OBJECTIVE: This study is focused on providing baseline data to help and guide unmarried mothers throughout their pregnancy and delivery. METHODS: We surveyed 165 unmarried mothers who gave birth from January, 2003 to December, 2006 at Seoul Red Cross Hospital. They were divided into three age groups; 10's group, 20's group, and 30's to 40's group, and obstetric and social aspects of each group was analyzed with Chi-square test (x2), ANOVA, using SPSS (Ver. 10.0) verified with 95% of significance level. RESULTS: In this study, 61.1% of all unmarried mothers were in their 20's. Unmarried mothers were examined on the average 3.88 times before giving birth and 53.3% of them recognized their pregnancy before 3 months gestation. Unmarried mothers depend upon, mass communication such as the internet for medical information. Cesarean section rate was 21.8%, and the older the unmarried mothers are, the higher it gets. 22.2% of unmarried mothers have a higher education background; presently college students or above. Their smoking rate was 53.3%, which means more than half of them have smoked. 70.3% of the mothers in the survey wanted their children to be adopted after delivery. CONCLUSION: In this time of lowering birth rates, we should reconsider today's fragmentary welfare policies which only provide financial aid for delivery. It is necessary to provide welfare services which can cover delivery and rearing as well, so unmarried mothers choose to bring up their own children instead of sending the children off for adoption.
Birth Rate ; Cesarean Section ; Child ; Education ; Female ; Humans ; Illegitimacy* ; Internet ; Mothers ; Parturition ; Pregnancy* ; Red Cross ; Seoul ; Single Person* ; Smoke ; Smoking

Background: Few studies have investigated the association between Behçet disease (BD) and cardiovascular disease (CVD). The aim of this study was to investigate the risk of various CVDs in patients with BD. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the risk of various CVD in patients with BD. Methods: Between 2003 and 2015, we performed a retrospective cohort study involving patients with BD selected from Korea’s National Health Insurance Service-National Sample Cohort database and age- and sex-matched controls. Age- and sex-matched controls were selected randomly from the NHIS-NSC database at a frequency of 1:5. Results: Among the 998 patients with BD and the 4,990 controls studied, patients with BD showed significantly higher risk for angina pectoris (adjusted Hazard Ratio [HR] 1.522, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.020∼2.273;p=0.04) and peripheral arterial disease (adjusted HR 2.939, 95% CI 1.296∼6.664; p=0.01) than the controls. The cumulative incidence rates of these diseases in patients with BD were also significantly higher than those in the controls. Conclusion Patients with BD showed independent risk for angina pectoris and peripheral arterial disease.

Lead, which is widely used in industry, is a common element found in low concentrations in the Earth's crust. Implementations to reduce environmental lead concentrations have resulted in a considerable reduction of lead levels in the environment (air) and a sustained reduction in the blood lead levels of the average citizen. However, people are still being exposed to lead through a variety of routes in everyday commodities. Lead causes health problems such as toxicity of the liver, kidneys, hematopoietic system, and nervous system. Having a carcinogenic risk as well, the IARC classifies inorganic lead compounds as probably carcinogenic to humans (Group 2A). Occupational lead poisonings have decreased due to the efforts to reduce the lead concentrations in the working environment. In contrast, health hazards associated with long-term environmental exposure to low concentrations of lead have been reported steadily. In particular, chronic exposure to low concentrations of lead has been reported to induce cognitive behavioral disturbances in children. It is almost impossible to remove lead completely from the human body, and it is not easy to treat health hazards due to lead exposure. Therefore, reduction and prevention of lead exposure are very important. We reviewed the toxicity and health hazards, monitoring and evaluation, and management of lead exposure.
Antioxidants ; Child ; Environmental Exposure ; Hematopoietic System ; Human Body ; Humans ; Kidney ; Lead Poisoning ; Liver ; Nervous System

Mercury occurs in various chemical forms, and it is different to health effects according to chemical forms. In consideration of the point, the evaluation of the mercury exposure to human distinguished from occupational and environmental exposure. With strict to manage occupational exposure in factory, it is declined mercury intoxication cases by metallic and inorganic mercury inhalation to occupational exposure. It is increasing to importance in environmental exposure and public health. The focus on the health impact of exposure to mercury is more on chronic, low or moderate grade exposure—albeit a topic of great controversy—, not high concentration exposure by methylmercury, which caused Minamata disease. Recently, the issue of mercury toxicity according to the mercury exposure level, health effects as well as the determination of what mercury levels affect health are in the spotlight and under active discussion. Evaluating the health effects and Biomarker of mercury exposure and establishing diagnosis and treatment standards are very difficult. It can implement that evaluating mercury exposure level for diagnosis by a provocation test uses chelating agent and conducting to appropriate therapy according to the result. but, indications for the therapy of chelating agents with mercury exposure have not yet been fully established. The therapy to symptomatic patients with mercury poisoning is chelating agents, combination therapy with chelating agents, plasma exchange, hemodialysis, plasmapheresis. But the further evaluations are necessary for the effects and side effects with each therapy.
Chelating Agents ; Diagnosis* ; Environmental Exposure ; Humans ; Inhalation ; Mercury Poisoning ; Mercury Poisoning, Nervous System ; Occupational Exposure ; Plasma Exchange ; Plasmapheresis ; Public Health ; Renal Dialysis