• Journal of Sasang Constitutional Medicine
• /
• v.25 no.2
• /
• pp.81-97
• /
• 2013

Objectives The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between osteoporosis and cardiovascular risk factors according to Sasang constitution. Methods A total of 1773 participants, over 40 years old, were examined as part of a community-based cohort in Wonju city in Gangwon province of South Korea, from June 2006 to August 2009. We measured bone mineral density by Achilles ultrasonometer, serum levels of lipids, fasting blood sugar, insulin and other cardiovascular risk factors like blood pressure and waist circumference. Constitution was verified by a Sasang constitution specialist using the results of PSSC(Phonetic System for Sasang Constitution), facial photos and a simplified Sasang constitutional questionnaire. Results The prevalence rate was 11.2% in total participants, and 10.6% in Soyangin, 10.4% in Taeeumin and 13.9% in Soeumin. In general characteristics, educational and economic property and exercise were concerned with osteoporosis. Systolic blood pressure, pulse rate and total cholesterol were significantly high in osteoporosis group. Age and menopause were the key risk factors for osteoporosis. There was a significantly high prevalence in Soeumin for osteoporosis in men alone. Low physical activity was a major risk factor for osteoporosis. Waist circumference and hip circumference had significantly high odds ratio and weight had significantly low odds ratio. By Sasang constitution, Soyangin has the negative correlation with free fatty acid, Taeeumin has the negative correlation with waist circumference, pulse rate, systolic blood pressure, total cholesterol and low density lipoprotein and Soeumin has the positive correlation with body fat amount. Conclusions Regimens on osteoporosis should be considered according to Sasang constitution. Cardiovascular diseases should be considered according to Sasang constitution. Soeumin should be cautious of osteoporosis and gain weights and reasonable amount of fat food. Soyangin had better do exercise lower body and eat little food containing triglyceride. Taeeumin had better lose weights and eat little cholesterol food.

• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
• /
• v.20 no.2
• /
• pp.113-127
• /
• 2010

Objectives : This study was performed to evaluate the effect of the electroacupuncture therapy on abdominal fat deposit without diet, exercise and herbal medication. It was also designed to check the changes of free fatty acid in blood and catecholamine in urine to observe the mechanism of the electroacupuncture efficacy. Methods : 10 volunteers over 85 cm(male, 90 cm) in waist circumferences were recruited, and 10 electroacupuncture treatments were applied on their abdominal subcutaneous fat area for 4-5 weeks. We measured anthropometric factors, abdominal fat area with CT scanning, and the changes of free fatty acid in blood and catecholamine in urine before treatment and after the last treatment. Results : In this study, significant changes were shown in weight, waist circumference, waist/hip ratio, body mass index and body fat percent after the electroacupuncture therapy. There were also significant decreases of visceral fat area, visceral/subcutaneous fat area ratio in CT scanning. The blood level of free fatty acid and the urine level of catecholamine were increased after treatments, but the changes were not statistically significant. Conclusions : This study showed the efficacy of the electroacupuncture therapy on the abdominal fat deposit. But significant changes couldn't be found out in free fatty acid and catecholamine. Further studies that compensate for the limitations of this study are required to confirm the mechanism of the electroacupuncture efficacy.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
• /
• v.37 no.12
• /
• pp.1589-1598
• /
• 2008

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of obesity on health by analyzing the factors which are related to obesity through the questionnaires on the dietary pattern, nutrient intake and physical measurements. The subjects, 419 college women aged 20 to 24 year-old, were randomly selected from Seoul and data were collected during March to May, 2008 and classified as under underweight, normal weight, and obesity groups according to BMI. However, weight, skeletal muscle mass, body fat mass, fat free mass, percentage of body fat, and waist to hip ratio showed significant differences among all the groups (p<0.05). In the obese group, 77.8% ate fat-rich foods such as galbi and samgyopsal more than two times per week, 66.7% ate vegetables other than kimchi (p<0.05) as compared to the underweight and normal groups by mini dietary assessment (p<0.05). The cholesterol intakes of the underweight, normal weight, and obese groups were $164.67{\pm}114.52mg/dL$, $143.31{\pm}99.58mg/dL$, and $121.92{\pm}54.91mg/dL$, respectively, and the obese group had a significantly lower intake than the other groups (p<0.05). The serum total cholesterol levels of the underweight, normal, and obese groups were $177.04{\pm}26.36mg/dL$, $189.46{\pm}29.05mg/dL$, and $170.00{\pm}12.75mg/dL$, respectively, and the obese group showed lower total cholesterol level than the other groups (p<0.05). The triacylglycerol level of the obese group ($132.00{\pm}64.60mg/dL$) was significantly higher than the other two groups (p<0.05). The HDL-cholesterol levels of the underweight, normal weight, and obese groups were $51.92{\pm}9.39mg/dL$, $59.20{\pm}13.53mg/dL$, and $43.00{\pm}8.98mg/dL$, respectively, showing that the obese subjects had significantly lower HDL-cholesterol levels as compared to the subjects in the other groups (p<0.05). The HDL-C/LDL-C ratios of the underweight ($0.52{\pm}0.45$) and normal weight ($0.59{\pm}0.23$) groups were higher than the ratio of the obese group ($0.41{\pm}0.06$). Total cholesterol were positively correlated with LDL-cholesterol (r=0.768, p<0.01), but triacylglycerol were adversely correlated with HDL-cholesterol. In conclusion, our results show that college-aged women in Seoul should be encouraged to amend their overall dietary habits, make a dietary plan that fits their individual needs, and maintain an effective exercise schedule.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
• /
• v.52 no.1
• /
• pp.8-14
• /
• 2009

This study was conducted to assess the effects of diet food containing Jerusalem artichoke's inulin, lotus leaf, and herb on weight and body fat. Participants in this study were selected based on the following criteria: BMI over $25kg/m^2$, body fat percentage higher than 25%, abdominal obesity level of 0.85 measured by body composition measurement unit (ZEUS 9.9 PLUS, Korea) total 24 female and male university students over 20 of age were assigned to two different groups: control group and diet group and the study was carried out for 30 days. When we measured what the tester's body weight and height, we used an automatic measure machin which is called IMI-1000 from Immanuel company and when we measured what the hip and wist circumference, we used a tape measure. When we measured body mss index (BMI), body Int, body mass, lean mass, waist/hip ratio (WHB), obesity index, we used a ZEUS9.9 PLUS-Korea which is based on bioelectrical impedance analysis, The food intake was checked by means of diet record method to be input into CAN program in order to analyze nutrient intake. Our findings indicated that the diet group, as compared to the control group, lost weight of approximately 2.5 kg and showed statistically significant difference. In addition the level of body Int, muscle, abdominal obesity, obesity, waist and bottom measurement all showed significant decrease after study period. However, there was no big difference in body fat percentage because both body fat level and muscle level dropped together, Putting all these together, diet food in this study containing Jerusalem artichoke's inulin, lotus leaf powder, and herbs powder including nettle, eucalyptus was found to be effective in significant reduction of weight and body fat and obesity-related body indicators. Also, it is considered that this diet food has potential to prevent and improve effectively obesity from abnormal fat accumulation.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
• /
• v.20 no.1
• /
• pp.53-61
• /
• 2003

Background: Body weight is an important factor that influence the bone density in postmenopausal women except estrogen dificiency. However, different results are reported about the relationship between body composition and bone density in the postmenopausal women. We have studied the relationship between age, body weight, body mass index (BMI), waist hip ratio (WHR), muscle mass, fat mass, fat free mass and bone density. Materials and Methods: We have studied 127 persons of postmenopausal women who visited university medical center and examined the inbody 3.0 and Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DEXA) from Jan, 2001 to Jun, 2002. they didn't have any disease and didn't received hormone therapy, osteoporosis therapy or other medication that influence the bone density. Results: The numbers of study subjects is total 127 persons. Mean age is $56.9{\pm}5.14$, mean weight is $59.3{\pm}8.7kg$, mean BMI is $25.37{\pm}3.16(kg/m^2)$, mean fat mass is $20.02{\pm}5.05kg$, mean muscle mass is $37.49{\pm}4.50kg$, mean fat free mass is $39.80{\pm}4.70$, mean BMD is $0.828{\pm}0.148(g/cm^2$). In the result of linear regression analysis, age, height, weight, muscle mass, fat free mass, fat mass, BMI are significant determinants of BMD. In stepwise multiple regression analysis, age is the most significant determinant of BMD and besides age, fat free mass is the most significant determinant of BMD among body composition. Conclusion: In postmenopausal women, age, height, weight, BMI, muscle mass, fat free mass, fat mass are significant determinants of BMD and besides age, fat free mass is the most significant determinant of BMD among the body composition. So, diet and exercise that increase fat free mass will contribute to bone density increment.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
• /
• v.15 no.1
• /
• pp.29-39
• /
• 2005

The obesity incidence rate of children in Korea has increased from 2 to 3% in 1970 to 15% in 2004. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of diet on obesity, and serum cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations by obese index in Korean elementary school students. The subjects were three hundred and thirteen students(male 157, female 156). Height, weight and body fat were measured. Dietary records by the 24-hr recall method were taken for 3 days, and serum cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations were determined. The obesity index was calculated by the Korean of Pediatrics Association standards. Nutrient intakes were calculated by CAN PRO. Almost twenty percent(19.8%) of the subjects were underweight, 60.1 % were normal, 10.2% were overweight and 9.9% were obesity. The obesity incidence rate of the males was not different from the females. Energy and nutrients intakes containing fatty acids were not significantly different by the obesity index. All the subjects had 59.7%～61.1% of carbohydrate and 24.2%～25.6% of fat for energy. Serum cholesterol concentrations of the obesity group(177.3 mg/dl) was higher than those of the underweight group(161.8 mg/dl) and normal weight group(163.5 mg/dl) and overweight group(163.8 mg/dl). Twenty nine percent of the obesity group had serum cholesterol concentrations over 200mg/dl, as compared with 4.8% of the normal and underweight group. Serum triglyceride in the obesity group(103.0mg/dl) was higher than those of the underweight group(79.7 mg/dL), normal weight group(81.0 mg/dl) and overweight group(81.1 mg/dl). Serum total cholesterol concentrations were correlated with the obese index, PIBW, R hrer index at p<0.001, with BMI at p<0.01 and with waist/hip ratio at p<0.05. Serum triglyceride concentrations were correlated with the obese index, PIBW, R hrer index at p<0.01. It is concluded that obesity increases serum total cholesterol concentrations and triglyceride concentrations, and that the obesity preventive program for normal weight children, and weight reduction program for obese children are necessary for elementary school children's education.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.40 no.7
• /
• pp.630-638
• /
• 2007

This study was performed to examine the combined effects of L-carnitine and isoflavone supplementation on weight reduction and body fat distribution in overweight women. Overweight/obese women (body mass index > $23kg/m^2$) who were not diagnosed any type of diseases were included in this study and sixty subjects ($41.1{\pm}1.5$ years, $25.9{\pm}0.3kg/m^2)$ were randomly assigned to a placebo (n=30) or a supplement group (n=30, L-carnitine 300 mg+isoflavone 40 mg/day). We measured anthropometric parameters, abdominal fat distribution by computerizd tomography and blood components before and after the 12 week intervention period. After the 12 weeks of supplementation, subjects in L-carnitine and isoflavone supplement group showed a significant reduction of body weight (p < 0.001), body fat % (p < 0.05), and waist to hip ratio (p < 0.01) whereas placebo group did not show any changes. In a CT-scanned results, total fat area at L4 level was significantly reduced by 8.1% (p < 0.01) with the reduction of visceral fat area (-11.1%, p < 0.001) and subcutaneous fat area (-7.0%, p < 0.05) in the supplement group. The supplementation of L-carnitine and isoflavone showed the significant improvement of HDL-C (p < 0.01) and apoB (p < 0.05) concentrations, however, change values in those markers were not significant compared with those of the placebo group. In addition, a significant increase of adiponectin level (p<0.001) was observed in the supplement group after the intervention. The result of present study demonstrated that supplementation of 300 mg L-carnitine and 40 mg isoflavone per day fur 12 weeks can give beneficial effects on weight reduction and visceral fat accumulation. These potential antiobesity supplement can produce more favorable effects when combined with lifestyle modification.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
• /
• v.6 no.6
• /
• pp.520-526
• /
• 2012

Various forms of fermented soybean products are well documented for their health benefits. The efficacy of anti-obesogenic effect of Doenjang, one of the most commonly used seasonings in Korean cuisine, has been reported only in animal models; thus, an evaluation of Doenjang needs to be conducted in human studies. We aimed to test the hypothesis that Doenjang supplementation reduces body weight and changes body composition in overweight adults. A total of 51 overweight adults participated in this study. A group of males with BMI ${\geq}23kg/m^2$ and waist to hip ratio (WHR) ${\geq}$ 0.90, and a group of females with BMI ${\geq}23kg/m^2$ and WHR ${\geq}$ 0.85 were randomly assigned to either a Doenjang supplement (9.9 g dry/day) group or a placebo group for a 12-week randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study. Anthropometric parameters, abdominal fat distribution by computerized tomography (CT) and blood components were measured before and after the intervention period. After the 12-week study, the Doenjang supplementation group had significant reductions in body weight (kg), body fat mass (kg) and body fat (%) compared to the placebo group, the supplementation of Doenjang resulted in a significant reduction in visceral fat ($cm^2$), although no changes were observed in total and subcutaneous fat are as ($cm^2$), serum lipid profiles and dietary intakes. The present study demonstrated that daily supplementation of 9.9 g dry/day of Doenjang for 12 weeks reduces body weight and visceral fat in overweight adults.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
• /
• v.46 no.4
• /
• pp.326-334
• /
• 2003

Purpose : The objectives of this study were to estimate the prevalence of obesity in adolescents; to study the association between obesity, blood pressure, and dyslipidemia; and to evaluate the superiority of waist circumference to waist/hip ratio(WHR) in central obesity. Methods : We selected 1382 adolescents(M : F=690 : 692) aged from 11 to 18 years(mean age; boys 15.0, girls 15.4) in Incheon. We measured weight, height, waist, waist/hip ratio, and blood pressure, with blood sampling to evaluate the dyslipidemia. Results : The prevalence of obesity was 6.7% in boys and 6.9% in girls by body mass index(BMI). The prevalence of systolic hypertension was 15.7% in normal group, 32.4% in the overweight group, and 35.4% in the obese group by BMI. The prevalence of diastolic hypertension was 4.9% in the normal group, 6.9% in the overweight group, and 14.6% the in obese group. In boys and girls, BMI, waist circumference, and WHR were positively correlated with systolic and diastolic blood pressure. respectively. In boys, triglyceride was positively correlated with waist circumference(r=0.34, P<0.05). In boys and girls, BMI was highly correlated with obesity index(r=0.98, each), with waist circumference(r=0.89, r=0.82, respectively), and with body fat(r=0.85, r=0.89) respectively. Conclusion : These data suggest the importance of the screening of blood pressure in obese adolescents, with prevention and intervention of obesity since it may be the most cost-effective way of reducing the complications related with obesity.

• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
• /
• v.18 no.4
• /
• pp.147-159
• /
• 2008

Objectives : In order to investigate the relation of body composition analysis and isokinetic trunk muscle strength for the screening test of low back pain. Methods : This study was carried out with the data from comprehensive medical testing. 75 subject aged 20-59 performed the segmental bioelectrical impedance analysis, isokinetic trunk muscle strength test and questionnaire. Then we analyzed the relationship of data. Results : Low back pain(LBP) prevalence in high obesity index(Body mass index(BMI), Percentage of Body Fat(PBF), Waist Hip Ratio(WHR)) group was higher than LBP prevalence in normal obesity index group(p<0.001). In LBP group, Extension Peak Torque(Ext.PT), Extension Peak Torque per Body Weight(Ext.PT/BW) were significantly lower than Non-LBP group(p<0.001). And 90% of LBP group indicated abnormal Extension-Flexion Ratio(E/F ratio)(1.0 < Normal E/F ratio <1.6). When it comes to analyze relation between obesity index and muscle strength, Ext.PT/BW was significantly decreased according to PBF, WHR score. And correlation coefficient in Flex.PT, Flex.PT/BW, Ext.PT, Ext.PT/BW and PBF showed decreasing function. Conclusions : Results from this investigation showed positive correlation between obesity and LBP prevalence. Decreased muscle strength and inbalanced E/F ratio were shown in LBP. Trunk muscle strength was changed according to body mass composition parameters. This results are expected to contribute to prevent and diagnose LBP by application the clinical index of body composition analysis.