Correlation between the actual sleep time 24 hours prior to an examination and the time to achieve chloral hydrate sedation in pediatric patients in South Korea: a prospective cohort study

Purpose@#This study investigated correlations between the actual sleep time 24 hours prior to an examination and the time to achieve chloral hydrate sedation in pediatric patients. @*Methods@#With parental consent, 84 children who were placed under moderate or deep sedation with chloral hydrate for examinations from November 19, 2020 to July 9, 2022 were recruited. @*Results@#Patients' average age was 19.9 months. Pediatric neurology patients and those who underwent electroencephalography took significantly longer to achieve sedation with chloral hydrate. There was a negative correlation between the time to achieve sedation and actual sleep time within 24 hours prior to the examination. Positive correlations were found between the actual sleep time 24 hours prior to the examination and the second dose per weight, as well as between the sedation recovery time and awake hours before the examination. @*Conclusion@#Sleep restriction is not an effective adjuvant therapy for chloral hydrate sedation in children, and sedation effects vary according to pediatric patients' characteristics. Therefore, it would be possible to reduce the unnecessary efforts of caregivers who restrict children's sleep for examinations. It is more important to educate parents about safe sedation than about sleep restriction.

Relationship between adhering to dietary guidelines and the risk of obesity in Korean children

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Dietary guidelines for Korean children were released in 2009. The goal of the present study was to examine diet quality in terms of adherence to these dietary guidelines as well as explore the association between guideline adherence and risk of obesity in Korean children. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Children aged 5-11 years (mean age = 8.9 years old, n = 191, 80.6% girls) were recruited from a university hospital in Seoul, Korea. Adherence to dietary guidelines for Korean children was calculated using the Likert scale (1-5), and children were then categorized into low, moderate, and high groups based on adherence scores. Obesity or being overweight was determined based on an age- and gender- specific percentile for body mass index (BMI) of the 2007 Korean National Growth Charts. Diet quality was evaluated from 3 days of dietary intake data. RESULTS: Children in the high adherence group were characterized by significantly lower BMI percentiles and paternal BMIs as well as higher percentages of fathers with a high level of education and higher household incomes compared to those in the low or moderate group. Children in the high adherence group consumed significantly higher amounts of milk and dairy products, were less likely to consume lower than the EAR of phosphorus and iron, and had higher NARs for calcium, phosphorus, iron, zinc, and MAR than those in low groups. The ORs for obesity (BMI > or = 95th percentile) or being overweight including obesity (BMI > or = 85th percentile) were significantly lower in the high adherence group compared to the low adherence group (OR: 0.33, 95% CI = 0.13-0.82, P for trend = 0.019; OR: 0.26, 95% CI: 0.11-0.61 P for trend = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: Korean children who adhered to dietary guidelines displayed better diet quality and a reduced risk of obesity.

The study of metabolic risk factors and dietary intake in adolescent children by the status of mothers' metabolic syndrome: Using the data from 2007-2010 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey / 한국영양학회지

The prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in Korea has been increasing in adults, as well as in adolescents. Recently the prevalence of MetS in children has been reported to strongly link that of MetS in parents. Families are known to share similar food environment so that eating habits of parents closely resemble that of the children's. Therefore, the aim of this study to examine metabolic risk factors and dietary intake in children by with respect to mother's metabolic syndrome, based on the data from Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) 2007-2010. Using the household variable and the eldest child per household, 1,341 pairs of mothers and children were selected. The mothers were defined by MetS criteria, and then the children were classified into the following three groups in accordance to the mothers' MetS; children whose mothers had none, 1-2, and 3 or more components of MetS. All dietary data were evaluated using the data from a food frequency questionnaire. The mean age was 42.6 +/- 4.2 years for the mothers, and 14.9 +/- 2.0 years for the children. Children whose mothers had 3 or more components of MetS showed a significantly higher prevalence of overweight and higher level of fasting triglyceride; conversely, they showed a lower level of serum HDL-cholesterol compared to the other two groups. Regarding an agreement of food consumption between the mothers and children, most food groups showed high agreement, except in the category of beverages. Regarding the dietary habits and family meals, children whose mothers had 3 or more components of MetS were more likely to skip breakfast and less likely to have family meals at breakfast or snack. In conclusion, the children's metabolic risk factors and dietary factors were different with respect to the status of mothers' MetS. Further studies are necessary to examine the causal effect of family environment in children's health status.

Inhibitory Effects of Valdecoxib on Sodium Currents in Sensory Neurons

BACKGROUND: Valdecoxib is a selective cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitor. It is effective in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, primary dysmenorrhea, and postoperative pain. Two kinds of sodium currents, tetrodotoxin-sensitive (TTX-S) and tetrodotoxin-resistant (TTX-R), are expressed in the dorsal root ganglia (DRG). Both sodium currents are implicated in the formation of normal and abnormal pain. METHODS: The effects of valdecoxib on sodium currents in rat DRG neurons were investigated using the whole-cell variation of the patch-clamp technique. RESULTS: Valdecoxib suppressed two types of sodium currents in a dose-dependent manner, without altering the activation and inactivation kinetics of either current type. It shifted the activation voltage toward a depolarizing direction and the steady-state inactivation voltage toward a hyperpolarizing direction, and suppressed resting channels to similar extents in both types of sodium currents. Valdecoxib slowed the recovery of both sodium currents from inactivation, and suppressed them in a frequency-dependent manner. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that valdecoxib may produce analgesic effects through the inhibition of sodium currents in sensory neurons as well as COX-2.