Prospective cohort study of patients with early gastric cancer to detect prodromal Parkinson disease (EGC-PPD): A study protocol and baseline characteristics.

The aim of the current study is to determine the predictive value of alpha-synuclein (AS) aggregation in stomach surgical specimens in combination with selected clinical prodromal markers (CPMs) for development of Parkinson disease (PD) in a normal population. We organized a prospective, long-term, clinicopathologic cohort of patients without neurological diseases who received a radical operation for early gastric cancer (EGC) between ages 50 and 65 years. The participants will be followed for up to 10 years and screened for CPMs and motor symptoms by annual telephone interview.

Prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome in Korea: population-based survey using the Rome II criteria.

Background: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common functional gastrointestinal disorder in the West. But information on the prevalence of IBS in Asia is still lacking, especially in Korea. Therefore, the aims of the present study were to estimate the prevalence of IBS in the general population of Korea and also to investigate characteristics of IBS and health-care-seeking behavior of IBS patients.

Food intolerance and skin prick test in treated and untreated irritable bowel syndrome.

Aim: To correlate the clinical features of treated and untreated patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) to the results of skin prick test (SPT) for food and inhalant allergens.

Methods: We recruited 105 subjects to form three different target groups: treated group (n=44) undergoing treatment for IBS, untreated group (n=31) meeting the Rome II criteria without treatment for IBS, control group (n=30) with no IBS symptoms.

Results: SPT results were different among the three groups in which SPT was positive in 17 (38.