Incidence and time trends of herpes zoster among patients with head and neck cancer who did and did not undergo radiotherapy: A population-based cohort study.

Purpose: This study aimed to determine the risk and time trends of herpes zoster among patients with head and neck cancer, with or without radiotherapy.

Methods: A total of 2160 patients with head and neck cancer were enrolled. The radiotherapy and non- radiotherapy cohorts were frequency-matched at a 1:1 ratio according to sex, age, and index date.

Risk factors, physical and mental health burden of male and female pathological gamblers in the German general population aged 40-80.

Background: Gambling Disorder (GD) has been associated with considerable mental and physical health risks in clinical samples. The paper determines risk factors, mental and physical health burden of probable GD for both men and women in the general population.

Methods: In the Gutenberg Health Study, a population-based sample of N = 11,875 aged 40-80 years was analyzed regarding lifetime probable GD prevalence (measured with the Lie/ Bet Questionnaire) and a wide array of health variables including standardized measures of depression, anxiety, and somatic symptoms.

The first-round results of a population-based cohort study of HPV testing in Japanese cervical cancer screening: baseline characteristics, screening results, and referral rate.

Objective: In 2013, a cohort study aimed to clarify the positive and negative effects of introducing the human papillomavirus (HPV) testing for population-based cervical cancer screening has been launched in Japan. This study included four screenings during the subsequent 7-year follow-up period. We aim to describe the results of the first round of this study on cervical cancer screening here.

Radiotherapy combined with chemotherapy increases the risk of herpes zoster in patients with gynecological cancers: a nationwide cohort study.

Objective: This study aimed to determine the effect of radiotherapy (RT) on the risk of herpes zoster (HZ) in patients with gynecological cancers via a nationwide population-based study.

Methods: Based on patient data obtained from the National Health Insurance Research Database, 1928 gynecological cancer patients were identified with 1:1 matching for RT and non-RT cohorts by age, index date, and cancer type. Another cohort consisting of 964 non-cancer individuals matched was used as normal control.

Health behaviors in major chronic diseases patients: trends and regional variations analysis, 2008-2017, Korea.

Background: Improving the health behaviors of those with chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes is important for disease management. Few in-depth studies have been conducted in Korea on the health behaviors of chronic disease patients. This study examined the health behaviors of chronic disease patients over time and compared them with those of the general population.

c.451dupT in KLKB1 is common in Nigerians, confirming a higher prevalence of severe prekallikrein deficiency in Africans compared to Europeans.

Essentials Prekallikrein (PK) deficiency is a recessive trait with isolated aPTT prolongation. KLKB1 c.451dupT is common in Nigerians (7/600 alleles) and absent in a European group (0/600).

Telemedicine-Based Specialized Care Improves the Outcome of Anticoagulated Individuals with Venous Thromboembolism-Results from the thrombEVAL Study.

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a life-threatening disease with risk of recurrence. Oral anticoagulation (OAC) with vitamin K antagonists (VKA) is effective to prevent thromboembolic recurrence. We aimed to investigate the quality of OAC of VTE patients in regular medical care (RMC) compared to a telemedicine-based coagulation service (CS).

Birth Weight and Diabetic Retinopathy: Results From the Population-Based Gutenberg Health Study (GHS).

Purpose: This study investigates the relationship between diabetic retinopathy (DR) and birth weight (BW) in diabetic subjects sampled from the general population.

Methods: The Gutenberg Health Study (GHS) is a population-based, observational cohort study in participants aged from 35 to 74 years. Criteria for diabetes diagnosis were HbA1c ≥6.

The Importance of Patient's Experience and Its Impact on Health Care System for People Receiving Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Health system responsiveness is a complicated issue that guides researchers in determining an efficient methodology to enhance the understanding of health care systems' perspectives. This study examined the relationship between patients' experience profiles and their satisfaction with medical outcomes. The authors used 11 items from the Taiwanese Annual National Health Insurance survey and used latent class analysis (LCA) to develop experience profiles for 2012 Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) patients.

Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Modifies Serum Gamma-Glutamyl Transferase in Cigarette Smokers.

Background: Serum gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) is a marker of oxidative stress, associated with increased cardiovascular (CV) risk. The impact of smoking on oxidative stress may be aggravated in individuals with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). We aimed to ascertain the association of smoking on GGT levels in the presence or absence of NAFLD.

Results from the Population-Based Gutenberg Health Study Revealing Four Altered Autoantibodies in Retinal Vein Occlusion Patients.

Purpose: Retinal vein occlusion (RVO) is the second most common retinal vascular disease and a major cause of visual impairment. In this study, we aimed to observe whether RVO cases have different antibody profiles as a new potential risk factor and whether a conversion of retinal vein occlusion (RVO) to neovascular glaucoma (NVG), one of the major complications, is occurring within a 5-year timeframe.

Methods: We performed a nested case-control study (1 : 4) within the Gutenberg Health Study (GHS), a population-based, prospective cohort study in the Rhine-Main Region of Germany including 15,010 participants.

The association of chronic anxiousness with cardiovascular disease and mortality in the community: results from the Gutenberg Health Study.

In a large German community sample of adults, we investigated the association of chronic anxiousness with cardiovascular disease and mortality. Self-reported anxiousness from 11,643 German adults between 40 and 80 years of age from the Gutenberg Health Study (GHS) was analyzed over 5 years. Multivariable regression modeling assessed the relation between the variables, cardiovascular disease and mortality.

Association of Birth Weight with Peripapillary Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Thickness in Adulthood-Results from a Population-Based Study.

Purpose: Low birth weight is associated with altered retinal development in childhood, including reduced peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (pRNFL) thickness. However, to the best of our knowledge, no population-based study has analyzed the relationship of low birth weight to pRNFL thickness in adulthood. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether birth weight has a long-term effect on pRNFL thickness in adulthood.

Adipose tissue in health and disease through the lens of its building blocks.

Understanding adipose tissue cellular heterogeneity and homeostasis is essential to comprehend the cell type dynamics in metabolic diseases. Cellular subpopulations in the adipose tissue have been related to disease development, but efforts towards characterizing the adipose tissue cell type composition are limited. Here, we identify the cell type composition of the adipose tissue by using gene expression deconvolution of large amounts of publicly available transcriptomics level data.

Validation of genome-wide association study-identified single nucleotide polymorphisms in a case-control study of pancreatic cancer from Taiwan.

Background: Due to differences in genetic background, it is unclear whether the genetic loci identified by the previous genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of pancreatic cancer also play significant roles in the development of pancreatic cancer among the Taiwanese population.

Methods: This study aimed to validate the 25 pancreatic cancer GWAS-identified single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in a case-control study (278 cases and 658 controls) of pancreatic cancer conducted in Taiwan. Statistical analyses were conducted to determine the associations between the GWAS-identified SNPs and pancreatic cancer risk.

A medical care model using comprehensive geriatric assessment for community-dwelling older Korean adults.

Background: The quality of life of older adults deteriorates when they lose their ability to perform activities of daily living. Therefore, the older adults should be assessed to identify risk factors for functional decline and to correct these factors so that they may live as independently as possible in the community. We developed a medical care model using comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) for community-dwelling older patients.

Virus detections among patients with severe acute respiratory illness, Northern Vietnam.

Severe acute respiratory illness (SARI) is a major cause of death and morbidity in low- and middle-income countries, however, the etiologic agents are often undetermined due to the lack of molecular diagnostics in hospitals and clinics. To examine evidence for select viral infections among patients with SARI in northern Vietnam, we studied 348 nasopharyngeal samples from military and civilian patients admitted to 4 hospitals in the greater Hanoi area from 2017-2019. Initial screening for human respiratory viral pathogens was performed in Hanoi, Vietnam at the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE) or the Military Institute of Preventative Medicine (MIPM), and an aliquot was shipped to Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore for validation.

Prediction of Postoperative Length of Hospital Stay Based on Differences in Nursing Narratives in Elderly Patients with Epithelial Ovarian Cancer.

Objectives:  The current study sought to evaluate whether nursing narratives can be used to predict postoperative length of hospital stay (LOS) following curative surgery for ovarian cancer.

Methods:  A total of 33 patients, aged over 65 years, underwent curative surgery for newly diagnosed ovarian cancer between 2008 and 2012. Based on the median postoperative LOS, patients were divided into two groups: long-stay (>12 days;  = 13) and short-stay (≤12 days;  = 20).

National screening programs for cervical cancer in Asian countries.

Cervical cancer is still one of the most common female cancers in Asia and the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in low- and middle-income countries. Nowadays, national screening programs for cervical cancer are widely provided in Asian countries. We reviewed the National Cancer Screening Program (NCSP) in China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, and Thailand.