Objectives: This study aimed at investigating the pharmacological and physiological effects of cannabidiol (CBD) oil on weight loss in diet-induced obese (DIO) mice. Methods: A DIO mice model was constructed with 33 C57BL/6 male mice, aged six weeks, who had been fed a high-fat diet for 13 weeks. Subsequently, 20 mg/kg (n=11) or 60 mg/kg (n=11) of CBD oil or sesame seed oil (n=11) per day was given along with a high-fat diet for four weeks. The body weight of each subject was measured weekly, and venous blood was drawn for biochemistry and enzyme-linked immunoassay before and after the four-week trial period. An oral glucose tolerance test was performed to assess glucose metabolism. At the end of the CBD oil treatment, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry was used to calculate body fat composition, and the mesenteric adipose tissue was measured as representative of the fat mass of each subject. For statistical analysis, we used the Kruskal-Wallis test, Turkey’s test using ranks and generalized estimating equations. Results: After administration of CBD oil (60 mg/kg) for four weeks, the DIO mice showed significant weight loss, compared to the sham control mice (p=0.027). Mice fed with 60 mg/kg of CBD oil also had a significant reduction in fat percentage (p=0.009) and mesenteric fat weight loss (p=0.024), compared to the sham control mice, even with higher food intake (p=0.029). Moreover, mice fed with 60 mg/kg of CBD oil showed a significant improvement in glucose tolerance (p=0.003) and lower plasma leptin levels (p=0.006). Conclusion This study shows that orally administered CBD oil induces weight loss in DIO mice. It has been postulated that CBD oil attenuates an over-activated endocannabinoid system, thereby increasing energy expenditure, and improving glucose metabolism and leptin resistance.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the association with the functioning of instrumental-activities of daily living (I-ADL) and future development of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in persons with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Methods: A total of 116 patients with MCI, aged 65 years to 91 years (male: 88, female: 91 at first visit), from a large hospital cen-ter in Korea, were identified. Those who developed at least two consecutive 1-year follow up were diagnosed according to the DSM-5criteria. Results: When the same level of Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores was given, it could be seen that the probability of AD transfer was predicted differently due to complex changes in I-ADL scores. Specifically, it was observed that with an MMSEscore of approximately 23.9 points, as the I-ADL points increase, the odds of transfer also increase approximately 6.1% (I-ADL low: 8.5 points) to 23.5% (I-ADL high: 31.4), therefore odds of transfer are 17.4% higher than I-ADL low condition. Conclusion The study suggested that even though cognitive problems were not observed due to high MMSE scores, severe damage to I-ADL could lead to AD. Applications may be limited, but such cases may require careful monitoring at the site.

Objectives: This study investigates the association between short-term exposure to air pollutants and panic attacks requiring emergency department (ED) visits. Methods: We identified 1926 patients who visited EDs in Seoul with panic attacks as the primary cause during the period from 2008 to 2014. We estimated short-term exposure to particles <2.5 μm (PM2.5), particles <10 μm (PM10), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), ozone (O3), and carbon monoxide (CO). We applied a time-stratified case-crossover study design and conducted a conditional logistic regression analysis to assess the association between air pollutants levels and ED visits due to panic attacks. Results: Increasing O3 concentration was significantly associated with an increased risk of panic attacks requiring ED visits (odds ratio: 1.15; 95% confidence interval: 1.04–1.27) on the same day of exposure. This association was robust to the sensitivity analysis using two pollutant models. Conclusion Our results show that short-term exposure to elevated O3 concentration is associated with the exacerbation of panic attacks. This finding strongly suggests the detrimental effects of O3 on major public health problems and provides insights for further research to investigate the causal associations between air pollution and poor mental health.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the association with the functioning of instrumental-activities of daily living (I-ADL) and future development of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in persons with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Methods: A total of 116 patients with MCI, aged 65 years to 91 years (male: 88, female: 91 at first visit), from a large hospital cen-ter in Korea, were identified. Those who developed at least two consecutive 1-year follow up were diagnosed according to the DSM-5criteria. Results: When the same level of Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores was given, it could be seen that the probability of AD transfer was predicted differently due to complex changes in I-ADL scores. Specifically, it was observed that with an MMSEscore of approximately 23.9 points, as the I-ADL points increase, the odds of transfer also increase approximately 6.1% (I-ADL low: 8.5 points) to 23.5% (I-ADL high: 31.4), therefore odds of transfer are 17.4% higher than I-ADL low condition. Conclusion The study suggested that even though cognitive problems were not observed due to high MMSE scores, severe damage to I-ADL could lead to AD. Applications may be limited, but such cases may require careful monitoring at the site.

Objectives: This study investigates the association between short-term exposure to air pollutants and panic attacks requiring emergency department (ED) visits. Methods: We identified 1926 patients who visited EDs in Seoul with panic attacks as the primary cause during the period from 2008 to 2014. We estimated short-term exposure to particles <2.5 μm (PM2.5), particles <10 μm (PM10), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), ozone (O3), and carbon monoxide (CO). We applied a time-stratified case-crossover study design and conducted a conditional logistic regression analysis to assess the association between air pollutants levels and ED visits due to panic attacks. Results: Increasing O3 concentration was significantly associated with an increased risk of panic attacks requiring ED visits (odds ratio: 1.15; 95% confidence interval: 1.04–1.27) on the same day of exposure. This association was robust to the sensitivity analysis using two pollutant models. Conclusion Our results show that short-term exposure to elevated O3 concentration is associated with the exacerbation of panic attacks. This finding strongly suggests the detrimental effects of O3 on major public health problems and provides insights for further research to investigate the causal associations between air pollution and poor mental health.

Methods: A total of 12 C57BL/6 male mice (Orient Bio), aged 6 weeks, were fed a high-fat diet for 13 weeks to construct a diet-induced obesity model. During the following 5 weeks, diet-induced obese mice were daily administered cannabis extract or sesame seed oil orally along with the high-fat diet. The body weight of each subject was measured weekly. Venous blood was drawn for biochemistry, enzyme-linked immunoassay, and oral glucose tolerance test before and after treatment. Body fat was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, and the mesenteric adipose tissue was also measured after sacrifice. We used exact Wilcoxon’s two-sample analyses and generalized estimating equations to test the differences between the cannabis-treated group and control. Results: There was significant weight loss (p=0.009) observed in the cannabis-treated mice compared to the control group after 5 weeks of treatment. High-fat diet-induced glucose intolerance in the cannabis-treated group was significantly ameliorated (p=0.032), whereas there were no profound differences between the two groups in terms of other physiological markers, including corticosterone level. Conclusion This study shows that orally administered cannabis extract had a pharmacological effect of weight loss in diet-induced obese mice. This weight loss might be attributed to an increase in energy expenditure and regulation of glucose homeostasis.

BACKGROUND: Few studies have evaluated risk factors for behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia at the initial assessment for Alzheimer disease in large patient samples. In this study, the factors influencing Alzheimer disease were examined using the Clinical Research of Dementia of South Korea data. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted using data of 1,128 patients with Alzheimer disease. The behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia were examined using the Korean version of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory. Demographic characteristics, health-related behavior, neuropsychological tests, comorbidities, blood test results, and caregiver characteristics were assessed. Median logistic regression analysis with adjustment for covariates was conducted. RESULTS: The behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia were negatively associated with memory (P=0.022) and frontal/executive (P < 0.001) function in the Seoul Neuropsychological Screening Battery-dementia, Barthel Index for Activities of Daily Living (P < 0.001), Korean version of the Mini-Mental State Examination score (P=0.003), and caregiver age (P=0.005) after adjustment for confounding factors, and positively associated with the Seoul-Instrumental Activities of Daily Living score (P < 0.001), Clinical Dementia Rating Sum of Box (P < 0.001), Global Deterioration Scale score (P < 0.001), abnormality of free T4 level (P < 0.001), anemia (P < 0.001), and family history of stroke (P=0.001). Patients with female caregivers exhibited more severe behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia than those with male caregivers. CONCLUSION: Behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia in Alzheimer disease patients were associated with various risk factors including the inability to live independently and Alzheimer disease severity. These findings suggest that prevention and treatment strategies for the behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia should be comprehensive.
Activities of Daily Living ; Alzheimer Disease* ; Anemia ; Behavioral Symptoms ; Caregivers ; Comorbidity ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Dementia* ; Female ; Hematologic Tests ; Humans ; Korea* ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Mass Screening ; Memory ; Neuropsychological Tests ; Risk Factors* ; Seoul ; Stroke

OBJECTIVE: Suicide is a significant public health concern worldwide. Social media data have a potential role in identifying high suicide risk individuals and also in predicting suicide rate at the population level. In this study, we report an advanced daily suicide prediction model using social media data combined with economic/meteorological variables along with observed suicide data lagged by 1 week. METHODS: The social media data were drawn from weblog posts. We examined a total of 10,035 social media keywords for suicide prediction. We made predictions of national suicide numbers 7 days in advance daily for 2 years, based on a daily moving 5-year prediction modeling period. RESULTS: Our model predicted the likely range of daily national suicide numbers with 82.9% accuracy. Among the social media variables, words denoting economic issues and mood status showed high predictive strength. Observed number of suicides one week previously, recent celebrity suicide, and day of week followed by stock index, consumer price index, and sunlight duration 7 days before the target date were notable predictors along with the social media variables. CONCLUSION: These results strengthen the case for social media data to supplement classical social/economic/climatic data in forecasting national suicide events.
Forecasting ; Public Health ; Social Media* ; Suicide* ; Sunlight

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to find the sex differences of the way how educational attainment influence on cognitive function in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). METHODS: We recruited 424 patients with AD from a large hospital-based multi-center cohort. We evaluated cognitive subdomains using the Seoul Neuropsychological Screening Battery-Dementia version. We employed multiple linear regression analysis to compare the score of cognitive subdomains between the groups with high versus low educational attainment based on the high school graduate. Interaction between educational attainment and sex was also included in the analysis. RESULTS: High and low educational attainment group had 33.0% and 67.0% of patients in the study population. In the multiple regression analysis, score of all cognitive subdomains were significantly higher in the high educational attainment group. The score of attention was also significantly affected by interaction between educational attainment and sex. This result may be helpful to develop cognitive intervention therapy. CONCLUSION: In the female patients with AD, educational attainment showed higher influence on the attention score.
Alzheimer Disease* ; Cognition ; Cohort Studies ; Dementia* ; Education* ; Female ; Humans ; Korea* ; Linear Models ; Mass Screening ; Seoul ; Sex Characteristics

OBJECTIVE: Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI) was the most commonly used measure of caregiver burden for demented older adults. The aim of this study was to investigate dimensions of caregiver burden through factor analysis of ZBI. METHODS: The participants were 706 outpatients with dementia and their caregivers in Korea. We assessed the caregiver burden using the Korean version of ZBI. The participants were randomly divided into two groups, for the purpose of identifying the most optimal factor structure through exploratory factor analysis in group 1 (n=368) and confirmatory factor analysis in group 2 (n=338). RESULTS: The results of exploratory factor analysis in group 1 suggested 3-factor structure, which was labeled ‘personal strain,’‘patient dependency,’ and ‘self-criticism.’ The confirmatory factor analysis results indicated the 3-factor structure which was discovered through exploratory factor analysis was the best-fitting model for explaining the caregiver burden in group 2. CONCLUSION: The current study has significant implications for advancing our understanding of ZBI as multidimensional burden scale. Furthermore, differentiating the dimensions may allow researchers to assess the effects of interventions more precisely.
Adult ; Caregivers* ; Dementia* ; Factor Analysis, Statistical* ; Humans ; Korea ; Outpatients