• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.85-91
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• 2015

Objectives: Postmenopausal symptoms are subject to many factors. Recently, obesity has been suggested as a factor of hot flush. So this study aims to report the relationship between body composition and Menopause Rating Scale (MRS), The Menopause-specific Quality of Life Questionnaire (MENQOL) of postmenopausal women. Methods: We studied 42 climacteric women who had visited Kyung Hee University Hospital at Gangdong from April 2011 to July 2014. 42 women had filled out MRS, MENQOL, and they had taken body composition tests. Pearson correlation tests were conducted. (Correlation was statistically significant at the 0.05 level) Results: Correlation between psychological subscale of MENQOL and Waist-Hip Ratio (WHR) was statistically significant (pearson correlation coefficient=0.385; p-value=0.012). But other subscales of MRS and MENQOL were not statistically related with body composition. Conclusions: WHR could be an important factor of psychological health of menopausal women. So, abdominal fat reduction must be considered when curing menopausal symptoms. In connection with climacteric depression, well-designed studies would be necessary.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.2191-2199
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• 2013

Breast cancer is one of the most frequently diagnosed cancers and the leading cause of cancer death among women. Soy isoflavones have been widely studied and among all isoflavones equol has been gaining interest with regard to its relationship with breast cancer risk. Obesity has been revealed as one of the breast cancer risk factors, known to be associated with high levels of circulating insulin and decreased levels of adiponectin. Hence there have been many studies investigating relationships between insulin and adiponectin levels and breast cancer risk. Additionally recent findings have suggested that insulin and adiponectin themselves may have influence on breast cancer development, independent of obesity. In the present review, we discuss the relationships between breast cancer risk and equol, insulin and adiponectin levels, which are three important factors in our ongoing hospital-based case-control study. Herein these factors are reviewed not only from the clinical viewpoint but also from possible chemical and biological points of view which may explain clinical observations.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.351-367
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• 1991

This research was attempted to investigate the correlation between food habits as well as preferences and health conditions of middle-aged people. 380 people living in Dae-gu, kimch$\breve{o}$n and k$\breve{u}$mr$\breve{u}$ng gun in the 40's or 50's were selected for this research as subjects from July 1 to August 15, 1990. The data analysis was made by way of frequency, percentage, ${\chi}^2-test$ and Pearson correlation using SAS package. The summarized results are as follows. 1. Among the total subjects of this research, 200 people (52.6%) were male and 180 people (47.4%) were female. The regional distribution was like this; 115 people (30.3%) lived in large city, 154 people (40.5%) in small and medium city and 111 people (29.2%) in rural region. 2. The survey on food life attitude on the subjects showed that they had a relatively good attitude, and there were little significant differences (p<.05) between men and women. But there were significant differences (p<.001) between rural region and city. 3. On the preferences for taste, food and cooked food the subjects showed the lowest preferences for processed milk-fat food and the highest for soybean and processed soybean food. 4. The research on health condition 1) 30.8% of the subjects were obesity. And this research showed that the percentage of obesity was higher among men (33.5%) than women (27.8%), and higher in cities (40.4, 34.4%) than rural region (16.2%), (p<.05, p<.01). 2) 90.8% of the subjects showed negative according to Diabetes inspection. 3) 2.0% of the subjects were hypertensive, and the percentage was higher among women than men, and higher in rural region than cities. 4) 12.6% of the subjects were anemia, and the percentage was higher among women (17.8%) than men (8.0%), and higher in rural region (23.4%) than cities (7.0, 9.1%). 5) DMFT index and DMF rate of dental caries was higher among women (DMFT index; 10.6 DMF rate; 88.9) than men (DMFT index; 7.3 DMF rate; 81.5), and higher in rural region (DMFT index; 11.8 DMF rate; 90.1) than cities (DMFT index; 7.4, 7.9 DMF rate; 79.1, 85.7). 6) According to the survey on self-diagnosed health status of subjects, the percentages of articular·neuralgia (48.9%) was the highest. And that of stomach digestion troubles (31.1%), headache (22.4%), anxiety excitement (12.9%), spastic constipation (12.4%), insomnia (9.7%), melancholia (7.9%) and etc (1.6%) followed. 7) People had allergied food which contained animal protein such as pork, chicken, mackerel, siakworm pupa, clam and so on. 8) In female cases, 46.7% of women became already menopausal and 13.3% of them was under menopause. 5. This research showed that there were significant correlation between food life attitude and health condition in obesity, anemia and dental caries but not in blood pressure. 6. And this research also showed that there were significant correlations between food preference and health condition in obesity, anemia and dental caries but not in blood pressure.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.469-477
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• 2005

Purpose: This study was conducted to investigate the factors that affect the severity of urinary incontinence and the quality of life of women with urinary incontinence. Methods: An exploratory correlation research design was applied and the sixty women who responded that they currently experience involuntary urine leakage at least once per week were invited to participate in the study. Results: According to the study results, the factors that significantly contribute to the severity of urinary incontinence were age, number of parity, and number of normal deliveries. Other influencing factors, such as obesity, menopausal state, hysterectomy, and number of episiotomies, were not significant to predict the severity of urinary incontinence. Urinary incontinence frequency per week and duration of experiencing urinary incontinence were shown to be factors that significantly affect quality of life. Conclusion: In women above 60 years old, multiparity, and multiple experiences of vaginal delivery tended to present a higher level of severity of urinary incontinence. In addition, women with higher frequencies of urinary incontinence per week and a longer duration of urinary incontinence showed a lower level of quality of life.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.58-62
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• 2010

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the difference of metabolic syndrome (MS) risk factors according to the MS diagnosis in the age of fifties women. Methods: Forty-two subjects (non metabolic syndrome 30, metabolic syndrome 12) were recruited from the health promotion center of a tertiary care hospital in an urban city. MS was defined by third report of the national cholesterol education program (NCEP) expert panel on detection, evaluation, and treatment of high blood cholesterol in adults (Adult Treatment Panel III) (ATP III), and abdominal obesity was determined by Asia-Pacific criteria in waist circumference. Results: The prevalence of MS by definition of NCEP-ATP III and Asia-Pacific criteria in waist circumference was 28.6% in the age of fifties women. The educational level and the median HDL-cholesterol were significantly lower in the MS patient group than in the Non-MS group. The median of weight, triglyceride, and fasting glucose were significantly higher in the MS patient group than in the Non-MS group. Conclusion: These results indicate that the nursing care should be focused on weight, triglyceride, HDL-cholesterol, and fasting glucose of the MS patients in the fifties women.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.225-231
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• 2008

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is associated with various metabolic abnormalities, including central obesity, type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia, and high blood pressure. This suggests that NAFLD may represent the hepatic manifestation of the metabolic syndrome. In this study, we investigated unfavorable effects NAFLD on components of metabolic syndrome in post-menopause women. Eight hundred sixty-nine postmenopausal women were recruited for this study. The diagnosis of fatty liver was based on the results of abdominal ultrasonography. Serum levels of fasting glucose, total cholesterol, triglyceride, and HDL-cholesterol were measured. The prevalence of component of metabolic syndrome such as hypertension, hyperglycemia, hypertriglyceridemia, and low-HDL-cholesterol was significantly higher in subjects with NAFLD as compared with those without NAFLD. The moderate to severe grade of NAFLD presented higher levels of serum fasting glucose, fasting insulin, HOMA-IR, total cholesterol, and triglycerides than the mild NAFLD and the normal group. In conclusion, metabolic syndrome risk was increased in post-menopause women with NAFLD as compared with those without NAFLD. The severity of NAFLD affected metabolic syndrome risk factors. The optimal strategy for the treatment of NAFLD is likely to include lifestyle modifications and therapy to improve insulin resistance.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.298-310
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• 2018

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of the laughter therapy program on perceived stress and psycho-neuro-endocrine-immune responses in obese women. Methods: A nonequivalent control group with a pretest-posttest design was used. The participants (n=60), whose age ranged from 30 to 50 years (pre-menopausal and body mass index of over $25kg/m^2$), were assigned to the experimental group (n=24) or control group (n=26). The experimental group was provided with the laughter therapy program (12 sessions) for 6 weeks. Results: There were significant differences in perceived stress, psychological stress response, fasting blood sugar, interleukin-6, and tumor necrosis factor alpha between the two groups after the program. However, there were no significant differences in normalized low frequency (norm LF), normalized high frequency (norm HF), LF/HF ratio, and cortisol between the two groups after the program. Conclusion: It was found that the laughter therapy program had positive effects on some variables in terms of perceived stress and psycho-neuro-endocrine-immuno responses. It is suggested that the laughter therapy in this study can provide the direction for developing a program for obese women.

• Journal of Menopausal Medicine
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.156-159
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• 2017

Some species of traditional herbal medicine has a history of use, most traditional natural herbs have been used for various diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and obesity. Among them, Passiflora incarnata L. is a traditional natural medicine, flowers as well as berries, roots, and leaves have been used as a medicine. It has been used as a natural medicine for the treatment of insomnia and anxiety for a longtime in Europe, and it has been used primarily for sedation tea in North America. Moreover, Passiflora incarnata L. is widely used anti-asthmatic, analgesic and sedation in Brazil. In other words, Passiflora incarnata L. has been used to treat a sedative, dysmenorrhea, insomnia, cancer, etc. in many countries. Present review of the plants showed a wide range of pharmacological activity in anxiolytic relax the clinical disease, such as anti-inflammatory, anxiety and antioxidant. In addition, Passiflora incarnata L. affects menopause symptoms such as vasomotor symptoms, insomnia, and depression. This review aims to provide the latest information on specific functional components of Passiflora incarnata L. especially the results of clinical trials will provide new insights into opportunities for the future development of natural medicines and doors will be used for purposes of analysis.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.16
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• pp.6805-6810
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• 2014

Background: Previous studies have suggested a link between obesity and breast cancer (BC). However, there is no universal consensus, especially in population based studies. Because only few studies have been conducted on African women, we aimed here to assess the relationship between BMI at time of diagnosis and the BC histopathological features among Tunisian patients according to menopausal status using a hospital-based prospective cohort study. Materials and Methods: Clinical and pathological data were collected from 262 patients stratified on four groups according to their BMI. The relationship between BMI and histopathological features at diagnosis was analysed using univariate and multivariate analysis. Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to evaluate the performance of BMI in predicting of high tumor grade, in comparison to ki-67 index of proliferation. Results: Obesity was correlated with larger tumors, advanced grade and with ER-PR-Her2+ BC subtype. An association of BMI with tumor size and tumor grade was observed in both premenopausal and postmenopausal women. Additionally, a significant association between BMI and ER+, ER+PR+Her2+ and ER-PR-Her2+ status was revealed for premenopausal patients, while only ER+PR+Her2+ was associated with BMI for postmenopausal women. Finally, our results showed that compared to Ki67 proliferation index, BMI is a useful prognostic marker of high grade BC tumors. Conclusions: These data are the first to show that in Tunisia obese women suffering from BC have significantly larger tumors and advanced tumor grade and that higher BMI might influence tumor characteristics and behavior.

• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.85-96
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• 2016

Objectives The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the effects of acupuncture treatment and heart rate variability (HRV) in pre-menopausal obese women. Methods Thirty-seven obese women who met the inclusion criteria were recruited. To estimate the effects of acupuncture, obesity indices, such as body weight (BW), waist circumference (WC), hip circumference (HC), and the waist-hip ratio (WHR), were measured before and after the treatment. The HRV test was conducted before treatment and analyzed using the frequency domain method. Results The lnLF/HF ratio (natural logarithm of low frequency power/high frequency power ratio of the HRV value) before treatments was negatively correlated with differences in WC, HC, and WHR during treatment. The correlation coefficients between the lnLF/HF ratio and the differences in WC, HC, and WHR were r=-0.459 (p<0.01), r=-0.327 (p<0.05), and r=-0.339 (p<0.05) respectively. Conclusions As the baseline ratio of sympathetic activity to parasympathetic activity decreases, WC, HC, and WHR reduction significantly increased during treatment. Further study is needed to uncover the relationship between obesity-related variables and the autonomic nervous system to predict the effect of acupuncture.