• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.sup3
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• pp.197-200
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• 2016

On an international scale, the burden of cancer in absolute numbers continues to increase, mainly due to aging of population in many countries, the overall growth of the world population, changing lifestyle with increasing cancer-causing behavior, like cigarette smoking, changing dietary habits and sedentary life. Cancer is the second-leading cause of death and disability in the world, after only heart disease. Recently, increasing incidence and mortality of cancer have also become evident in the developing world. In Iraq and particularly in Basrah in the southern part of the country, the burden has definitely increased and deserves extensive research. The present paper is part of an extensive household survey carried out in Basrah in 2013. Among the objectives was to validate official cancer registration in the governorate. The cross-sectional survey had a retrospective component to inquire about the incidence of cancer and cancer-related deaths during the three years preceding the date of inquiry (2010-2012). A convenient sample of 6,999 households with 40,688 inhabitants using multistage cluster sampling was surveyed involving all urban and rural areas of Basrah. The official cancer registration activities in Basrah seemed to have attained a high level of registration coverage (70-80%) but the gap, represented by missed cases, is still high enough to criticize the system. Most of the missing cases were either not notified by treating facilities or they were diagnosed and treated outside Basrah. Using a set of parameters, the pattern of cancer was consistent based on data of the household survey and data of the cancer registry but a gap still existed in the coverage of incident cancer and mortality by cancer registration. Integrated serious steps are required to contain the risk of cancer and its burden on the patient through improving the registration process, improving early detection, diagnostic and management capabilities and encouraging scientific research to explore the hidden risk factors and possible causes of low registration coverage. Periodic household surveys seemed feasible and essential to support routine registration.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.1159-1164
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• 2015

Background: The prevalence of smoking among secondary school children continues to remain unchanged over the last 3 decades even though awareness regarding the health effects of smoking is increasing. Common misconceptions about smoking and parental influence could be factors influencing future intentions to smoke among these students. Hence, we looked at the common misconceptions as well as student perceptions about their future intention to smoke among Form 4 students in Shah Alam, Malaysia. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted by distribution of a questionnaire developed as part of the Global Youth Tobacco Survey to Form 4 student in 3 schools at Shah Alam. Results: Prevalence of smoking (current smokers) was 7.5%. Almost half of the children came from families where one or both parents smoked and a third of the parents had no discussion regarding consequences of smoking with them. A large number of students were classified as "triers" as they had tried smoking and were unsure of whether they would not be smoking in the future. Contrary to our expectations, students generally felt smoking did make one feel more uncomfortable and helped one to reduce body weight. Most students seemed to be aware of the ill-effects of smoking on health. They felt they had received adequate information from school regarding the effects on smoking on health. Conclusions: Our study showed that even though Form 4 students in Shah Alam were knowledgeable about ill-effects of smoking and were taught so as part of their school curriculum, the prevalence of smoking was still high. Students in the "trier group" represent a potential group of future smokers and strategies targeting tobacco control may be aimed at tackling these vulnerable individuals. Efforts are also needed to help educate secondary school children about common misconceptions and dispel myths associated with cigarette smoking.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.1011-1014
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• 2012

Objective: The possibility that smoking prevalence among junior and senior high school students may decrease with increasing mobile phone bill was reported by the mass media in Japan. We conducted a nationwide survey on adolescent smoking and mobile phone use in Japan in order to assess the hypothesis that mobile phone use has replaced smoking. Methods: A total of 70 junior high schools (response rate; 71%), and 69 high schools (90%) from all over Japan responded to 2005 survey. Students in the responding schools were asked to fill out an anonymous questionnaire about smoking behavior, mobile phone bill, and pocket money. Questionnaires were collected from 32,615 junior high school students and 48,707 senior high school students. Results: The smoking prevalence of students with high mobile phone bill was more likely to be high, and that of students who used mobile phones costing 10,000 yen and over per month was especially high. When "quitters" were defined as students who had tried smoking but were not smoking at the time of survey, the proportion of quitters decreased as the mobile phone bill increased. The proportion of students who had smoking friends increased with the increase in the mobile phone bill per month. Conclusion: The hypothesis that the decrease in smoking prevalence among Japanese adolescents that has been observed in recent years is due to a mobile phone use can be rejected.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.757-762
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• 2014

Smoking is recognized as a health problem worldwide and there is an established tobacco epidemic in Saudi Arabia as in many other countries, with tobacco users at increased risk of developing many diseases. This cross sectional study was conducted to assess the prevalence of oral mucosal, potentially malignant or malignant, lesions associated with tobacco use among a stratified cluster sample of adults in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. A sample size of 599 was collected and each participant underwent clinical conventional oral examination and filled a questionnaire providing information on demographics, tobacco use and other relevant habits. The most common form of tobacco used was cigarette smoking (65.6 %) followed by Shisha or Moasel (38.1%), while chewing tobacco, betel nuts and gat accounted for 21-2%, 7.7%, and 5% respectively. A high prevalence (88.8%) of soft tissue lesions was found among the tobacco users examined, and a wide range of lesions were detected, about 50% having hairy tongue, 36% smoker's melanosis, 28.9% stomatitis nicotina, 27% frictional keratosis, 26.7% fissured tongue, 26% gingival or periodontal inflammation and finally 20% leukodema. Suspicious potentially malignant lesions affected 10.5% of the subjects, most prevalent being keratosis (6.3%), leukoplakia (2.3%), erythroplakia (0.7%), oral submucous fibrosis (0.5%) and lichenoid lesions (0.4%), these being associated with male gender, lower level of education, presence of diabetes and a chewing tobacco habit. It is concluded that smoking was associated with a wide range of oral mucosal lesions, those suspicious for malignancy being linked with chewable forms, indicating serious effects.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.3117-3121
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• 2013

Objective: Previous epidemiologic studies demonstrated that obesity might associated with the risk of bladder cancer. However, many of the actual association findings remained conflicting. To better clarify and provide a comprehensive summary of the correlation between obesity and bladder cancer risk, we conducted a meta-analysis to summarize results of studies on the issue. Stratified analyses were also performed on potential variables and characteristics. Methods: Studies were identified by searching in PubMed and Wanfang databases, covering all the papers published from their inception to March 10, 2013. Summary relative risks (SRRs) with their corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated by either random-effect or fixed-effect models. Results: A total of 11 cohort studies were included in our meta-analysis, which showed that obesity was associated with an increased risk for bladder cancer in all subjects (RR=1.10, 95% CI=1.06-1.16; p=0.215 for heterogeneity; $I^2$=24.0%). Among the 9 studies that controlled for cigarette smoking, the pooled RR was 1.09 (95% CI 1.01-1.17; p=0.131 for heterogeneity; $I^2$=35.9%). No significant publication bias was detected (p = 0.244 for Egger's regression asymmetry test). Conclusions: Our results support the conclusion that obesity is associated with the increased risk of bladder cancer. Further research is needed to generate a better understanding of the correlation and to provide more convincing evidence for clinical intervention in the prevention of bladder cancer.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.338-347
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• 2001

Cigarette smoking has a negative effect for nutrient intakes and nutritional status of antioxidant nutrients including vitamin C. This study has been performed to compare the dietary nutrient intakes, serum vitamin C concentration and serum cotinine concentration of smoking teenage girls(n=104) with those of non-smoking teenage girls(n=791). The subjects were 895 high school girls(15-19 years of age) living in a rural community in Korea. Of the subjects, 11.6% stated that they were currently smoking. The frequency of taking alcohol, soda and coffee was higher in smokers than in non-smokers, respectively. The usage rate of vitamin/mineral supplements was higher in smokers than in non-smokers. The smokers tended to skip breakfast and lunch and to take snack more often than did the non-smokers. The dietary intakes of calorie, protein, vitamin A, vitamin B, vitamin C, calcium and iron were lower in smokers than in non-smokers. Daily mean intakes of these nutrients were less than the 2/3 of the Korean RDAs in smokers while these intakes were similar to or more than the RDAs in non-smokers. The ratio of under weight or lean tended to be higher in smokers. Serum vitamin C concentration was lower in smokers than in non-smokers. These findings show that smokers have unsound eating habits and poor nutirtional status. In particular, nutritional status of vitamin C is significantly poor in smokers, and this tendency can be found more notably in heavy smokers. Therefore, oxidative stress may be present in young teenage girls with short smoking history as evidence by above results. (Korean J Nutrition 34(3) : 338∼347, 2001)

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.505-514
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• 2015

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine their levels of knowledge of the kidney, self-efficacy, and kidney function in pre-dialysis patients with chronic renal insufficiency. Methods: A total of 142 pre-dialysis patients with chronic renal insufficiency were recruited from a nephrology clinic of a hospital in Korea. Participants' knowledge of the kidney, self-efficacy, and kidney function were measured, and the correlations between these factors were computed. Results: The levels of knowledge of the kidney were moderate, with a mean score of $12.30{\pm}5.35$. Knowledge level was significantly correlated with age, education level, occupation, income, physical symptoms, and information resources (p<.05). The mean score for self-efficacy was $6.06{\pm}2.00$. Self-efficacy was significantly associated with patients' age, education level, occupation, income, cigarette use, and information resources (p<.05). The mean score for kidney function was $35.66{\pm}18.68mL/min/1.73m^2$. Kidney function was significantly correlated with use of medications and drinking behavior (p<.05). Knowledge of the kidney was significantly correlated with self-efficacy (r=.31, p<.001), but not with kidney function. There was a significant correlation between self-efficacy and kidney function (r=.30, p<.001). Multiple regression analysis revealed that self-efficacy and drinking behavior accounted for 11% of the variance in kidney function of pre-dialysis patients with chronic renal insufficiency. Conclusion: Nursing interventions are necessary to increase self-efficacy among pre-dialysis patients with chronic renal insufficiency in order to maintain their kidney function.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.350-356
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• 1989

The analysis of adsortion behaviors of some cigarett aerosol ingredients such as tar, nicotine, carbon monoxide and a number of organic acids has shown that the rates of adsorption of the adsorbates of lower boiling point had increased in accordance with increasing cumulative pore volume, while that of higher doiling point decreased with increasing pore volume of smaller radius. The adsorbents used here were charcoal, silica gel, alumina, and activated clay. The common principle that the adsorbents of greater specific surface area adsorb the larger amount of adsorbates appeared to be disturbed in the adsortion of higher boiling point adsorbates. This confirmation was made mainly by analyzing the adsorption behaviors with regard to the pore volume distributions evaluated on the bases of desorption isotherms.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.11-18
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• 2009

Objectives : This study identified the effects of the acupuncture associated with successful cessation at a smoking-cessation clinic of public health center in an urban area. Methods : The subjects of this study were 1121 patients to the smoking cessation clinic of the Anjung Public Healthcare Center in Pyeongtaek, from June 1, 2007 to December 31, 2008. The 123 patients of them were treated by the auricular acupuncture. The experimental group were treated by the acupuncture, and the control only participated in the smoking-cessation clinic program. The data were analysed by SPSS(version 17.0). Chi-square analysis were conducted to see the different of effects between experimental and control group. Also, to find out the factors that affect the success of smoking cessation, logistic regression and Fisher's exact test were done. Results & Conculusions : 1. As the result of the analysis, it showed that 73.2% of the experimental were able to quit smoking for 4 weeks and 6months. 2. Logistic regression and Fisher's exact test showed that number of Cigarette per day, Nicotine Dependence, CO figure(p=.004<.01), and Number of Acupuncture(p=.000<.001) were the factors that affect the successful smoking cessation. 3. The smoking cessation were more likely to success as patients have lower CO figure(B=-.074), more number of the acupuncture(B=1.718). The more number of acupuncture increased 1 time, the more smoking cessation success did 5.576 times(e$^{(1.718{\times}x)$=e$^{(1.718{\times}1)$ = 5.576). 4. As the result of the analysis between experimental and control group, the success rate have the significance difference(p=.000<.001). 73.2% of the experimental were able to quit smoking, but 45.1% of the control did.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.158-166
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• 2000

The effects of smoking and physical exercise on the plasma concentrations of lipid-soluble antioxidants were investigated in 62 healthy males, aged 34-65 years. Current smokers (n=21) and ex-smokers(n=16) had significantly lower plasma levels of carotenoids ($\alpha$-carotene, $\beta$-carotene, cryptoxanthin and lycopene), $\alpha$-tocopherol and ${\gamma}$-tocopherol than non-smokers (n=25). Plasma concentrations of retionl and ubiquinone (coenzyme Q10) were lower among ex-smokers and current smokers than among non-smokers, but the differences were not statistically significant. Regular physical exercise was associated with increased plasma levels of lipid-soluble antioxidants. Plasma concentrations of crytoxanthin, retinol and ubiquinone were significantly elevated in the group engaging in moderate amounts of exercise (more than 20 minutes per day) compared to the group engaging in small amounts of exercise (less than 10 minutes per day). Plasma $\alpha$-carotene, $\beta$-carotene, lycopene levels in the subjects were affected more by smoking than by exercise. However, plasma levels of cryptoxanthin, retinol and ubiquinone in the subjects were affected more by exercise than by smoking. These findings suggest than smoking may cause a decrease in plasma lipid-soluble antioxidants during neutralization of reactive oxygen species present in cigarette smoke and that poor exercise habits may accelerate this imbalance of oxidant/antioxidant homeostasis in middle-aged Korean men.