Health effects from exposure to dental diagnostic X-ray

The purpose of this review is to summarize the results of studies on of the association between exposure to dental X-rays and health risk. To perform the systematic review, We searched the PUBMED, EMBASE, and MEDLINE databases for papers published before December 15, 2016. A total of 2 158 studies, excluding duplicate studies, were found. Two reviewers independently evaluated the eligibility of each study. The final 21 studies were selected after application of exclusion criteria. In terms of health outcomes, there were 10 studies about brain tumors, 5 about thyroid cancer, 3 about tumors of head and neck areas, and 3 related to systemic health. In brain tumor studies, the association between dental X-ray exposure and meningioma was statistically significant in 5 of the 7 studies. In 4 of the 5 thyroid-related studies, there was a significant correlation with dental diagnostic X-rays. In studies on head and neck areas, tumors included laryngeal, parotid gland, and salivary gland cancers. There was also a statistically significant correlation between full-mouth X-rays and salivary gland cancer, but not parotid gland cancer. Health outcomes such as leukemia, low birth weight, cataracts, and thumb carcinomas were also reported. In a few studies examining health effects related to dental X-ray exposure, possibly increased risks of meningioma and thyroid cancer were suggested. More studies with a large population and prospective design are needed to elaborate these associations further.

Health effects from exposure to dental diagnostic X-ray

The purpose of this review is to summarize the results of studies on of the association between exposure to dental X-rays and health risk. To perform the systematic review, We searched the PUBMED, EMBASE, and MEDLINE databases for papers published before December 15, 2016. A total of 2 158 studies, excluding duplicate studies, were found. Two reviewers independently evaluated the eligibility of each study. The final 21 studies were selected after application of exclusion criteria. In terms of health outcomes, there were 10 studies about brain tumors, 5 about thyroid cancer, 3 about tumors of head and neck areas, and 3 related to systemic health. In brain tumor studies, the association between dental X-ray exposure and meningioma was statistically significant in 5 of the 7 studies. In 4 of the 5 thyroid-related studies, there was a significant correlation with dental diagnostic X-rays. In studies on head and neck areas, tumors included laryngeal, parotid gland, and salivary gland cancers. There was also a statistically significant correlation between full-mouth X-rays and salivary gland cancer, but not parotid gland cancer. Health outcomes such as leukemia, low birth weight, cataracts, and thumb carcinomas were also reported. In a few studies examining health effects related to dental X-ray exposure, possibly increased risks of meningioma and thyroid cancer were suggested. More studies with a large population and prospective design are needed to elaborate these associations further.

Comparison of Fatigue Severity and Quality of Life between Unexplained Fatigue Patients and Explained Fatigue Patients / 가정의학회지

BACKGROUND: Recently, despite the high prevalence of fatigue in patients, there is a lack of research on the quality of life (QoL) in unexplained fatigue patients, indicating that they are not properly diagnosed and treated. The aim of this study was to compare fatigue severity and QoL between patients with explained and unexplained fatigue. METHODS: The study consisted of 200 Korean adults who complained of fatigue without underlying disease. Fatigue Severity Scale, Short Form Health Survey-36 version 2 (SF-36v2), and Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) self-questionnaires were administered. Participants were dichotomized to two groups, namely, patients with unexplained or explained fatigue, sorted according to laboratory examination results. The chi-square test, t-test, and Wilcoxon rank-sum test were used, and analysis of covariance was calculated after adjusting for age, sex, body mass index, smoking status, and physical component summary (PCS) of SF-36v2 or BDI-II. RESULTS: PCS of SF-36v2 between the two groups showed significant difference. Compared to patients with explained fatigue, those with unexplained fatigue showed lower physical component scores of QoL. CONCLUSION: QoL of patients with unexplained fatigue could largely diminish than those with explained fatigue. The primary clinician should be aware of poor QoL in patients with unexplained fatigue to identify who is in need of more attention and intervention.

Association between Systemic Health Conditions and Self-Reported Oral Health in Korean Elderly / 치위생과학회지

Systemic health conditions increase with advancing age, and may be linked to poor self-reported oral health. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between systemic health conditions and poor self-reported oral health among Korean elderly. The study used a nationally representative sample of Koreans (2012 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey) aged 65~98 years (n=1,595). Systemic health conditions in this population were assessed by the presence of one or more of the following conditions: obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and hypercholesterolemia. The relative risk of poor self-reported oral health according to the occurrence of systemic health conditions was estimated by multivariate logistic regression after controlling for several potential confounders (i.e., socio-demographic factors, oral health behaviors, health behaviors, and psychological factors). After adjustment for these confounders, the relative risk of having poor self-reported oral health was greater among the elderly with one or more systemic health conditions than in those without a systemic health condition. The odds ratio of having poor self-reported oral health according to the occurrence of systemic health conditions was 1.51 (95% confidence interval, 1.08~2.12). Among the Korean elderly, perception of poor oral health was associated with the presence of one or more systemic health conditions. Future studies are needed to examine the detailed causal relation between systemic health conditions and poor oral health longitudinally.

Gender-related difference in the relationship between smoking status and periodontal diseases: the propensity score matching approach / 대한구강보건학회지

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to investigate the gender-related difference in the relationship between smoking status and periodontal diseases using data from the 2014 National Health and Nutrition Survey. METHODS: A total of 4,332 subjects were included in the study. Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to control selection bias, and factors affecting the smoking status were used as covariates in PSM. The chi-squared and t tests were used for bivariate analysis. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to adjust for covariates (age, education level, household income, monthly drinking, stress, excises, dental visits, frequency of daily tooth brushing, and dental product usage). RESULTS: After adjusting for all covariates, the smoking status was associated with periodontal diseases. Among the male smoking group showed a 2.1-times higher probability of periodontal diseases than the non-smoking group (OR=2.1, 95% CI: 1.66-2.68). Among the female smoking group showed a 2.3-times higher probability of periodontal disease than the non-smoking group (OR=2.3, 95% CI: 1.12-4.89). CONCLUSIONS: Smoking was significantly associated with periodontitis in Korean male and even female although prevalence of smoking in women was very low. This result could suggest that smoking cessation program should be educated for men and women as well in order to prevent from periodontitis in Korea.

Effects of socioeconomic level on dental scaling experience in the community: a multilevel analysis / 대한구강보건학회지

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to investigate the associations between a community-level factor and dental scaling experience and to confirm the associations with individual factors in Korea. METHODS: In total, 203,088 individuals from 243 communities participated in the 2013 Community Health Survey. A dichotomized response of experiences with dental scaling was used as the outcome and the regional deprivation index was used as the explanatory community-level factor. In addition, various individual factors were included as covariates. In the bivariate analysis, the chi-square test was used. Multilevel multivariate logistic regression was also performed where in four models were applied. The bivariate analysis showed that all factors at the individual and community level showed significant associations with an individual's experience with dental scaling. RESULTS: The factors that were significantly associated with the dental scaling experience were being male, being 40-49 years old, having a higher income level, being economically active, having a higher education level, being a non-smoker, being a drinker, having good periodontal health, using oral hygiene products, tooth-brushing after lunch, and residing in less deprived regions (P<0.01). As with the results of multilevel logistic regression analysis, the regional deprivation index was significantly associated with scaling experience after adjusting for individual factors with an adjusted odds ratio of 0.98 (95% CI: 0.97-0.99), demonstrating an association between a lack of experience with scaling and lower socioeconomic status in the community. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicated that the scaling experience was affected not only by individual factors, but also by factors at the community level. Future studies are required to examine the detailed relationships between oral health and other community factors such as medical and social capital.

Hippocampal Neurogenesis and Its Phenotypic Differentiation after Kainic Acid-induced Seizures in Mice

BACKGROUND: Proliferation and survival of dentate granule cells are influenced by epileptic seizures. Dentate granule cells might play an important role in the pathogenesis of temporal lobe epilepsy. However, most studies have used the rat model. We investigated the neurogenesis of dentate granule cells by the kainic acid (KA)-induced seizure model in ICR mice. METHODS: Seizures were chemically induced by intraperitoneal injections of KA (30 mg/kg) and seizure behavior grades were evaluated. Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU, 50 mg/kg) was subsequently administered once a day for 6 consecutive days, starting at 24 hours after KA or saline treatment. Mice were sacrificed 7 days after KA administration. The number of BrdU-positive cells in the hippocampus were counted in every seventh section in a series of 30 micrometer coronal sections. We examined the long-term fate of BrdU-labeled cells after KA-induced seizures by double-labeled immunofluorescence with confocal microscopy, 28 days after the last injection of BrdU. RESULTS: After KA administration, every seizure behavior was graded II or more. Quantitative analysis of BrdU labeling revealed a significantly increased proliferation rate of neural precursor cells after seizures. BrdU-positive cells were increased at least 2-fold in KA injection (83.38+/-44.33, n=5) compared to the controls (35.61+/-17.87, n=6). Most of the newborn cells migrated into the granule cell layer from the subgranular zone after KA-induced seizures (n=6, respectively). The majority of these mitotic cells (89%) were differentiated into neurons. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicated that mitotic activity in the about hippocampus was enhanced after KA-induced seizures in ICR mice, and that the majority of all BrdU-positive cells showed the phenotypic differentiation to neuronal cells.

The Construction and the Evaluation of Web Sites on Epilepsy Information / 대한의료정보학회지

We aimed to construct web sites providing information on epilepsy and to evaluate its practical use. To estimate the demand for such information, a questionnaire was administrated to 106 patients, their 54 families, and 78 nurses, who consented to be interviewed. After using the data collected from the survey to build a epilepsy information web site, data on the level of satisfaction for the website were collected by e-mails and direct surveys from subjects who used this web site; the collected data were analyzed. The results of this study were as follows: The educational level demanded by nurses was slightly higher than those of patients and their families. Patients, their families, and nurses wanted more information on how to handle patients during seizures, especially, and. families wanted to know about drug therapy. The content of the web site was configured based on the educational level of perceived users. Photoshop 6.0, Flash MX and FrontPage 2000 were used to build the web site. Images available on the internet that are shared served as the source of images. The program's URL is www.multimoon.com/black. Regarding user satisfaction with the web site, users found that the Information on the Prognosis of Epilepsy, the Pharmacological Treatment of Epilepsy, Occupation and Marriage Status in Daily Life, and the How to Manage Epileptic Attacks sections were quite helpful. Generally, the reactions to the website were positive. To construct an effective web site to provide information about epilepsy to patients, their families and nurses, educational data and information that meet the demands of users should be added. Its contents should be continuously updated, and its environment should be kept user-friendly so that the information can be accessed with ease.

Efficacy of Purified Vi Polysaccharide Typhoid Vaccine

This experiment was conducted to assess the efficacy of typhoid vaccine newly produced by purifying Vi antigen of Salmonella typhi. With Karber method, LD50 of challenging organism (S. typhi ty2) was determined as 6.31 CFU/mouse, and then the organism was used for the study. With Probits method, ED50 of the vaccine was determined as 0.016 microgram / 0.5 ml / mouse. The ELISA titer (0.5097+/-0.0606) was 4 times in the group treated with high dose (0.25 microgram/0.5ml) as in control (0.1113+/-0.0110). Six major protein bands of 66, 55, 35, 33, 18, and 9 kd were detected in Western blot analysis with serum of a vaccine treated mouse, whereas only one weak band of about 35 kd was detected with serum of a control mouse. We concluded that typhoid vaccine produced by purifying Vi antigen of S. typhi very effectively prevent S. typhi infection in mice.