• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.sup3
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• pp.65-70
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• 2016

Lung cancer is one of the most common malignancies in the world. Its incidence and mortality rates are on the rise in Pakistan. However, epidemiological studies to identify common lung cancer determinants in the Pakistani population have been limited. In this study, data of 440 cases and 323 controls were collected from different hospitals in Peshawar and Islamabad, along with information about socio-demographic factors including age, sex and smoking. Univariate and multi-factorial analyses of socio-demographic factors in association with each other were also performed. Overall survival analysis highlighted that, out of 440 patients in the lung cancer dataset, 204 people were uncensored with a median survival time of 13 months (95% CI=12-18). There were 41 femaleand 399 male patients. Differences were observed between length of survival in the males and females (${\chi}12$ = 6.1; p-value = 0.01). Gender was observed to be significantly related to survival (p-value< 0.01), with better survival in females (hazard ratio=2). Cox regression was extended to adjust for the covariate age (z = 2.5; p-value = 0.02). Survival analysis was also performed on the basis of smoking groups (current smokers, former smokers and never smoked individuals) and smoking duration (smoking duration >10 years, <10 years and never smoked). Smoking duration was significantly associated with survival (p-value < 0.01), with better survival in never smokers in comparison to both smoking for greater or less than 10 years. Strong associations were observed for smoking group with duration greater than 10 years, OR=6.1(3.9-9.5) on univariate and multifactorial analysis OR=11.3(CI=6.8-19.3).

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.508-516
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• 2019

Objectives: The present study was performed to obtain acute toxicity information on glyoxal in male rats after intratracheal instillation. Methods: In order to calculate the LD₅₀ of glyoxal using Probit analysis with SAS, the test article was one intratracheal instillation to male Sprague-Dawley rats at dose levels of 0, 225, 451 or 902 mg/kg. During the test period, mortality, clinical signs, and body and organ weights were examined. At the end of the 14-day observation period, all animals were sacrificed and complete gross postmortem and histopathological examinations were performed. Results: Four animals of the 902 mg/kg group died within one week after the administration of glyoxal. All treatment group in a dose dependent manner, decreased body weight was found during the study period. The absolute and relative lung weight, and histopathological changes (bronchiolar-alveolar hyperplasia, chronic inflammation) of lung exhibited an increased in glyoxal treated groups in a dose dependent manner. However, there were no changes on the organ weights and histopathological changes of any other organ except lung. Conclusions: The results obtained in the present study suggest that the LD₅₀ in male Sprague-Dawley rats after a single intratracheal instillation of glyoxal was considered to be 866.9 mg/kg and the lung was found to be the target organ for glyoxal.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.223-230
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• 2015

Objectives: There is considerable evidence that polluted ambient air contributes to the risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Heart rate variability (HRV) is defined as the variation in heartbeat intervals and has been reported as a biological marker of cardiovascular disease. This article reviews the existing literature in order to examine the association between air pollution and HRV. Methods: Literature was searched using Web of Science with the key words of "air pollution", "heart rate variability" and other related terms. A total of 156 articles were listed. For review, 21 of those listed publications were chosen after excluding studies regarding chamber studies, occupational environment, secondhand smoke and automobile exhaust. Results: Research methods employed in the publications were classified by type of participants (elderly/adult), air pollution monitoring (ambient/personal) and HRV monitoring (continuous/spot). Among HRV parameters, power in the low frequency range (LF), power in the high frequency range (HF) and standard deviation of all NN intervals (SDNN) were all associated with air pollutants. The chosen studies were mostly based on elderly populations. In studies based on continuous HRV monitoring, LF and SDNN significantly decreased when $PM_{2.5}$ exposure increased. Conclusion: Continuous HRV monitoring combined with personal exposure monitoring has been one of the most common study methods in recent publications. We expect that this review will be useful for the study of the association between air pollution and cardiovascular effects using HRV.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.404-413
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• 2019

Objectives: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD) is an important cause of mortality in workers exposed to hazardous dust, such as crystalline silica or coal, and COPD is related to inflammation and oxidative stress in the lung. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association of oxidative stress and inflammation to COPD in retired workers exposed to mineral dust. Methods: The levels of malondialdehyde(MDA) in EBC as biomarkers for oxidative stress and C-reactive protein(CRP) and lactate dehydrogenase(LD) as biomarkers for inflammation were measured in 107 male subjects(63 pneumoconiosis and 42 COPD subjects). Results: Mean levels of EBC MDA(2.03 nmol/L vs. 4.65 nmol/L, p=0.010) and serum LD(170.3 U/L vs. 185.9 U/L, p=0.022) were significantly higher in subjects with COPD, but mean levels of serum CRP(p=0.469) did not show a statistical difference between the study groups. Level of EBC MDA was negatively correlated with ${%}FEV_1$ predicted(r=-0.279, p=0.004) and ${%}FEV_1/FVC$ ratio(r=-0.397, p<0.001). Conclusions: These results suggest that EBC is a useful biological matrix for investigation of respiratory oxidative stress. High levels of EBC MDA and serum LD are related to COPD in retired workers exposed to mineral dust.

• 한국노년학
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.229-244
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• 2005

Korea is expected to become an "aged society" in approximately fifteen years. In order to prepare Korean society for this "aged society", the government and social organizaitons need to offer a life stage preparation manual for the young, middle-aged, and aging populations, as well as providing support structures to guide them through this transition. Researchers have developed a Life Stage Preparation Program, based on surveys and experiments conducted to assess needs and appraise effectiveness. To accomplish the goal of this research, the team has been composed of specialists from the fields of social welfare, family studies, occupational studies, and gerontology. The Life Stage Preparation Program consists of ten areas: understanding ageing issues, sustaining and improving health, psychological issues, continuing education, family relations, social activities, financial preparation, occupations, shelter, and mortality. The effectiveness of the program surveyed on age group of 20s and 60s resulted in nine areas. The Life Stage Preparation Program needs to be operated as a life long education program.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.212-220
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• 2024

Background: 2-Ethylhexyl diphenyl phosphate (EHDPP) is widely used as a flame-retardant plasticizer in the production of polyvinyl chloride, adhesives, and food packaging. This chemical has been frequently detected in water, sediment, and indoor environments, and its lipophilicity raises concerns about bioaccumulation. Objectives: In this study, the effects of EHDPP on the development, behavioral changes, and growth hormone (GH) endocrine system of zebrafish larvae were investigated. Methods: Fertilized embryos were exposed to various concentrations (control, solvent control, 0.07, 0.7, 7, 70, and 700 ㎍/L) of EHDPP for 96 h. Developmental toxicity endpoints were observed daily. Behavioral changes under light-dark-light conditions and changes in hormones and genes related to GH/insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) axis were determined. Results: Significant decreases in survival, body length and moving distance were observed in zebrafish larvae exposed to 70 and 700 ㎍/L EHDPP. The concentrations of GH and IGF-1 were significantly decreased in zebrafish larvae exposed to 70 and 700 ㎍/L EHDPP. This change was well supported by changes in the transcription of genes involved in GH, IGF, IGF receptors, and IGF binding proteins. Conclusions: Our observations showed that exposure to 70 and 700 ㎍/L EHDPP could disrupt the feedback circuits of the GH/IGFs axis, ultimately leading to developmental toxicity, hypoactivity, and mortality.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.30 no.1 s.56
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• pp.77-101
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• 1997

In September 1994, residents of Gozan-dong, Incheon City, made a petition to the government about their health problems which might be caused by previous glass fibre landfill nearby 'H' company. In february 1995, at regular academic meeting of occupational and environmental medicine, a research team of 'D' University presented that they had found glass fibres in groundwater of the area through their survey. They were suspicious of probable association between ingestion of groundwater contaminated with glass fibres and skin tumors among residents. A joint research team was formed and carried out the survey of environment concerning groundwater and its glass fibre existence, and health assessment of residents in the area and industrial workers of 'H' company during May to November, 1995. Analysis of groundwater flow system indicates that the flow lines from the glass fibre landfill pass through or terminate at the 6 houses around the landfill. This means that the groundwater of the 6 houses around the glass fibre landfill could be affected by some possible contaminants from the landfill, but the groundwater quality of the other houses was irrelevant to the landfill. The qualitative and qualitative analyses for glass fibres in 54 groundwater samples including those from the nearby 6 houses, were carried out using SEM equipped with EDS, resulting in no evidence for the presence of glass fibres in the waters. Major precipitates, formed in waters while boiling, were identified as calcium carbonates, in particulary, aragonites in needle form. The results of health assessments of 889 residents in Gozan-dong, participated in this study, showed statistically significant differences in past medical histories of skin tumor and respiratory disease between the exposed group (31 persons who inhabited in 6 houses around the landfill) and the control group, but no significant differences in past medical histories of other diseases, such as cancer mortality, current gastroscopic findings, current skin diseases and respiratory diseases, etc. Also, we could not prove any glass fibres in excised specimens of 9 skin tumors in both groups and there were no health problems possibly associated with glass fibres in employees of the 'H' company. After all, we could not authenticate the association, raised by prior investigators, between groundwater streams, assumedly contaminated with glass fibres or not, and specific disease morbidities or common disease/symptom prevalences. That is, we could not find any glass fibres in groundwater as the only exposure factor of this study hypothesis, and there were not enough certain evidences such as increasing disease prevalences, for examples, skin, respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases etc, possibly related to glass fibre exposure, in exposed group. As a matter of course, the conditions for confirming causal association, for example, strength of the association, consistency of the association, specificity of the association, temporality of the association and dose-response relationship etc, have not been satisfied. In conclusion, we were not able to certify the hypothesis that contamination of groundwater with glass fibres might cause any hazardous health effects in residents who used it for drinking.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.269-278
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• 2020

In this study, we analyzed the safety accidents that occurred in the apartment construction site and the correlations between the victims according to the type of work accidents through multiple correspondence analysis. There is a lack of disaster-related studies on apartment construction sites, the third most frequent building type in Korea, and most of them have used survey techniques. Therefore, the exploratory data analysis was conducted in industrial accident cause data, and derived the correlation analysis between each disaster victim through multiple correspondence analysis. The results of the study are summarized in two as follows. First, as the number of heights increased due to the high rise and complexity of apartments, the fall rate and mortality rate were high. In addition, deaths are mostly caused by very few experienced workers or those with more than 10 years of experience, resulting from safety training, lack of experience, and insensitivity to safety. Second, multi-correspondence analysis showed that most safety accidents can be prevented by wearing safety equipment, and following proper work process and its safety action. The key factors derived from this study can be used for safety education, supervision, and management in apartment construction sites.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.7
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• pp.3545-3549
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• 2016

Background: The incidence of bladder cancer is lower in Asian than in Western countries. However, the crude incidence and mortality of bladder cancer have recently increased in Japan because of the increased number of senior citizens. We have already reported risk factors for urothelial cancer in a large population-based cohort study in Japan (JACC study). However, we did not evaluate the cancer risk in the upper and lower urinary tract separately in our previous study. Materials and Methods: Here we evaluated the risk of cancer death in the upper and lower urinary tracts, separately, using the database of the JACC study. The analytic cohort included 46,395 males and 64,190 females aged 40 to 79 years old. The Cox proportional hazard model was used to determine hazard ratios and their 95% confidence intervals. Results: Current smoking increased the risk of both upper and lower urinary tract cancer deaths. A history of kidney disease was associated with an increased risk of bladder cancer death, even after controlling for age, sex and smoking status. Conclusions: The present study confirmed that current smoking increases the risk of both upper and lower urinary tract cancer deaths and indicated the possibility that a history of kidney disease may be a risk factor for bladder cancer death in the Japanese population.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.85 no.2
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• pp.185-194
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• 2022

Background: The Korea Interstitial Lung Disease Study Group has made a new nationwide idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) registry because the routine clinical practice has changed due to new guidelines and newly developed antifibrotic agents in the recent decade. The aim of this study was to describe recent clinical characteristics of Korean IPF patients. Methods: Both newly diagnosed and following IPF patients diagnosed after the previous registry in 2008 were enrolled. Survival analysis was only conducted for patients diagnosed with IPF after 2016 because antifibrotic agents started to be covered by medical insurance of Korea in October 2015. Results: A total of 2,139 patients were analyzed. Their mean age at diagnosis was 67.4±9.3 years. Of these patients, 76.1% were males, 71.0% were ever-smokers, 14.4% were asymptomatic at the time of diagnosis, and 56.9% were at gender-age-physiology stage I. Occupational toxic material exposure was reported in 534 patients. The mean forced vital capacity was 74.6% and the diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide was 63.6%. Treatment with pirfenidone was increased over time: 62.4% of IPF patients were treated with pirfenidone initially. And 79.2% of patients were treated with antifiboritics for more than three months during the course of the disease since 2016. Old age, acute exacerbation, treatment without antifibrotics, and exposure to wood and stone dust were associated with higher mortality. Conclusion: In the recent Korean IPF registry, the percentage of IPF patients treated with antifibrotics was increased compared to that in the previous IPF registry. Old age, acute exacerbation, treatment without antifibrotics, and exposure to wood and stone dust were associated with higher mortality.