Increasing epidemiological evidence suggests that maternal nutrition and environmental exposure early in development play an important role in susceptibility to disease in later life. In addition, these disease outcomes seem to pass through subsequent generations. Epigenetic modifications provide a potential link between the nutrition status during critical periods in development and changes in gene expression that may lead to disease phenotypes. An increasing body of evidence from experimental animal studies supports the role of epigenetics in disease susceptibility during critical developmental periods, including periconceptional period, gestation, and early postnatal period. The rapid improvements in genetic and epigenetic technologies will allow comprehensive investigations of the relevance of these epigenetic phenomena in human diseases.
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The role of food additives in chronic urticaria (CU) is still under investigation. In this study, we aimed to explore the association between food additives and CU by using the basophil activation test (BAT). The BAT using 15 common food additives was performed for 15 patients with CU who had a history of recurrent urticarial aggravation following intake of various foods without a definite food-specific IgE. Of the 15 patients studied, two (13.3%) showed positive BAT results for one of the tested food additives. One patient responded to monosodium glutamate, showing 18.7% of CD203c-positive basophils. Another patient showed a positive BAT result to sodium benzoate. Both patients had clinical correlations with the agents, which were partly determined by elimination diets. The present study suggested that at least a small proportion of patients with CU had symptoms associated with food additives. The results may suggest the potential utility of the BAT to identity the role of food additives in CU.
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Hyperinsulinemia may increase the risk of colorectal neoplasia because of its mitogenic and antiapoptotic properties, which have a growth-promoting effect. We examined the association between circulating concentrations of C-peptide, a biomarker of insulin secretion, and colorectal adenoma prevalence in a case-control study of Korean adults. A total of 364 participants (112 cases and 252 controls) were included. Participants who underwent a colonoscopy completed questionnaires and provided blood samples. We used multivariate logistic regression models to obtain odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for colorectal adenoma. Circulating concentrations of C-peptide were not associated with colorectal adenoma; the multivariate OR (95% CI) was 0.95 (0.51-1.75) comparing the highest tertile with the lowest tertile (p for trend = 0.91). When we used a conditional logistic regression model by fasting status and sex matching, there was still no association (OR = 0.92; 95% CI = 0.43-1.99) when comparing the highest tertile with the lowest tertile. We observed no association between circulating concentrations of C-peptide and colorectal adenoma prevalence in Korean adults.
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The purpose of this study is to estimate Korean collegians' knowledge of energy content in the standard portion size of foods frequently consumed in Korea and to investigate the differences in knowledge between gender groups. A total of 600 collegians participated in this study. Participants' knowledge was assessed based on their estimation on the energy content of 30 selected food items with their actual-size photo images. Standard portion size of food was based on 2010 Korean Dietary Reference Intakes, and the percentage of participants who accurately estimated (that is, within 20% of the true value) the energy content of the standard portion size was calculated for each food item. The food for which the most participants provided the accurate estimation was ramyun (instant noodles) (67.7%), followed by cooked rice (57.8%). The proportion of students who overestimated the energy content was highest for vegetables (68.8%) and beverages (68.1%). The proportion of students who underestimated the energy content was highest for grains and starches (42.0%) and fruits (37.1%). Female students were more likely to check energy content of foods that they consumed than male students. From these results, it was concluded that the knowledge on food energy content was poor among collegians, with some gender difference. Therefore, in the future, nutrition education programs should give greater attention to improving knowledge on calorie content and to helping them apply this knowledge in order to develop effective dietary plans.
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Although parenteral nutrition (PN) is an important treatment for patients who are unable to tolerate enteral nutrition (EN), recent international guidelines recommended that PN should be reserved and initiated only after 7 days in well-nourished patients. This retrospective study was conducted to analyze the effect on clinical outcomes of a PN protocol with PN starting 4 days after admission to the intensive care unit (ICU). Eighty-one patients who were admitted from January to March of 2012 were included in the pre-protocol group, and 74 patients who were admitted from April to June of 2012 were included in the post-protocol group. There were no significant differences between the two groups when the age, gender, and admission Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II scores were compared. Significantly fewer patients in the post-protocol group were provided PN (58.1% vs. 81.3%, p = 0.002), which was initiated significantly later than in the pre-protocol group (2.7 ± 2.2 days vs. 1.9 ± 2.0 days, p = 0.046). Five patients (6.2%) in the pre-protocol group acquired central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLA-BSI) in the ICU, yet none of the patients in the post-protocol group developed CLA-BSI (p = 0.03). The duration of antibiotic therapy and ICU stay were significantly shorter in the post-protocol group than in the pre-protocol group. By delaying initiation of PN, short-term clinical outcomes including incidence of CLA-BSI, antibiotic use, and ICU stay might be improved. Further research should be conducted to investigate the long-term effects of the decreased nutrient intake resulting from delayed PN.
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High fruit and vegetable consumption is associated with a lower risk of breast cancer. The incidence of breast cancer is continuously increasing in Korea, but only a few studies on nutrition intervention in breast cancer patients has been reported. The aim of this study was to investigate whether an 8-week nutrition intervention based on dietary counseling can promote fruit and vegetable consumption, increase serum antioxidant nutrient levels, and improve quality of life in Korean breast cancer patients. Sixty-one breast cancer patients received either standard care (n = 31) or nutrition counseling (n = 30). The standard care group was given brochures recommending phytochemical rich diet. The intervention group was provided with two nutrition counseling sessions and one cooking class session, thereby encouraged subjects to eat at least 10 or more servings of fruits and vegetables per day. After 8-week intervention, waist circumference in the intervention group was significantly decreased (p < 0.001) even though no difference was reported for body mass index. Energy intake (p = 0.007), fiber (p < 0.001), and antioxidant nutrient (vitamin A, C, E, and β-carotene, p < 0.001, respectively) intakes were significantly increased. Serum antioxidant level was also increased significantly, i.e., vitamin A (p = 0.048); vitamin E (p = 0.004). Total vegetable intake (excluding kimchi intake) in the intervention group was increased from 425 g to 761 g (p < 0.001), fruit consumption was also increased from 232 g to 334 g (p < 0.001), while standard care group did not show any significant change. Our study showed that nutrition counseling and providing cooking tips helped to encourage the patient to consume and maintain more fruit and vegetable intakes.
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Recently, it is reported that intervention of oral nutritional supplement improves the nutritional status of cancer patients, and the effectiveness is affected by the sensory preference of cancer patients on the oral nutritional supplement. However, the variety of oral nutritional supplement is extremely limited and the number of patient's benefits from using the products are restricted mostly due to sensory dislikes. The
objective
of this study was to provide sensory preference score of trial manufactured products with different accessory ingredients to maximize the use of oral nutritional supplements. Cancer patients (n = 30) and age, sex-matched healthy volunteers (n = 30) participated in the sensory assessments (taste, flavor, viscosity, color and overall preference) of three types of oral supplements (cereal base, cereal base+herb and cereal base+fruit) and a control supplement product with scorched cereal flavor, a top seller in current Korean market. Results indicate that the cancer patients' overall preference was significantly higher for the control supplement, and fruit added supplement was preferred over plain cereal and herb added products, although the difference was insignificant. However, there was no significant preference difference for the supplements among the control group for all sensory factors. These results suggest that cancer patients are more sensitive to sensory preferences compared to the control group, and the patients prefer the flavor of cooked cereal which is a staple food in Korea.
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Hyperuricemia is associated with metabolic syndrome as well as gout, and the prevalence of hyperuricemia is increasing in Korea. This study aimed to compare the nutrient intake and diet quality between hyperuricemia subjects and controls. Of the 28,589 people who participated in a health examination between 2008 and 2011, 9,010 subjects were selected whose 3-day food records were available. Clinical and laboratory data were collected from electronic medical records. Diet quality was evaluated using the food habit score (FHS), nutrient adequacy ratio (NAR), and mean adequacy ratio (MAR). The prevalence of hyperuricemia was 13.8% (27.1%, men; 5.2%, women). Body mass index, waist circumference, triglycerides, total cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol were significantly higher (p < 0.0001), while high-density cholesterol (p < 0.001) was significantly lower in the hyperuricemia subjects than in the controls. The hyperuricemia subjects had a lower intake of vitamin A (p < 0.004), vitamin C, folate, fiber, and calcium than the controls (p < 0.0001). Intake of vegetables and dairy products was significantly lower, whereas alcohol intake was significantly higher in the hyperuricemia subjects than in the controls ( p < 0.0001). The FHS (p < 0.0001), MAR (p < 0.0001), and NARs for vitamin A (p = 0.01), vitamin B2, vitamin C, folate, and calcium (p < 0.0001) were significantly lower in the hyperuricemia subjects than in the controls. In conclusion, the hyperuricemia subjects reported poorer diet quality than the controls, including higher alcohol intake and lower vegetable and dairy product intake.
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In recent years, several studies have reported that the prevalence of diabetes mellitus is increasing every year, and also the acute and chronic complications accompanying this disease are increasing. Diabetic nephropathy is one of chronic complications of diabetes mellitus, and food intake which is burden to kidney function should be limited. At the same time, diet restriction could deteriorate quality of life of patient with diabetic nephropathy. According to the results of previous studies, the aggressive management is important for delaying of the progression to diabetic nephropathy. Also, the implementation of a personalized diet customized to individuals is an effective tool for preservation of kidney function. This is a case report of a patient with diabetic nephropathy who was introduced to a proper diet through nutrition education to prevent malnutrition, uremia and to maintain blood glucose levels.
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Esophagectomy can result in various postoperative nutrition-related complications that may impair the nutritional status of the patient. In our institution, we usually initiate 16-hour continuous jejunostomy feeding using an enteral feeding pump on postoperative day 2 as a routine protocol after esophagectomy. The target calorie intake was achieved in 6-7 days with this protocol, which is longer than that required with other recently reported feeding protocols. Accordingly, early jejunostomy feeding protocol, which starts on postoperative day 1 and continues for 24 hours was attempted. In the present report, we described 3 cases of early 24-hour continuous jejunostomy feeding after esophagectomy. The use of this new protocol reduced the duration required to achieve the target calorie intake as less than 5 days without any enteral feeding-related complications.
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