins related health impacts, 107 diox in-related literatures published up to May, 1993 were thoroughly reviewed. The results obtained are as follows: 1. Review studies on dioxins can be classified into two types : one is studies concentrated on one specific subject related to dioxins such as the effects on skin, birth outcomes, metabolic machanisms in the human body, major sources of exposure to the general population, immunotoxicity, association between dioxins and cancers, and research methods on effects of dioxins. The other is review studies dealing with overall aspects of dioxins, among which the report published by Academy of Science of United Stateds of America in 1993 is the most recent one. 2. Judging by consistency of results and biological plausibility, there were three groups of diseases ; diseases having causal relationship, having possibilities of causal relationship, and having no causal relationship for the time being. 1) The diseases showing causal relationship were lung cancer, Hodgkin 'disease, non-Hodgkin 'lymphoma, soft tissue sarcoma, chlordane, and polyneuropathy 2) the diseases showing possibilities of causal relationship were stomach cancer, lymphatic and haematopoietic cancer, multiple myeloma, skin cancer, diseases of digestive system, and CNS deformity among children born to the people exposed. 3) The diseases showing no causal relationship were oral and laryngeat cancer, esophageal cancer, prostate cancer, kidney cancer, bladder cancer, brain and CNS cancer, diseases of circulatory and respiratory systems. There were numerous diseases of digestive system, which showed difficulty in establishing definite causal relationship owing to the lack of consistency among researchers. 3. Even though papers dealt with dioxinrelated mortality and morbidity studies showed high mortality rate from accident, biological plausibility explaining causal relationship between them should be sought further. 4. There was a high prevalence of hearing loss among Vietnam veterans, and it seemed rather related to the explosive noise in combat than dioxin itself. 5. The current TCDD levels of Vietnam veterans were almost the same as those of the general population.
Americas ; Brain Neoplasms ; Child ; Chlordan ; Citrus sinensis* ; Congenital Abnormalities ; Digestive System ; Dioxins ; Esophageal Neoplasms ; Hearing Loss ; Human Body ; Humans ; Kidney Neoplasms ; Lung Neoplasms ; Mortality ; Multiple Myeloma ; Noise ; Parturition ; Polyneuropathies ; Prevalence ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; Respiratory System ; Sarcoma ; Skin ; Skin Neoplasms ; Stomach Neoplasms ; Tetrachlorodibenzodioxin ; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms ; Veterans ; Vietnam

We provide the reader with a brief introduction to the neurobiology of neuropeptides. Several comprehensive reviews of the distribution and neurochemical. neurophysiological. neuropharmacological and behavioral effects of the major neuropeptides have recently appeared. In reviews of the large number of neuropeptides in brain and their occurance in brain regions thought to be involved in the pathogenesis of major psychiatric disorders, investigators have sought to determine whether alternations in neuropeptide systems are associated with schizophrenia, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, alcoholism and neurodegenerative disease. There is no longer any doubt that neuropeptide-containing are altered in several neuropsychiatric disorders. One of the factors that has hindered neuropeptide research to a considerable extent is the lack of pharmacological agents that specifically alter the synaptic availability of neuropeptides. With the exception of naloxone and naltrexone, the opiate-receptor antagonists, there are few available neuropeptide-receptor antagonists. Two independent classes of neuropeptide-receptor antagonists has been expected to be clinically useful. Naltrexone a potent micro-receptor antagonist has been used successfully to reduce the need for alcohol consumption. And cholecycstokinin antagonists are now in development as a new class of anxiolytics, which would be expected to be free from tolerance and physical dependence and lack of sedation. In this review, we deal with these two kinds of neuropeptide system, the opioid system and cholesystokinins in the brain. The role of opioid systems in the reinforcement after alcohol consumtion and that of cholesystokinins in the pathogenesis of anxiety will be discussed briefly. As we know, the future for neuropeptides in psychiatry remains bright indeed.
Alcohol Drinking ; Alcoholism ; Anti-Anxiety Agents ; Anxiety ; Anxiety Disorders ; Brain ; Cholecystokinin* ; Endorphins* ; Humans ; Mood Disorders ; Naloxone ; Naltrexone ; Neurobiology ; Neurodegenerative Diseases ; Neuropeptides* ; Panic ; Research Personnel ; Schizophrenia