• Molecules and Cells
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.65-75
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• 2022

Hypothalamus is a brain region that controls food intake and energy expenditure while sensing signals that convey information about energy status. Within the hypothalamus, molecularly and functionally distinct neurons work in concert under physiological conditions. However, under pathological conditions such as in diet-induced obesity (DIO) model, these neurons show dysfunctional firing patterns and distorted regulation by neurotransmitters and neurohormones. Concurrently, resident glial cells including astrocytes dramatically transform into reactive states. In particular, it has been reported that reactive astrogliosis is observed in the hypothalamus, along with various neuroinflammatory signals. However, how the reactive astrocytes control and modulate DIO by influencing neighboring neurons is not well understood. Recently, new lines of evidence have emerged indicating that these reactive astrocytes directly contribute to the pathology of obesity by synthesizing and tonically releasing the major inhibitory transmitter GABA. The released GABA strongly inhibits the neighboring neurons that control energy expenditure. These surprising findings shed light on the interplay between reactive astrocytes and neighboring neurons in the hypothalamus. This review summarizes recent discoveries related to the functions of hypothalamic reactive astrocytes in obesity and raises new potential therapeutic targets against obesity.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.55-85
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• 2004

The problems of health in poor peoples are various and difficult things to solve it. They are highly susceptible to chronic disease because of bad environment and It is hard to access to medical services because of their Socio-demographic status. Therefore, it is important to address the problem of prevention of chronic disease and health promotion aspect. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationships among the health status, health behaviors and health practices of poor people in urban slum area. The subject of this study were 298 poor peoples who live in poor area in Daegu metropolitan city and they were asked to answer the survey questionnaires modified for Korean from behavioral risk factor surveillance system of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention USA. The result of the study were as follows； (1) There were significant relationships between health status (prevalence of chronic disease and perceived general health) and socio-demographic factor such as occupation, existence of spouse, number of family educational level, type of medical security. (2) There were some relationships between health risk behaviors such as smoking, drinking and obesity and health status of subject especially in female obesity.(3) There were relationships among health concern activity, prevalence of chronic disease and some social factor such as educational level and occupation. (4) There were relationships among health practice, health concern activity, health status and socio-demographic factors of subject. This study suggest that health status, socio-demographic status, health concerns and health promotion activity of study populations were associated and It is very important things supporting the poor people in the level of community and nation to practice healthy behaviors themselves.

• Clinical Psychopharmacology and Neuroscience
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.481-488
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• 2018

Preliminary studies have claimed that short term fasting would negatively affect school performance and cognition. In contrast some other studies have reported not important decline in cognition and executive function as a result of fasting. Also limited attention was generally devoted to dietetic regimens, nutritional status and body weight. Yet neuroscience and neuro-cognitive aspects of acute hunger on the electroencephalogram and differences between obese and non-obese cases is not well understood. Hence, we decided to design and perform a case study in a more controlled situation similar to reality. Therefore, we performed several examinations including subjective tests (for eating status) and objective tests (cognitive tests such as Stroop effect and Sternberg search and electroencephalogram measures such as steady-state visual evoked potential and auditory steady-state responses) for an obese and a non-obese academic case before and after a simple breakfast. The results showed that the breakfast effects on the neuro-cognitive functions depend on either obesity status, nutritional status of the case or the type of cognitive task (visual or auditory). This paper would open a new insight to answer some important questions about the neuro-cognitive implications of fasting and feeding in obese and non-obese human cases.

• Journal of Sasang Constitutional Medicine
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.40-49
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• 2017

Objectives Sleep duration and sleep quality are closely related to obesity, however there are few studies considering the Sasang constitution. This study is to investigate the relationship between sleep status and obesity according to Sasang constitution. Methods This cross-sectional research studied 2,672 participants (1,293 men and 1,379 women) using the Korean Medicine Data Center (KDC) of the KIOM. Sasang constitution was diagnosed by KS-15 questionnaire. Obesity was divided into two categories: general obesity was defined as Body Mass Index(BMI) ${\geq}25kg/m^2$, and abdominal obesity was defined as waist circumference ${\geq}90cm$ in men and ${\geq}85cm$ in women. Sleep quality was assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Results The distribution of the subjects was 56.9% for Taeumin and 43.1% for non-Taeeumin., Poor sleep quality increased both BMI and waist circumference in Taeeumin. In men Taeeumin, sleep duration was correlated with BMI, and sleep quality was correlated with waist circumference. The prevalence of obesity was significant difference according to sleeping duration in men Taeeumin, it was the highest at 6 hours of sleeping time. Conclusions Sleep duration and sleep quality was associated with obesity in Taeeumin. Especially, in men Taeeumin, adequate sleep duration was an important factor for prevention and treatment of obesity.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.125-135
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• 2020

Purpose : Obesity indices are major predictive markers for coronary artery stenosis, but there are few studies about the relationship between obesity indices and coronary artery stenosis in the Korean population. Therefore, we analyzed the association between obesity indices and coronary artery stenosis among health-screen examinees. Methods : This study included 99 males and females who visited a health-examination center. The obesity indices included body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), visceral adipose tissue (VAT), visceral adipose tissue/subcutaneous adipose tissue ratio (V/S ratio). All subjects had their degree of coronary artery stenosis measured using coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA). A multiple logistic regression test was conducted to analyze the association between obesity indices and coronary artery stenosis. Results : This study was taken by multiple logistic regression test adjusted by age, sex, smoking status, frequency of alcohol drinking/week and frequency of exercise/week. The adjusted odds ratio for the presence of coronary artery stenosis for subjects with abdominal obesity (abdominal obesity defined as a waist circumference ≥ 90 cm in males; ≥ 85 cm in females) was 6.263 (95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.974-19.869), for subjects with visceral obesity by visceral adipose tissue (visceral obesity defined as a visceral adipose tissue ≥ 100) was 11.430 (95 % CI 3.044-42.928). Conclusion : In this study of adults, WC and VAT were independent predictors of coronary artery stenosis. These results suggest that WC and VAT may be useful markers of coronary artery stenosis.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.829-836
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• 2006

Purpose: The purpose of the present study was to identify prevalence of excessive daytime sleepiness(EDS) and its associations with sleep habits, sleep problems, depression, subjective health status and obesity in community dwelling adults. Method: Data was collected from adults aged 20-59 years by random sampling. Subjects completed a questionnaire which was composed of the Epworth Sleepiness Scale, Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, and questions that included items about sleep habits, sleep problems, subjective health status and sociodemographic characteristics. Height and weight were measured for calculation of body mass index. The statistical analyses was based on 3,302 adults (51.5% males and 48.5% females). Descriptive statistics, univariate logistic regression and multiple logistic regression were used. Result: The prevalence of EDS was 17.1% Multiple logistic regression showed that the associated factors of EDS were depression, obesity, dissatisfaction with sleep time, irregular sleep, and habitual snoring. Depression was the most significant associated factor(adjusted odds ratio for severe depression=2.27, 95% Confidence Interval=1.73-2.96). Conclusion: EDS is a common symptom in adults. Our finding suggested that persons with a complaint of EDS should be completely assessed for depression and obesity as well as sleep problems.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.201-207
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• 2017

Measuring the pulse wave velocity (PWV) is a non-invasive method for evaluating the stiffness of the vessel wall. While previous studies investigated the association of uric acid level with arterial stiffness, most did not consider smoking status and obesity as covariates. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between uric acid levels and arterial stiffness, considering smoking status and obesity. We studied 3390 subjects (1940 males and 1450 females). Abnormal PWV was also defined as the highest quartile of values in the subjects. Data were analyzed using Pearson correlation, t-test, and multiple regression analysis. Approximately 41.9% of men and 3.7% of women were current smokers. Prevalence of hypertension was 11.4% in men and 7.0% in women. In women, hyperuricemia was associated with abnormal PWV (OR 1.58; 95% CI 1.03~2.43). Hyperuricemia was also associated with abnormal PWV (OR 2.37; 95% CI 1.01~5.59) in non- or light male smokers with normal blood pressure. This study suggests that uric acid is associated with arterial stiffness in women and non-smoking men.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.67-77
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• 2014

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the prevalence of metabolic syndrome and its components and to examine the related factors in urban and rural community, South Korea. Methods: The data from the 5th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES-V) conducted in 2010 were utilized in this study. The subjects were 5,760 adults 20 years or over. The data were consisted with health survey questionnaire and health examination. $x^2$-test and logistic regression was used for the analysis SAS 9.3 applying sampling weights. Results: The prevalence of metabolic syndrome based on the latest definition proposed the joint scientific meeting was 23.4% and 29.0% respectively in urban and rural community. Rural community showed higher prevalence of abdominal obesity (29.9% vs 38.5%), elevated blood pressure (31.3% vs 38.5%), elevated blood glucose (24.3% vs 28.4%) than urban community. The related factors were age, marital status, high risk drinking, obesity in urban community and age, marital status high risk drinking, severe physical activity, obesity in rural community. Conclusion: This study showed there was difference in prevalence and the related factors of metabolic syndrome and these findings have important implications to prevent and manage metabolic syndrome in public health field.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.14 no.11
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• pp.619-626
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• 2016

The purpose of this study was to investigate effects of physical activity and sedentary life in metabolically healthy obesity(MHO) and metabolically unhealthy obesity(MUO). A total of 1585 middle-aged obesity men and women participated in this study. The subjects were divided to MHO(n=840) and MUO(n=745) by metabolic syndrome markers(National Cholesterol Education Program-Adult Treatment Panel III). We analyzed measurement data using t-test. As results, physical activity and exercise participant between group had not significant difference in men subjects. But, in women subjects, total physical activity volume and muscle strength exercise participant between group had a significant difference. In conclusion, we suggest that physical activity and exercise participant are important factors affecting health status in the same level of obesity women.

• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.374-383
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• 2017

The purpose of this study was to compare the dietary status of elderly people according to the degree of obesity and mid-arm circumference in order to provide individualized and efficient nutrition management according to the physical condition of the elderly. Among the total 328 subjects, 72.2% were female, and the mean age and body mass index of the subjects were 76.5 years and $23.4kg/m^2$, respectively. The distribution of obesity degree was 47.9% for the normal group, 23.5% for the overweight group, and 28.7% for the obesity group. The distribution of mid-arm circumference was 18.0% for the under-21 cm group, 37.2% for the 21~22 cm group, and 44.8% for the over-22 cm group. About 82.9% of the subjects were consumed at least three meals a day, and 67.8% of the subjects regularly ate alone. The responses for meal time, regular meal, and meal reduction for 3 months were highest in the 10~20 min. (43.4%), yes (79.3%), and no (58.5%) group, respectively. The responses for eating alone were significantly highest in the overweight group (97.4%), followed by the normal group and obesity group according to the degree of obesity (P<0.05). There were no significant differences in preference for five flavors according to the degree of obesity and mid-arm circumference. Among the dietary habits, 31.1% of all subjects ate milk and dairy products more than once a day, and the response for eating vegetables and fruits more than three times a day was highest in the over-22 cm group (61.9%) while the drinking rate was highest in the under-21 cm group (27.1%; P<0.05). In conclusion, the degree of obesity was related to eating ability, and mid-arm the circumference was related with fruit and vegetable consumption and drinking rate.