Public support for health taxes and media regulation of harmful products in South Korea

Background Public health policy is inevitably associated with either a strong presence or lack of public support. We investigated factors associated with both the public support of and opposition to health taxes and the media regulation regarding advertising harmful products in Korea. Methods We interviewed 1200 respondents that were recruited using an equal-probability sampling method in accordance with the 2016 Korean census. Our investigation examined the extent of support and opposition towards health taxes and the media regulation of advertising that targets the consumption of tobacco, alcohol, and unhealthy foods according to socioeconomic characteristics, health habits, body mass index (BMI), and exposure to the advertising of harmful products. The study was conducted using a univariate and stepwise multivariate regression analysis. Results The majority (71.8%) of the respondents were supportive of imposing health taxes in general. Despite a high prevalence of tobacco and alcohol consumption among the respondents, they strongly supported media regulation of tobacco (72.3%), alcohol (63.7%), and eating broadcasts (51.9%) food advertising (44.0%). Those that were non-smokers, earned a high-income, were married, or had a child were likely to support at least one kind of regulation regarding alcohol and smoking related advertising. An exposure to excessive advertising of unhealthy products was associated with increase of respondents supporting the media regulation. Those who regarded the media as being influential seemed to be more supportive of health taxes or media regulation. Conclusion Our results indicated strong public support among the respondents for health taxes and the media regulation regarding the advertising of unhealthy products. Based on our data, we are optimistic that countries whose population show a high rate of tobacco, alcohol or unhealthy food consumption may launch public policy in addressing these factors.This study was supported by grants from Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea (grant number 80020160151). None of the funding organizations had any role in the design of the study, analysis, or interpretation of the data, or in the preparation, review, and approval of the manuscript

Association Between Insulin Resistance and Bone Mass in Men

Context: The association between insulin resistance and bone mass is still not clear. Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between insulin resistance and bone mass. Design and Setting: This was a cross-sectional survey of the nationally representative population. Participants: A total of 3113 men (aged >= 20 years) from the fourth Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey of 2008-2009 were included. Main Outcome Measures: Bone mineral density (BMD) was measured using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. Osteopenia and osteoporosis were defined using the World Health Organization T score criteria. Fasting plasma insulin and glucose levels were measured, and insulin resistance was evaluated using the homeostasis model assessment-estimated insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) index. Results: Age-, height-, and weight-adjusted mean BMD values significantly decreased as quartiles of HOMA-IR and the fasting plasma insulin level increased (P for trends <.001). In multivariable logistic regression analyses, participants who had a higher HOMA-IR or fasting plasma insulin level had a higher odds ratio for osteoporosis/osteopenia. Interestingly, the association between fasting plasma insulin level and whole-body BMD differed by the degree of insulin resistance. In the lowest quartile of HOMA-IR, the fasting insulin level was positively associated with BMD. As insulin resistance increased, however, the fasting insulin level was inversely associated with BMD, and this relationship became more significant as the degree of insulin resistance increased. Conclusions: In a nationally representative sample of Korean men, insulin resistance and the fasting plasma insulin level were inversely associated with bone mass. Further studies are required to confirm this association and reveal the underlying mechanisms.OAIID:oai:osos.snu.ac.kr:snu2014-01/102/0000052039/4SEQ:4PERF_CD:SNU2014-01EVAL_ITEM_CD:102USER_ID:0000052039ADJUST_YN:YEMP_ID:A079543DEPT_CD:806CITE_RATE:6.31FILENAME:association between insulin resistance and bone mass in men.pdfDEPT_NM:의과학과SCOPUS_YN:YCONFIRM:

Coffee Consumption and Bone Mineral Density in Korean Premenopausal Women

Background: Although Asian people are known to have lower bone mass than that of Caucasians, little is known about coffee-associated bone health in Asian. This study aimed to assess the relationship between coffee consumption and bone mineral density (BMD) in Korean premenopausal women.Methods: Data were obtained from the Fourth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2008?2009. The study population consisted of 1,761 Korean premenopausal women (mean age 36 years) who were measured for lumbar spine and femoral neck BMD and who completed a standardized questionnaire about coffee intake frequency. We excluded the participants who took hormone replacement therapy or medication for osteoporosis. The cross-sectional relationship between coffee consumption and impaired bone health (osteopenia or osteoporosis) was investigated by bone densitometry.Results: Coffee consumption showed no significant association with BMD of either femoral neck or lumbar spine, independent of other factors. The adjusted odds ratios for BMD for those who consumed once in a day, twice a day and three times a day were 0.94 (0.70?1.26), 0.93 (0.67?1.28), and 1.02 (0.69?1.50), respectively (P for trend = 0.927).Conclusion: This study does not support the idea that coffee is a risk factor for impaired bone health in Korean premenopausal women.OAIID:oai:osos.snu.ac.kr:snu2014-01/102/0000052039/9SEQ:9PERF_CD:SNU2014-01EVAL_ITEM_CD:102USER_ID:0000052039ADJUST_YN:YEMP_ID:A079543DEPT_CD:806CITE_RATE:0FILENAME:coffee consumption and bone mineral density in korean premenopausal women.pdfDEPT_NM:의과학과SCOPUS_YN:NCONFIRM:

Unification in 5D SO(10)

Gauge unification in a five dimensional supersymmetric SO(10) model compactified on an orbifold $S^1/(Z_2 \times Z_2^{\prime})$ is studied. One orbifolding reduces N=2 supersymmetry to N=1, and the other breaks SO(10) to the Pati-Salam gauge group \ps. Further breaking to the standard model gauge group is made through the Higgs mechanism on one of the branes. The differences of the three gauge couplings run logarithmically even in five dimensions and we can keep the predictability for unification as in four dimensional gauge theories. We obtain an excellent prediction for gauge coupling unification with a cutoff scale $M_* \sim 3 \times 10^{17}$ GeV and a compactification scale $M_c \sim 1.5 \times 10^{14}$ GeV. Finally, although proton decay due to dimension 5 operators may be completely eliminated, the proton decay rate in these models is sensitive to the placement of matter multiplets in the 5th dimension, as well as to the unknown physics above the cutoff scale.Comment: 33 pages, one reference added and fig. 3 caption correcte

Association between Social Trust and Metabolic Syndrome in a Previously Healthy Population—A Longitudinal Cohort Study in South Korea

Background: Social trust, assessed by the trustworthiness of one another in a community, is known to have beneficial effects on health outcomes. However, the impact of social trust on metabolic syndrome (MetS) is unclear. Methods: The study subjects were extracted from the Korean National Health Insurance Service, and social trust was obtained from the Korean Community Health Survey (KCHS). Previously healthy participants were followed up from 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2011, and again from 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2013 for waist circumference, blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, triglycerides and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). Multivariate logistic regression was used to calculate the adjusted odds ratios (aORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for newly developed MetS according to social trust quintiles. Stratified analyses were performed to determine the relationship between lifestyle behaviors and social trust. Results: Compared to the participants within the first quintile of social trust, those in the remaining quintiles had lower risks of developing MetS. The aOR with the 95% CI was 0.88 (0.79&ndash;0.98) in the 5th quintile group of social trust. Among the diagnostic criteria for MetS, waist circumference and HDL-C were statistically significant with aORs of 0.91 (0.84&ndash;0.99) and 0.88 (0.80&ndash;0.95) in the 5th quintile group. The stratified analyses showed protective effects of positive lifestyle behaviors. The aORs with 95% CIs were 0.85 (0.74&ndash;0.99) in never smokers, 0.82 (0.70&ndash;0.95) in non-drinkers and 0.87 (0.76&ndash;1.00) in the physically active in the highest level of social trust. Conclusions: Higher social trust was associated with a lower incidence of MetS. Therefore, building community with psychosocial support may be helpful in improving public health

Changes in Body Composition Are Associated with Metabolic Changes and the Risk of Metabolic Syndrome

In a cohort of 190,599 participants from The National Health Insurance Service-National Health Screening (NHIS-HEALS) study, we investigated the association of changes in the predicted body composition and metabolic profiles with the risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in the general population, which was hitherto incompletely elucidated. At baseline and follow-up examinations, the body composition, including lean body mass (LBM), body fat mass (BFM), and appendicular skeletal mass (ASM), were estimated using a prediction equation, and the risk of MetS was analyzed according to relative body composition changes. An increase in relative LBM and ASM decreased the risk of MetS in men and women (adjusted odds ratio (aOR), 0.78 and 0.80; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.77–0.79 and 0.79–0.81, respectively; all p p-trend < 0.001). In men, when the relative LBM increased (aOR, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.63–0.73), the risk of MetS was low despite increased BMI. Thus, our findings suggested that an increase in the relative LBM and ASM reduced the risk of MetS, whereas an increase in the relative BFMI increased the risk of MetS; this result was consistent in men despite an increase in BMI

Modification of the Association between Visual Impairment and Mortality by Physical Activity: A Cohort Study among the Korean National Health Examinees

The association between visual impairment and higher mortality remains unclear. In addition, evidence is lacking on the interaction between visual function and physical activity on mortality. We used data of individuals with no disability or with visual impairment among those who participated in the National Health Screening Program in Korea in 2009 or 2010. We constructed Cox proportional hazard models adjusted for potential confounders to evaluate the independent association between visual impairment and mortality. More severe visual impairment was associated with higher all-cause mortality (p-value for trend = 0.03) and mortality due to cardiovascular diseases (p-value for trend = 0.02) and that due to other diseases (p-value for trend = 0.01). We found an interaction on an additive scale between visual impairment and no physical activity on all-cause mortality (relative excess risk due to interaction = 1.34, 95% confidence interval: 0.37, 2.30, p-value = 0.01). When we stratified the study population by physical activity, the association between visual impairment and mortality was only found among individuals who did not engage in regular physical activity (p-value for trend = 0.01). We found an independent association between visual impairment and mortality and modification of this association by physical activity

Smoking cessation after diagnosis of COPD is associated with lower all-cause and cause-specific mortality: a nationwide population-based cohort study of South Korean men

Abstract Background The most effective way to halt the advancement of COPD is smoking cessation. However, limited data are available on the question of whether quitting smoking within two years after COPD diagnosis reduces the risk of mortality. The goal of our research was to analyze the relationship between quitting smoking after COPD diagnosis and the risks of all-cause and cause-specific mortality, using the Korean National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) database. Methods This study included 1,740 male COPD patients aged 40 years or more who had been newly diagnosed within the 2003–2014 time period and had smoked prior to their COPD diagnosis. The patients were categorized into two groups according to their smoking status after COPD diagnosis: (i) persistent smokers (ii) quitters (smoking cessation within two years of COPD diagnosis). Multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression was performed to determine the adjusted hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for both all-cause and cause-specific mortality. Results Among 1,740 patients (mean age, 64.6 years; mean follow-up duration, 7.6 years), 30.5% stopped smoking after COPD diagnosis. Quitters gained a 17% risk reduction in all-cause mortality (aHR, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.69–1.00) and a 44% risk reduction in cardiovascular mortality (aHR, 0.56; 95% CI, 0.33–0.95) compared with persistent smokers. Conclusion Our study found that patients who quit smoking within two years after COPD diagnosis had lower risks of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality relative to persistent smokers. These results can be used to encourage newly diagnosed COPD patients to stop smoking