Unhealthy Alcohol Use: Screening and Behavioral Counseling Interventions.

Background: Despite the increase in daily alcohol intake in recent decades and the implementation of national health screenings, effective management strategies for alcohol consumption remain outdated. This review evaluates intervention studies on screening and behavioral counseling for unhealthy alcohol use, with the aim of enhancing the effectiveness of interventions and improving health outcomes.

Methods: On the basis of the GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation)- ADOLOPMENT framework, systematic reviews and randomized controlled trials were examined to investigate the effectiveness of screening and counseling interventions in reducing unhealthy alcohol use.

Association between Homocysteine and Vitamin D Levels in Asymptomatic Korean Adults.

An increased homocysteine level is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, venous thromboembolism, cerebrovascular disease, and chronic kidney disease. In addition, vitamin D deficiency is associated with coronary artery disease and metabolic disorders. The present study included data from 1375 adults (895 men and 480 women) with a mean age of 52.

Associations between Dietary Patterns and Metabolic Syndrome: Findings of the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a multifactorial cluster of metabolic disorders related to cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Diet and dietary patterns are significant factors in the development and management of MetS. The associations between dietary patterns (i.

Risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus in catholic priests compared with general public.

Aims: Although Catholic priests have a life of discipline with many responsibilities, there has been little research on the health effects of their lifestyle. Analysis of disease prevalence in priests will help elucidate the influence of religious life and occupational characteristics on the occurrence of diabetes. This retrospective study was performed to examine the differences in the prevalence of diabetes and prediabetes between Catholic priests and the general population.

Regional Brain Volume Changes in Catholic Nuns: A Cross-Sectional Study Using Deep Learning-Based Brain MRI Segmentation.

Objective: Religious behaviors are considered as complex brain-based phenomena that may be associated with structural brain change. To identify the pattern of regional brain volume change in nuns, we investigated structural alterations in the brains of nuns using a fast processing automated segmentation method based on deep learning algorithms.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of the catholic sisters between the ages of 31 and 80 who are members of the charity of St.

Cortical Thickness and White Matter Hyperintensity Changes Are Associated With Sarcopenia in the Cognitively Normal Older Adults.

Objective: We aimed to explore the impact of sarcopenia on the cortical thickness, white matter hyperintensity (WMH), and subcortical volumes in the cognitively normal older adults.

Methods: Sixty cognitively normal older adults with and without sarcopenia were enrolled in the study. They underwent T1 and FLAIR magnetic resonance imaging.

Issues pertaining to Mg, Zn and Cu in the 2020 Dietary Reference Intakes for Koreans.

In the current years, it has now become necessary to establish standards for micronutrient intake based on scientific evidence. This review discusses issues related to the development of the 2020 Dietary Reference Intakes for Koreans (KDRI) for magnesium (Mg), zinc (Zn), and copper (Cu), and future research directions. Following issues were encountered when establishing the KDRI for these minerals.

Fat-to-muscle Ratio: A New Indicator for Coronary Artery Disease in Healthy Adults.

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is an important issue in public health. Previous studies have shown that the ratio of fat to muscle mass is a significant predictor of metabolic disease, and it is known to be associated with atherosclerosis. In this study, we evaluated the association between the fat-to-muscle ratio (FMR) and CAD in healthy adults.

Integrity of the Inferior Cerebellar Peduncle Correlates with Ambulatory Function after Hemorrhagic Stroke.

Objectives: Cerebro-cerebellar connectivity plays a critical role in motor recovery after stroke; however, the underlying mechanism of walking recovery is unclear. The dorsal spinocerebellar pathway has been suggested as a biomarker of poststroke ambulatory function. We aimed to explore the association between ambulatory function and the dorsal spinocerebellar pathway's integrity after intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH).

Inter-individual body mass variations relate to fractionated functional brain hierarchies.

Variations in body mass index (BMI) have been suggested to relate to atypical brain organization, yet connectome-level substrates of BMI and their neurobiological underpinnings remain unclear. Studying 325 healthy young adults, we examined associations between functional connectivity and inter-individual BMI variations. We utilized non-linear connectome manifold learning techniques to represent macroscale functional organization along continuous hierarchical axes that dissociate low level and higher order brain systems.

Impact of dietary protein intake on the incidence of low muscle strength in middle-aged and older adults.

Background: A reduction in skeletal muscle strength is a prognostic indicator of negative consequences, such as physical disability, frailty, and mortality in older adults. Studies investigating associations between the risk of reduction in skeletal muscle strength and the amount of dietary protein which is a factor influenced muscle health are scarce, particularly in Asian populations. Therefore, we investigated the association between the amount and change in daily protein intake and the prospective risk of developing low skeletal muscle strength in middle-aged and older adults.

Fatigue and Mental Status of Caregivers of Severely Chronically Ill Patients.

Background And Aims: Fatigue is an unpleasant experience accompanied by functional deterioration involving both mental and physical factors. Caregivers of patients with severe illnesses who require long-term treatment often experience marked physical and mental fatigue. This study investigated the factors affecting fatigue among caregivers of patients with severe chronic diseases.

Whole-brain functional connectivity correlates of obesity phenotypes.

Dysregulated neural mechanisms in reward and somatosensory circuits result in an increased appetitive drive for and reduced inhibitory control of eating, which in turn causes obesity. Despite many studies investigating the brain mechanisms of obesity, the role of macroscale whole-brain functional connectivity remains poorly understood. Here, we identified a neuroimaging-based functional connectivity pattern associated with obesity phenotypes by using functional connectivity analysis combined with machine learning in a large-scale (n ~ 2,400) dataset spanning four independent cohorts.

Multivariate association between brain function and eating disorders using sparse canonical correlation analysis.

Eating disorder is highly associated with obesity and it is related to brain dysfunction as well. Still, the functional substrates of the brain associated with behavioral traits of eating disorder are underexplored. Existing neuroimaging studies have explored the association between eating disorder and brain function without using all the information provided by the eating disorder related questionnaire but by adopting summary factors.

The orbitofrontal cortex functionally links obesity and white matter hyperintensities.

Many studies have linked dysfunction in cognitive control-related brain regions with obesity and the burden of white matter hyperintensities (WMHs). This study aimed to explore how functional connectivity differences in the brain are associated with WMH burden and degree of obesity using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in 182 participants. Functional connectivity measures were compared among four different groups: (1) low WMH burden, non-obese; (2) low WMH burden, obese; (3) high WMH burden, non-obese; and (4) high WMH burden, obese.

Degeneration of the Inferior Cerebellar Peduncle After Middle Cerebral Artery Stroke: Another Perspective on Crossed Cerebellar Diaschisis.

Background and Purpose- Deafferentation of the cortico-ponto-cerebellar pathway has been proposed as a key mechanism of crossed cerebellar diaschisis. Although the cerebellum receives afferent stimuli from both cortico-ponto-cerebellar and spinocerebellar pathways, evidence on whether spinocerebellar deafferentation contributes to a hypofunctional cerebellum is lacking. Therefore, we aimed to determine whether changes in the spinocerebellar pathway occur after middle cerebral artery stroke.

The effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation on body weight and food consumption in obese adults: A randomized controlled study.

Background: Although some studies have reported significant reductions in food cravings following the single-session of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), there is little research on the effects of multi-session of rTMS on food consumption and body weight in obese subjects.

Objective: We conducted 4-week randomized, sham-controlled, single-blind, parallel-group trial to examine the effect of rTMS on body weight in obese adults.

Methods: Forty-three obese patients (body mass index [BMI] ≥25 kg/m) aged between 18 and 70 years were randomized to the sham or real treatment group (21 in the TMS group and 22 in the sham treatment group).

The effects of high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation on resting-state functional connectivity in obese adults.

Aims: We conducted a 4-week randomized, sham-controlled, single-blind, parallel-group trial to examine the effect of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) delivered to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) on functional brain connectivity and body weight in adults with obesity.

Materials And Methods: Of the 45 volunteers with obesity, aged between 18 and 70 years (body mass index [BMI] ≥25 kg/m according to the obesity criterion for an Asian population), 36 participants (54.1 ± 11.

Are There Differences in Hair Mineral Concentrations Between Metabolically Healthy and Unhealthy Obese Adults?

Obesity is a risk factor for metabolic syndrome, dyslipidemia, hypertension, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and cardiovascular disease. However, obesity is not a homogenous state and not all subjects in an obese population are at an increased risk for metabolic abnormalities. Thus, obesity types can be subdivided into metabolically healthy obesity (MHO) and metabolically unhealthy obesity (MUO) according to metabolic status.

Laterality of cerebellar afferent and efferent pathways in a healthy right-handed population: A diffusion tensor imaging study.

The cerebellum communicates with the cerebral cortex through the cortico-ponto-cerebellar tract (CPCT, cerebellar afferent) and the dentato-rubro-thalamo-cortical tract (DRTCT, cerebellar efferent). This study explored the laterality of CPCT and DRTCT in a right-handed population. Forty healthy right-handed subjects (18 males and 22 females with age range of 26-79 years old) who underwent diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) were retrospectively enrolled.

Structural and Functional Brain Connectivity Changes Between People With Abdominal and Non-abdominal Obesity and Their Association With Behaviors of Eating Disorders.

Abdominal obesity is important for understanding obesity, which is a worldwide medical problem. We explored structural and functional brain differences in people with abdominal and non-abdominal obesity by using multimodal neuroimaging and up-to-date analysis methods. A total of 274 overweight people, whose body mass index exceeded 25, were enrolled in this study.

Modification of Cerebellar Afferent Pathway in the Subacute Phase of Stroke.

Background: This study aims to identify the relationship between corticopontocerebellar tract (CPCT) and corticospinal tract (CST) integrity as well as motor function after stroke.

Materials And Methods: A total of 33 patients with stroke (18 left, 15 right hemispheric lesions) who underwent diffusion tensor imaging within 2 months of stroke onset and 17 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were retrospectively enrolled. Tract volume and the asymmetry index based on tract volume (AI) of the CST and CPCT were used to identify structural changes in individual tracts and the correlation between those tracts.

Effects of zinc, magnesium, and chromium supplementation on cardiometabolic risk in adults with metabolic syndrome: A double-blind, placebo-controlled randomised trial.

The prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) has been increasing rapidly worldwide. The activities of zinc, magnesium and chromium have a potential association with MetS; therefore, we investigated the effects of zinc, magnesium and chromium supplements on metabolic risk factors in adults with MetS. In this double-blind, placebo controlled randomised study, 32 adults with MetS were included in the zinc, magnesium, and chromium-administered group (n = 16) or the placebo group (n = 16) and received either 300 mg magnesium, 600 μg chromium and 36 mg zinc per day or placebo over a 24-week period.