Associations of lifestyle factors, disease history and awareness with health-related quality of life in a Thai population.

Background: The impact of the presence and awareness of individual health states on quality of life (HRQoL) is often documented. However, the impacts of different health states have rarely been compared amongst each other, whilst quality of life data from Asia are relatively sparse. We examined and compared the effects of different health states on quality of life in a Thai population.

Long-term effects of socioeconomic status on incident hypertension and progression of blood pressure.

Objective: Few data have linked socioeconomic status (SES) to incident hypertension, and little information on the relationship between SES and hypertension are available from developing countries. We thus investigated the long-term effects of SES on incident hypertension and changes in blood pressure in Thailand.

Methods: In 1985, baseline data were collected from 3499 participants in the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand study.

Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans serotypes, the JP2 clone and cytolethal distending toxin genes in a Thai population.

Aim: To examine the genetic diversity of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans in Thai adults.

Materials And Methods: Subgingival plaque samples from 453 subjects were analysed for A. actinomycetemcomitans serotypes, the presence of the high leukotoxin-producing JP2 clone and cytolethal distending toxin genes (cdtABC) using the polymerase chain reaction technique.

Genetic variations of glutathione s-transferase influence on blood cadmium concentration.

The glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) are involved in biotransformation and detoxification of cadmium (Cd). Genetic polymorphisms in these genes may lead to interindividual variation in Cd susceptibility. The objective of this study was to assess the association of GSTs (GSTT1, GSTM1, and GSTP1 Val105Ile) polymorphisms with blood Cd concentrations in a nonoccupationally exposed population.

The impact of different GFR estimating equations on the prevalence of CKD and risk groups in a Southeast Asian cohort using the new KDIGO guidelines.

Background: Recently, the Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) group recommended that patients with CKD should be assigned to stages and composite relative risk groups according to GFR (G) and proteinuria (A) criteria. Asians have among the highest rates of ESRD in the world, but establishing the prevalence and prognosis CKD is a problem for Asian populations since there is no consensus on the best GFR estimating (eGFR) equation. We studied the effects of the choice of new Asian and Caucasian eGFR equations on CKD prevalence, stage distribution, and risk categorization using the new KDIGO classification.

A reduced serum level of total osteocalcin in men predicts the development of diabetes in a long-term follow-up cohort.

Background: Osteocalcin (OC), an osteoblast-specific protein, has been demonstrated to affect glucose metabolism in both animals and humans. Studies in animals have shown an effect of undercarboxylated OC (ucOC) on beta-cell proliferation and insulin resistance. It remains unclear whether OC is associated with the future development of diabetes in humans, as well as the relative importance of ucOC vs OC.

Prevalence and risk factors of peripheral arterial disease in a selected Thai population.

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a condition with high mortality, but it is amenable to secondary prevention. Data on its prevalence in Thailand are scarce. To study the prevalence of PAD in a middle-class, urban Thai population, a cross-sectional study was conducted at the Electric Generating Authority of Thailand's head plant, Nonthaburi, in 2002 and 2003 on all surviving and contactable employees and former employees who had participated in the first cardiovascular risk factors survey in 1985.

Twelve-year changes in vascular risk factors and their associations with mortality in a cohort of 3499 Thais: the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand Study.

Background: Vascular mortality is increasing in economically developing countries such as Thailand but reliable data about the determinants of these changes are few.

Methods: In 1985, male and female employees of the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand took part in a cardiovascular risk factor survey. In 1997, a follow-up survey was conducted and causes of death were determined for those subjects known to have died.