Validation Study of MyFitnessPal App for the Dietary Assessment among College Students non-English Speakers in Indonesia and Taiwan

Background: Dietary assessment using smartphone could solve problem related nutrition especially among college student in Indonesia and Taiwan. College students tend to choose unhealthy food in new environment that increase obesity risk. Dietary pattern in Taiwan and Indonesia were different so the validity of dietary assessment using smartphone application was important among both country. Monitoring dietary intake using smartphone are accurate, not time consuming, decrease burdensome, and low measurement error. MyfitnessPal (MFP) is a smartphone application which very helpful for monitoring dietary intake even though among non-English speaker country. Objectives: The study aimed to compare the relative validity of smartphone app-based food records (MFP) versus 7-days computer-based food record for assessing energy, macronutrient and micronutrient of Taiwanese and Indonesian College Students. Methods: Indonesian students (n=17) and Taiwanese students (n=9) volunteered and recorded 7-day dietary intake using MFP and 7-days computer-based food record with additional food picture. The values of energy, macronutrients and fiber from MFP were compared with data from food record, calculated using Taiwan and Indonesia food composition software. Comparisons were made between each data set using the Wilcoxon rank test, paired t-test, linear regression, and the Bland-Altman agreement plots. Results: Repeated measures Bland-Altman plots showed good agreement for both methods. These finding showed that among Indonesian and Taiwanese, there was a non-significant difference in energy, macronutrients (protein, carbohydrate, fat) and sodium intake between the two methods. Moreover, some nutrients such as fiber and cholesterol found a significant difference between MFP and 7d food record. Conclusions: MFP showed good relative validity, especially for energy, macronutrients (protein, carbohydrate, fat) and sodium intake. Keyword: Dietary Assessmen

Shorter GT repeat polymorphism in the heme oxygenase-1 gene promoter has protective effect on ischemic stroke in dyslipidemia patients

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The microsatellite polymorphism of heme oxygenase (HO)-1 gene promoter has been shown to be associated with the susceptibility to ischemic event, including coronary artery disease (CAD), myocardial infarction, and peripheral vascular disease. We aimed to examine whether the length of (GT)_nrepeats in HO-1 gene promoter is associated with ischemic stroke in people with CAD risk factors, especially low level of HDL.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A total of 183 consecutive firstever ischemic stroke inpatients and 164 non-stroke patients were screened for the length of (GT)_nrepeats in HO-1 promoter. The long (L) and short (S) genotype are defined as the averaged repeat number >26 and ≦26, respectively.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Stroke patients tended to have more proportions of hypertension, diabetics and genotype L, than those of genotype S. Patients with genotype L of HO-1 gene promoter have higher stroke risk in comparison with genotype S especially in dyslipidemia individuals. The significant differences on stroke risk in multivariate odds ratios were found especially in people with low HDL-C levels.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Subjects carrying longer (GT)_nrepeats in HO-1 gene promoter may have greater susceptibility to develop cerebral ischemic only in the presence of low HDL-C, suggesting the protective effects in HO-1 genotype S in the process of ischemic stroke, particularly in subjects with poor HDL-C status.</p

Ketogenic Diet Is Good for Aging-Related Sarcopenic Obesity

Sarcopenic obesity is a skeletal muscle weight loss disease. It has happened at an elderly age. A ketogenic diet is a low-carbohydrate (5%), moderate protein (15%), and a higher-fat diet (80%) can help sarcopenic obese patients burn their fat more effectively. It has many benefits for muscle and fat weight loss. A ketogenic diet can be especially useful for losing excess body fat without hunger and for improving type 2 diabetes. That is because of only a few carbohydrates in the diet, the liver converts fat into fatty acids and ketones. Ketone bodies can replace higher ATP energy. This diet forces the human body to burn fat. This is a good way to lose fat weight without restriction

Effects of manual lymphatic drainage on breast cancer-related lymphedema: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

BACKGROUND: Lymphedema is a common complication of axillary dissection for breast cancer. We investigated whether manual lymphatic drainage (MLD) could prevent or manage limb edema in women after breast-cancer surgery. METHODS: We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of published randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to evaluate the effectiveness of MLD in the prevention and treatment of breast-cancer-related lymphedema. The PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro), SCOPUS, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials electronic databases were searched for articles on MLD published before December 2012, with no language restrictions. The primary outcome for prevention was the incidence of postoperative lymphedema. The outcome for management of lymphedema was a reduction in edema volume. RESULTS: In total, 10 RCTs with 566 patients were identified. Two studies evaluating the preventive outcome of MLD found no significant difference in the incidence of lymphedema between the MLD and standard treatment groups, with a risk ratio of 0.63 and a 95% confidence interval (CI) of 0.14 to 2.82. Seven studies assessed the reduction in arm volume, and found no significant difference between the MLD and standard treatment groups, with a weighted mean difference of 75.12 (95% CI, −9.34 to 159.58). CONCLUSIONS: The current evidence from RCTs does not support the use of MLD in preventing or treating lymphedema. However, clinical and statistical inconsistencies between the various studies confounded our evaluation of the effect of MLD on breast-cancer-related lymphedema

Association between genetic variant on chromosome 12p13 and stroke survival and recurrence: a one year prospective study in Taiwan

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The association between ischemic stroke and 2 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on chromosome 12p13, rs12425791 and rs11833579 appears inconsistent across different samples. These SNPs are close to the ninjurin2 gene which may alter the risk of stroke by affecting brain response to ischemic injury. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between these two SNPs and ischemic stroke risk, as well as prognostic outcomes in a Taiwanese sample.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We examined the relations of these two SNPs to the odds of new-onset ischemic stroke, ischemic stroke subtypes, and to the one year risk of stroke-related death or recurrent stroke following initial stroke in a case-control study. A total of 765 consecutive patients who had first-ever ischemic stroke were compared to 977 stroke-free, age-matched controls. SNPs were genotyped by Taqman fluorescent allelic discrimination assay. The association between ischemic stroke and SNPs were analyzed by multivariate logistic regression. Cox proportional hazard model was used to assess the effect of individual SNPs on stroke-related mortality or recurrent stroke.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There was no significant association between SNP rs12425791 and rs11833579 and ischemic stroke after multiple testing corrections. However, the marginal significant association was observed between SNP rs12425791 and large artery atherosclerosis under recessive model (OR, 2.30; 95%CI, 1.22-4.34; q-value = 0.062). Among the 765 ischemic stroke patients, 59 died or developed a recurrent stroke. After adjustment for age, sex, vascular risk factors and baseline stroke severity, Cox proportional hazard analysis indicated that the hazard ratios were 2.76 (95%CI, 1.34-5.68; q-value, 0.02) and 2.15 (95%CI, 1.15-4.02; q-value, 0.03) for individuals with homozygous variant allele of rs12425791 and rs11833579, respectively.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This is a precedent study that found genetic variants of rs12425791 and rs11833579 on chromosome 12p13 are independent predictors of stroke-related mortality or stroke recurrence in patients with incident ischemic stroke in Taiwan. Further study is needed to explore the details of the physiological function and the molecular mechanisms underlying the association of this genetic locus with ischemic stroke.</p

C-reactive protein concentration as a significant correlate for metabolic syndrome: a Chinese population-based study. Endocrine 43

Abstract Increasing evidence suggests that chronic, lowgrade inflammation may be a common soil involving the pathogenesis of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and cardiovascular disease. We examined the association between C-reactive protein (CRP) concentration, an extensively studied biomarker of low-grade inflammation, and the MetS in a representative sample of Chinese adults in Taiwan. We performed a cross-sectional analysis of data from 4234 subjects [mean (±SD) age, 47.1 (±18.2) years; 46.4 % males] who participated in a population-based survey on prevalences of hypertension, hyperglycemia, and hyperlipidemia in Taiwan. CRP levels were measured by the immunoturbidimetric CRP-latex high-sensitivity assay. The MetS was defined by an unified criteria set by several major organizations. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated with logistic regression model. Overall, there were 938 subjects with MetS among 4,234 participants, resulting in a prevalence rate of 22.1 %. A significantly progressive increase in the prevalence of MetS across quartiles of CRP was observed (p for trend \0.001). Participants in the second, third, and upper quartiles of CRP had significantly higher risk of having MetS when compared with those in the lowest quartile [adjusted ORs (95 % CIs) were 2.18 (1.62-2.94), 4.39 (3.31-5.81), and 7.11 (5.39-9.38), respectively; p for trend \0.001]. Furthermore, there was a strong stepwise increase in CRP levels as the number of components of the MetS increased. The prevalence of MetS showed a graded increase according to CRP concentrations. The possible utility of CRP concentration as a marker for MetS risk awaits further evaluation in prospective studies

Associations of Underlying Health Conditions With Anxiety and Depression Among Outpatients: Modification Effects of Suspected COVID-19 Symptoms, Health-Related and Preventive Behaviors

Objectives: We explored the association of underlying health conditions (UHC) with depression and anxiety, and examined the modification effects of suspected COVID-19 symptoms (S-COVID-19-S), health-related behaviors (HB), and preventive behaviors (PB).Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 8,291 outpatients aged 18–85 years, in 18 hospitals and health centers across Vietnam from 14th February to May 31, 2020. We collected the data regarding participant's characteristics, UHC, HB, PB, depression, and anxiety.Results: People with UHC had higher odds of depression (OR = 2.11; p &lt; 0.001) and anxiety (OR = 2.86; p &lt; 0.001) than those without UHC. The odds of depression and anxiety were significantly higher for those with UHC and S-COVID-19-S (p &lt; 0.001); and were significantly lower for those had UHC and interacted with “unchanged/more” physical activity (p &lt; 0.001), or “unchanged/more” drinking (p &lt; 0.001 for only anxiety), or “unchanged/healthier” eating (p &lt; 0.001), and high PB score (p &lt; 0.001), as compared to those without UHC and without S-COVID-19-S, “never/stopped/less” physical activity, drinking, “less healthy” eating, and low PB score, respectively.Conclusion: S-COVID-19-S worsen psychological health in patients with UHC. Physical activity, drinking, healthier eating, and high PB score were protective factors

Factors associated with carotid Intima media thickness and carotid plaque score in community-dwelling and non-diabetic individuals

Abstract Background The carotid intima media thickness (cIMT) and carotid plaque score (cPS) are respective markers of early and late stage subclinical atherosclerosis. Relationships between some laboratory parameters and subclinical atherosclerosis are not yet clear in community dwelling individuals and non-diabetic subjects, so we try to elucidate these relationships and find a model to predict early and late stage subclinical atherosclerosis. Methods We examined relationships of the cIMT and cPS with different laboratory and demographic data of 331 subjects from a community-based prospective cohort study, using univariate and multivariate analyses. Results In regression models and after multiple adjustments, only systolic blood pressure (SBP), age, glycated hemoglobin (HBA1c), and waist circumference (WC) were determinants of the cIMT, and only age, SBP, HBA1c, and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) were determinants of a cPS of > 2 in all individuals. Only HBA1c lost its association with regard to predicting the cIMT in non-diabetic subjects. Conclusions HBA1c at > 5.9% can determine early and late stage subclinical atherosclerosis in community dwelling individuals, but only late stage subclinical atherosclerosis in non-diabetic subjects