To assess the nutritional and health status of the elderly, anthropometric measurements and blood test for analyzing biochemical indices were carried out from August to September in 1996. Data on the incidence of a specific disease and clinical symptoms were also collected by interviews with a questionnaire. Among the total of 169 free-living elderly interviewed(91 men, 78 women), 86 elderly(57 men, 29 women) participated in the anthropometric measurements, and 73 elderly(52 men, 21 women) in blood tests. Average heights and weights were much lower than the standards established in the Korean Recommended Dietary Allowances. While average triceps skinfold thickness of men and women were above the 50 percentile of the reference data, mid-arm muscle circumferences were lower than the 50 percentile. Prevalences of anemia, assessed by hemoglobin using WHO definition, were 38.5% for men and 33.3% for women. Blood levels of total protein and albumin were above the normal limit for all participants. Mean blood cholesterol levels of men and women were 163.9mg/dl and 185.8mg/dl, and triglyceride levels were 138.2mg/dl and 161.9mg/dl, respectively. Women older than 75 years generally had high levels of BMI, total cholesterol and triglyceride. Health status assessed by clinical symptoms generally showed no significant difference by age, and their smoking, and drinking habits. Males and the elderly who exercised regularly had better health status. It was suggested that exercise was a good way to improve health status.
Aged* ; Anemia ; Cholesterol ; Chungcheongbuk-do* ; Drinking ; Female ; Hematologic Tests ; Humans ; Incidence ; Male ; Nutritional Status* ; Prevalence ; Recommended Dietary Allowances ; Skinfold Thickness ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Triglycerides ; Weights and Measures ; Surveys and Questionnaires

One of the common cause of the acquired adult flat foot is posterior tibial tendon insufficiency whose etiology and development is different from that of congenital flat foot, and various methods, such as synovectomy, tendon transfer, calcaneal osteotomy and arthrodesis, can be used to treat the symptoms. The sliding calcaneal osteotomy has been recently introduced by Mark Myerson. The basic concept beneath this treatment is that by displacing distal part medially after a calcaneal osteotomy, the valgus strain in hindfoot can be relieved to place the joint back to the normal position. In order to find out the effect of the sliding calcaneal soteotomy on the flat foot, we measured the changes in the strain in the upper medial spring ligament complex underneath the talonavicular joint after the operation. Four right hand four left fresh frozen cadaver foot specimens, which included the distal half of the tibia were utilized. The spring ligament was isolated with its origin at the sustentaculum tali and insertion on the navicular. At the medial calcaneus the soft tissues were periostially dissected and a small incision was made over the lateral calcaneus for the purpose of visualization. For each specimen a calibrated open liquid metal strain gauge was secured at the origin and insertion of the ligament with superglue and the gauge was sutured along the length of the superomedial portion of the spring ligament complex allowing for the gauge to slide freely. A tibial rod was driven into the intramedullary canal and the foot was always placed in the neutral plantigrade position in the test fig such that the rod was vertical at all times. A initial strain measurement was obtained with only the weight of the platform (19.6N) on the tibia. Weights were added in 7 increments to a total 472 Newton and strains were recorded. Three trials were conducted. The specimens were then removed from the rig and an oblique osteotomy were conducted. A repeated measures analysis of variance showed a significant (p < 0.001) reduction in strain following the osteotomy. To conclude, the direct measurements support the concept that a calcaneal osteotomy provides an alteration which is favorable to unloading the medial arch.
Adult ; Arthrodesis ; Cadaver ; Calcaneus ; Flatfoot ; Foot ; Hand ; Humans ; Joints ; Ligaments ; Osteotomy ; Posterior Tibial Tendon Dysfunction ; Tendon Transfer ; Tibia ; Weights and Measures

The present study was undertaken to investigate the effect of ethanol administration on the resistance of mice to Cryptococcus neoformans, IL-2 production of murine splenocytes, active systemic anaphylaxis induced by ovalbumin (OVA), serum TNF-alpha production, nitric oxide (NO) production by peritoneal machrophages and B16F10 melanoma colonization in lungs in mice. It was found that ethanol administration significantly inhibited the resistance of mice to C. neoformans infection, IL-2 production, active systemic anaphylaxis induction, serum TNF- alpha production and NO production. Ethanol administration significantly enhanced lung colonization when it was administered before i.v. melanoma inoculation. These results demonstrate that ethanol may play a critical role in tumorigenesis and immunoregulation as an immunomodulator.
Anaphylaxis* ; Animals ; Carcinogenesis ; Colon ; Cryptococcus neoformans ; Cytokines* ; Ethanol ; Interleukin-2 ; Lung ; Melanoma* ; Mice ; Nitric Oxide* ; Ovalbumin ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha

No abstract available.
Urinary Tract Infections* ; Urinary Tract*

We present a case of carcinoma erysipelatoides which or iginated from an internal organ. The patient was a 50 year-old female who had peritoneal carcinomatosis, She presented an erythematous lesion resembling erysipelas on her right breast. Histopathologic findings were consistent with metastatic adenocarcinoma but clinically it was not associated with carcinoma of the breast.
Adenocarcinoma ; Breast ; Carcinoma ; Erysipelas ; Female ; Humans ; Middle Aged

Haglunds deformity is a prominence at posterosuperior portion of the calcaneus. Extrinsic irritation on this prominence can give rise to retrocalcaneal bursitis or Achilles tendinitis. Partial resection of the posterosuperior aspect of the calcaneus was performed on 7 heels with Haglunds disease. All patients were reviewed both by radiographic examination and by questionnaire after an average 14.5 months. All but one patient showed an excellent result in a view point of pain relief. The average passive dorsiflexion angle of the ankle was improved from 5 to 25 degree, postoperatively. There was no complication such as recurrence, wound problem or paresthesia.
Ankle ; Bursitis ; Calcaneus ; Congenital Abnormalities ; Heel ; Humans ; Paresthesia ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Recurrence ; Tendinopathy ; Wounds and Injuries

No abstract available.
Muscular Diseases*

No abstract available.
Animals ; Female ; Hysterectomy* ; Ovariectomy* ; Rats* ; Spine* ; Tibia*

Capsaicin, the pungent principle of hot peppers, is a neurotoxin that depletes unmyelinated primary sensory neurons (polymodal nociceptors) of neuropeptides like tachykinins. However, the role of capsaicin-sensitive sensory nerve in the production of cytokines, penicillin V (PEV)-induced active fatal anaphylaxis and other immune responses is not yet fully established. Neonatal mice were pretreated s.c. with a single injection of 10 ug of capsaicin per mouse in volume of 20 ul within 5 days of age. Using 5-8 week old mice pretreated as neonates with capsaicin, the capsaicin- pretreated and vehicle-treated control mice were examined for various parameters of immune responses described above. For the induction of active fatal anaphylaxis with PEV, 8 week old mice pretreated as neonates and age-matched capsaicin- untreated control mice were sensitized i.p. with 500 ug of PEV-ovalbumin conjugate plus 2*10(9) B. pertussis and 1.0 mg alum and challenged i.v. with PEV-bovine serum albumin conjugate 14 days later. It was found that neonatal capsaicin-pretreatment significantly enhanced contact hypersensitivity to TNCB and hemagglutination response to SRBC, but significantly inhibited the proliferation response of rnurine splenocyte to Con A and LPS. Interestingly, neonatal capsaicin pretreatment significantly inhibited the intensity of PEV-induced active fatal anaphylaxis and decreased the mortality due to anaphylactic shock. It also significantly inhibited LPS- induced production of cytokines such as TNF-a, IL-1B, IL-6, IL-10, and IL-12. The capsaicin-pretreatment also resulted in an inhibition of the activation of NF-kB. Taken together, these data showed for the first time that neonatal capsaicin-pretreatment significantly inhibited an antibiotic (PEV)-induced anaphylaxis and production of various cytokines, and suggest that capsaicin-sensitive primary sensory nerve may play an important regulatory role in active fatal anaphylaxis and cytokine production, thus potentially presenting tools for immune intervention. In particular, the data presented also indicated the possibility to selectively down-modulate cytokine production and NF-kB activation may offer a broad application for therapeutic intervention in neuroimmunological diseases and other pathological situations.
Anaphylaxis ; Animals ; Capsaicin* ; Cytokines ; Denervation* ; Dermatitis, Contact ; Hemagglutination ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Interleukin-10 ; Interleukin-12 ; Interleukin-6 ; Mice ; Mortality ; Neuropeptides ; NF-kappa B ; Penicillin V ; Sensory Receptor Cells ; Serum Albumin ; Tachykinins ; Whooping Cough

No abstract available.
Pelvic Bones*