Influence of the Chungkookjang on histamine-induced wheal and flare skin response: a randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Allergic disease is a consequence of exposure to normally innocuous substances that elicit the activation of mast cells. Mast-cell-mediated allergic response is involved in many diseases such as anaphylaxis, urticaria, allergic rhinitis, asthma and allergic dermatitis. The development of food products for the prevention of allergic disease is an important subject in human health. The chungkookjang (CKJ) has been reported to exhibit antiallergic inflammatory activity. Therefore, the aim of the study is to examine the effects of the CKJ to reduce histamine-induced wheal and flare skin responses. METHODS/DESIGN: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study in 60 healthy subjects will be carried out. Sixty volunteers (aged 20-80) who gave a written consent before entering the study will be randomized in two groups of thirty subjects each. The skin prick test with histamine solution of 10 mg/ml will be performed on the ventral forearm, 10 cm from the elbow. The subjects will be instructed to take 35 g per day of either the CKJ pills or a placebo pills for a period of 3 months. Diameters of wheal and flare will be assessing 15 minutes after performing the above-mentioned skin prick test. The primary outcome is change in wheal and flare responses. Secondary outcomes will be include change in serum histamine, immunoglobulin E, cytokines (interferon-gamma, interleukin-4, -10, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha), and eosinophil cationic protein. DISCUSSION: This study will show the potential anti-inflammatory properties of the CKJ in their skin activity when histamine is the challenging agent as occurs in the clinical situation. And the present protocol will confirm the efficacy and safety of the CKJ for allergy symptoms, suggesting more basic knowledge to conduct further randomized controlled trials (RCT). If this study will be successfully performed, the CKJ will be an alternative dietary supplemental remedy for allergy patients. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT01402141.

The relationship between social participation and self-rated health by sex and age: a cross-sectional survey.

BACKGROUND: Social participation contributes to better health and has been regarded as an important component of quality of life. Despite its importance, social participation significantly decreases as age advances. Social participation may vary by sex and age and, consequently, may have different influences on health by age and sex. Few studies have examined how sex and age affect individual health status in this regard. OBJECTIVES: This paper focuses on whether the association between self-rated health and social participation differs between men and women, and among age groups. DESIGN: The study was based on cross-sectional analysis of data from the 2003 Social Statistics Survey. SETTINGS: This survey was conducted in South Korea. PARTICIPANTS: The survey respondents were 59,202 Koreans aged 25 and over. The sample population comprised each household member of 33,000 sample households who were selected by multistage probability sampling of household registries based on geographic area, sex and age group. METHODS: Face-to-face interviews were nationally conducted. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to examine factors that associated social participation with self-rated health, and the adjusted odds ratios (ORs) were presented, together with their 95% confidence intervals (CIs). The model included various individual socioeconomic characteristics, health behaviors, and morbidity variables, such as marital status, education level, housing tenure, employment status, smoking status, alcohol intake, number of restricted activity days, and bed days. RESULTS: For both sexes, self-rated good health was strongly associated with social participation levels in all age groups. The influence of social participation increased as age advanced. Particularly among elderly women, those who had participated in more than two activities had more than twice the odds of self-rated good health of those who did not participate in any activities. CONCLUSIONS: Social participation significantly decreases as people age, however, the influence of social participation on health status increases with age. This study has shown that social participation, which is an individual psychological resource, is important for health in all age groups, notwithstanding that the effect of social participation differs by age and sex. Social participation should be a basic consideration in the field of community nursing intervention, especially for the elderly and women's health promotion. Promoting social participation by individuals may lead to better health, and may therefore be an effective strategy for enhancing health.

A study of lower urinary tract symptoms for the Korean women aged 30 and over.

The purposes of this study were (1) to identify the prevalence of urinary incontinence (UI) and lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) for Korean women, (2) to evaluate the LUTS scores of the subjects in relation with each UI patterns and general characteristics, and (3) to identify affecting factors developing LUTS by using self-administered questionnaire. Community-based cross-sectional study was conducted for 3,371 women aged 30 to 89 years old who were allocated at six provinces in South Korea. UI and LUTS were assessed by validated symptom scales including the International Prostate Symptom Score. Of all the respondents, 63.4% had experienced UI more than once a month during the prior 12 months. Among the respondents, 36.6% had no UI, 47.5% had stress UI, 0.4% had urge UI, and 15.5% had mixed UI. The mean LUTS score of the total respondents was 7.8 +/- 4.1. The LUTS was significantly predicted by age (p < .0001) and mixed UI (p < .0001), and 79.4% of variance in LUTS was explained. The highest LUTS scores were shown in the subjects with mixed UI, and we found that LUTS scores increased with age.

[A meta-analysis of the effects of smoking prevention programs in Korea].

PURPOSE: The purpose of this paper was to describe the characteristics of smoking prevention programs in Korea, to estimate overall effect size of Korean smoking prevention programs, and to investigate effect size variations by program modality and instruction method. METHOD: Meta-analysis was performed on 21 programs in 20 studies. RESULT: The estimation of overall effect size for knowledge and attitude was not possible because effect sizes were not homogeneous in this meta-analysis. However, effect sizes of studies that were socially influential programs or active/interactive methods were larger than information-oriented programs or passive/non-interactive methods in the pictures. The effects for behavioral outcomes were generally not as positive and not statistically significant. Q statistics showed that variations among effect sizes within program modality and instruction method classifications were heterogeneous. CONCLUSION: The results from this meta-analysis support the continued use of socially influential programs and active/interactive methods for smoking prevention programs. Because behavioral effect might be the fundamental objective of smoking prevention programs, the present results indicate that smoking prevention programs should consider adopting more effective programs.