Evaluation on the Nutrition Quotient Scores of Elderly People Living Alone in Korea.

As the Korean society is aging rapidly, the issues on physical, social, economic, and mental disabilities of single-person households aged 65 years or older has also increased. This study aimed to investigate the nutrition-related dietary conditions of elderly people living alone and determine their dietary behavior by calculating the nutrition quotient for elderly (NQ-E). One hundred and three elderly people living alone who were basic living recipients were recruited from six senior welfare centers in Seoul, and the data were collected using a questionnaire from 19 July 2016 to 17 August 2016, with a 1:1 in-depth interview using the modified version of the NQ-E questionnaire. The data were analyzed using SPSS 27.0 for Mac (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA); a p value of <0.05 was considered significant. The nutrition-related dietary conditions of the elderly living alone were limited, and many of them received support from the government, which helped improve their diet. The nutrition quotient score of the elderly living alone was 50.14, which was lower than the NQ-E mean score (57.6) of the Korean elderly and the NQ-E (62 points), which is the top 25% of the national survey subjects according to the criteria value presented by the Korean Nutrition Society. Elderly people living alone often have poor dietary habits and nutritional status. The NQ-E presented in this study can be used to evaluate the dietary conditions of the elderly and is expected to be used as an indicator for developing community programs for health promotion and evaluating their effectiveness.

The effect of diet control on puberty onset and immunoreactivity of kisspeptin and neurokinin B in female rats.

Early onset puberty and irregular estrous cycles occur more frequently in rats which are fed a high-fat diet. Kisspeptin is an essential factor for the regulation of sexual maturation and is co-expressed with neurokinin B in neurons in the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus. However, the effects of a diet change on kisspeptin neuronal signaling are not well-understood. Therefore, in this study, we examined the immunoreactivity pattern of the kisspeptin/kiss1-receptor (KISS1R) and neurokinin B/neurokinin3-receptor (R). Pups born to high-fat diet rats were exposed to a high-fat diet until the onset of puberty. From puberty, the offspring originally exposed to a high-fat diet were fed a normal diet up to 85 postnatal days (PND 85). We examined kisspeptin/Kiss1-receptor and neurokinin B/neurokinin3-receptor immunoreactivity (IR) in the arcuate nucleus of the pups. The onset of puberty in the high-fat group was significantly earlier than the control group. At the onset of puberty, the densities of kisspeptin and neurokinin B IR cells were significantly higher in the high-fat diet group than in the control group; however, the densities of KISS1 and neurokinin 3-receptor IR cells did not differ between the two groups. At PND 85, the density of kisspeptin and neurokinin B IR cells did not differ between control and high fat group. The density of densities of KISS1 and neurokinin 3-receptor IR cells also did not differ between groups at this stage. These data suggest that a high-fat diet can influence puberty onset and the immunoreactivity of kisspeptin and neurokinin B. These effects can be modified by dietary control.

Characteristics of Patients Injured in Road Traffic Accidents According to the New Injury Severity Score.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical characteristics of patients involved in road traffic accidents according to the New Injury Severity Score (NISS). METHODS: In this study, medical records of 1,048 patients admitted at three hospitals located in different regions between January and December 2014 were retrospectively reviewed. Only patients who received inpatient treatments covered by automobile insurance during the period were included. Accidents were classified as pedestrian, driver, passenger, motorcycle, or bicycle; and the severity of injury was assessed by the NISS. RESULTS: The proportion of pedestrian traffic accident (TA) was the highest, followed by driver, passenger, motorcycle and bicycle TA. The mean NISS was significantly higher in pedestrian and motorcycle TAs and lower in passenger TA. Analysis of differences in mean hospital length of stay (HLS) according to NISS injury severity revealed 4.97±4.86 days in the minor injury group, 8.91±5.93 days in the moderate injury group, 15.46±11.16 days in the serious injury group, 24.73±17.03 days in the severe injury group, and 30.86±34.03 days in the critical injury group (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: The study results indicated that higher NISS correlated to longer HLS, fewer home discharges, and increasing mortality. Specialized hospitals for TA patient rehabilitation are necessary to reduce disabilities in TA patients.

Accuracy of needle placement in cadavers: non-guided versus ultrasound-guided.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the accuracy rates of non-guided vs. ultrasound-guided needle placement in four lower limb muscles (tibialis posterior, peroneus longus, and short and long heads of the biceps femoris). METHODS: Two electromyographers examined the four muscles in each of eight lower limbs from four fresh frozen cadavers. Each electromyographer injected an assigned dye into each targeted muscle in a lower limb twice (once without guidance, another under ultrasound guidance). Therefore, four injections were done in each muscle of one lower limb. All injections were performed by two electromyographers using 18 gauge 1.5 inch or 24 gauge 2.4 inch needles to place 0.5 mL of colored acryl solution into the target muscles. The third person was blinded to the injection technique and dissected the lower limbs and determined injection accuracy. RESULTS: A 71.9% accuracy rate was achieved by blind needle placement vs. 96.9% accuracy with ultrasound-guided needle placement (p=0.001). Blind needle placement accuracy ranged from 50% to 93.8%. CONCLUSION: Ultrasound guidance produced superior accuracy compared with that of blind needle placement in most muscles. Clinicians should consider ultrasound guidance to optimize needle placement in these muscles, particularly the tibialis posterior.

Mesalizine-Induced Acute Pancreatitis and Interstitial Pneumonitis in a Patient with Ulcerative Colitis.

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic idiopathic inflammatory bowel disease. Mesalizine for the first-line therapy of UC has adverse effects include pancreatitis, pneumonia and pericarditis. UC complicated by two coexisting conditions, however, is very rare. Moreover, drug-related pulmonary toxicity is particularly rare. An 11-year-old male patient was hospitalized for recurring upper abdominal pain after meals with vomiting, hematochezia and exertional dyspnea developing at 2 weeks of mesalizine therapy for UC. The serum level of lipase was elevated. Chest X-ray and thorax computed tomography showed interstitial pneumonitis. Mesalizine was discontinued and steroid therapy was initiated. Five days after admission, symptoms were resolved and mesalizine was resumed after a drop in amylase and lipase level. Symptoms returned the following day, however, accompanied by increased the serum levels of amylase and lipase. Mesalizine was discontinued again and recurring symptoms rapidly improved.