Relationship between Adult Handgrip Strength and Metabolic Syndrome

Background: Metabolic syndrome is becoming more prevalent around the world, with insulin resistance and obesity as particularly critical factors determining the condition. It is known that insulin resistance has a very strong correlation between muscle mass and muscular strength. However, there are few studies on the relationship between handgrip strength and metabolic syndrome, and those studies that have been carried out have mainly focused on the elderly. The purpose of the current study is to use the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to identify the relationship between handgrip strength and metabolic syndrome among Korean adults aged 19 years old and above. Participants and methods: The Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey is a nationwide cross-sectional survey that assesses the health and nutritional status of the Korean population. The current study analyzed the relationship between grip strength and metabolic syndrome of 10,094 Korean adults aged ≥19 years (4,402 men and 5,692 women) in the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2014-2017). Those with cancer or those who had experienced a stroke, angina, or myocardial infarction were excluded, as were pregnant or breast-feeding women. The diagnostic criteria for metabolic syndrome were based on those of the American Heart Association/National Heart Long and Blood Institute, which are altered versions of the National Cholesterol Education Program – Adult Treatment Panel III criteria. Grip strength was measured data using a digital grip strength dynamometer. Results: Logistic regression analysis was performed by dividing grip strength into quintiles. A significant decrease in figures compared to Q1 in the odds ratio for both men and women was observed due to age adjustment (Q2: 0.84, Q3: 0.43, Q4: 0.24, Q5: 0.15 for men; Q2: 0.63, Q3: 0.41, Q4: 0.23, Q5: 0.08 for women). Also, due to the correction of demographic factors (age, educational status, marital status, income status, smoking status, drinking status, and menopausal status for women), the odds ratio significantly decreased figures compared to Q1 for both men and women (Q2: 0.80, Q3: 0.37, Q4: 0.21, Q5: 0.13 for men; Q2: 0.63, Q3: 0.45, Q4: 0.24, Q5: 0.09 for women). Conclusions: Higher grip strength brought down the risk of metabolic syndrome for both men and women. Therefore, to prevent and treat metabolic syndrome, it is recommended that patients exercise steadily to enhance muscular strength and muscle mass for better health outcomes. [Ethiop. J. Health Dev. 2020;34(Special issue-3):18-27] Keywords: Muscle strength, metabolic syndrome, grip strength, grip strength/body weigh

Analysis of Health-Related Behaviors of Adult Korean Women at Normal BMI with Different Body Image Perceptions: Results from the 2013–2017 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHNES)

The tendency of misperceiving one’s body image was found to be higher among those at normal body mass index (BMI). Thus, the present study aims to provide basic data to seek solutions for ideal physical activities and right body image perception by comparing health-related behaviors of women at normal BMI. Among the 39,225 respondents from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHNES) conducted from 2013 to 2017, 10,798 adult women with World Health Organization (WHO) BMI Classifications of 18.5 ≤ BMI < 25 (Asia-Pacific) were considered, from which pregnant and breast-feeding women and women whose body image perception was not identified were excluded, leading to a total of 9288 women. Data were analyzed utilizing SAS ver. 9.4 for frequency analysis, cross tabulation, GLM (generalized linear model), and logistic regression analysis with complex samples design, in conformity with the guidelines of the KNHNES. The results showed that approximately most (87.6%) of adult Korean women misperceived their body image. Misperception of body image was related to inappropriate health-related behaviors such as smoking, insufficient sleeping, and excessive body weight management; those who had underestimated their body image (≤64 odds ratio (OR) (0.718 (confidence interval (C.I.) 0.594–0.866))) carried out fewer health-related behaviors, while women aged 65 or above engaged in more health-related behaviors when they perceived themselves as obese (OR 1.683 (C.I. 1.260–2.248; overestimation)). To sum up, it was found that lack of health management, inappropriate body weight control, and health-related behaviors are related to body image misperception compared with real BMI. As such, it is necessary to have educational programs to encourage building proper perception of one’s body image and body weight, and to carry out health-related behaviors

Role of regular physical activity in modifying cardiovascular disease risk factors among elderly Korean women

Introduction: This study examined physical activity (PA) participation rates and the role of PA in the modification of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors according to types of PA in elderly Korean women using data from 2007 to 2012 from a nationally representative South Korean database. Materials and Method: In total, 3,456 elderly women aged ≥65 years, without CVD, were included in the study. CVD risk was evaluated using both the 10-year Framingham risk score (FRS) and atherogenic index (AI), as well as well-known CVD risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, smoking, and hypercholesterolemia. Results: The PA participation rates were 4.7%, 33.9%, and 61.4% for the regular PA, regular walking, and no PA groups, respectively. Multiple linear regression analyses revealed that regular PA and regular walking were associated with a favorable lipid profile and lower AI, after controlling for socio-demographic factors and types of PA. PA did not significantly affect the FRS. Conclusion: This study suggests that regular PA and walking are important in the modification of CVD risk factors among elderly Korean women. KCI Citation Count:

Analysis of health-related, skill-related physical strength, and physique by blood pressure levels of Korean seniors.

In Korea, the prevalence rate of hypertension among people aged over 30 is on an upward trend, which increased from 26.2% in 2008 to 28.3% in 2018. This hovers above the global morbidity rate of hypertension. As hypertension is the cause of cerebrovascular or cardiovascular diseases, early treatment and management are critical. Also, while there has been numerous research conducted on exercise intervention, the number of studies done on hypertension and physical fitness falls far below. To identify the relationship between health and physical fitness depending on the blood pressure levels of Korean seniors, the physical fitness test results of the National Fitness Award 100 conducted in 2017 were used, and blood pressure level, physique, and physical fitness data of 17,110 elderly population aged above 65 were analyzed. IBM Statistics SPSS 25.0 was used to process the collected data. Due to the gender difference in blood pressure levels, physique, and physical strength, the analysis was conducted by each gender, and the analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to identify the differences in physique and physical strength depending on the blood pressure level. Also, Tukey's HDS test was conducted if such differences were found. All analyzes were tested at the significance level (α) of 0.05. As a result of comparing the physique factors by blood pressure level, only males showed a significant difference between groups in terms of height(p = .019), and higher blood pressure implied greater height. Also, for both genders, those with high blood pressure appeared to have greater body weight(p < .001), body fat percentage(p < .001), BMI(p < .001), waist circumference(p < .001), and waist-to-height ratio(p < .001),. In addition, as the result of comparing health-related physical strength and skill-related physical strength by blood pressure level, males showed a significant difference only in muscular strength(p = .026) and flexibility(p < .001), while females showed a significant difference between groups in terms of cardiovascular endurance(p < .001), muscular strength(p = .025), muscular endurance(p < .001), balance, and motor coordination except for flexibility. Holistically, males only showed a significant difference in muscular strength and flexibility while females appeared to have a significant difference between groups in all categories except flexibility, which can be considered that physical fitness factors influence the blood pressure of females more than males

Identification of tumor suppressor miRNAs by integrative miRNA and mRNA sequencing of matched tumor–normal samples in lung adenocarcinoma

© 2019 The Authors. Published by FEBS Press and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.The roles of miRNAs in lung cancer have not yet been explored systematically at the genome scale despite their important regulatory functions. Here, we report an integrative analysis of miRNA and mRNA sequencing data for matched tumor–normal samples from 109 Korean female patients with non-small-cell lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). We produced miRNA sequencing (miRNA-Seq) and RNA-Seq data for 48 patients and RNA-Seq data for 61 additional patients. Subsequent differential expression analysis with stringent criteria yielded 44 miRNAs and 2322 genes. Integrative gene set analysis of the differentially expressed miRNAs and genes using miRNA–target information revealed several regulatory processes related to the cell cycle that were targeted by tumor suppressor miRNAs (TSmiR). We performed colony formation assays in A549 and NCI-H460 cell lines to test the tumor-suppressive activity of downregulated miRNAs in cancer and identified 7 novel TSmiRs (miR-144-5p, miR-218-1-3p, miR-223-3p, miR-27a-5p, miR-30a-3p, miR-30c-2-3p, miR-338-5p). Two miRNAs, miR-30a-3p and miR-30c-2-3p, showed differential survival characteristics in the Tumor Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) LUAD patient cohort indicating their prognostic value. Finally, we identified a network cluster of miRNAs and target genes that could be responsible for cell cycle regulation. Our study not only provides a dataset of miRNA as well as mRNA sequencing from the matched tumor–normal samples, but also reports several novel TSmiRs that could potentially be developed into prognostic biomarkers or therapeutic RNA drug