Phases of Shopping Addiction Evidenced by Experiences of Compulsive Buyers

This study investigated the process of shopping addiction as maladaptive responses regarding buying behavior. A qualitative approach was designed by inductive, interpretative, and constructionist nature of qualitative research. The research participants were recruited from internet websites providing consumer news, recruiting information of consumer panels or monitors, and castings of actors or models. In-depth interviews were done to solicit experiences of shopping. Content analysis was used to derive concepts regarding experiences of compulsive buying. Five concepts were derived, which were described and illustrated as sequential phases of shopping addiction: Phase 1. Retail therapy, “Filling up emptiness with shopping”; Phase 2. Denial, “Ignoring overconsumption”; Phase 3. Debt-ridden, “Ran out of money, while nothing left”; Phase 4. Impulsive buying, “Driving ones-self to hasty buying”; and Phase 5. Compulsive buying, “It is crazy but I cannot stop”. The results of this study clarifies the basic understanding of people who engage in compulsive buying and provide educational resources for professionals engaged in helping people with compulsive buying disorder.     

Middle-aged women's awareness of cholesterol as a risk factor: Results from a national survey of Korean Middle-aged Women's Health Awareness (KomWHA) study

Background

Dyslipidemia, a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD), is more prevalent in middle-aged women than in men of the same age in Korea. This study, the first national survey that focused on cholesterol in Korean women, aimed to: (1) assess their awareness and knowledge of cholesterol, (2) evaluate their risk reduction behavior, and (3) examine differences in these variables among geographical regions in Korea.

Methods

A questionnaire survey study was conducted in a randomly selected national sample of 1304 Korean women, aged 40-64 years in 3 geographic regions.

Results

High cholesterol was identified as a cause of CVD by 54.4% of respondents, however, 95.4% did not know their own values. Only 4.1% of respondents were aware of desirable level of total cholesterol. Eight percent of respondents perceived correctly the meaning of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) as good cholesterol. And 32.9% had cholesterol check at least once a year. No significant regional differences were found in women's awareness and knowledge on cholesterol. No smoking (93.6%), low salt diet (52.5%) and weight management (50.6%) were the most prevalent risk reduction behaviors. Women in the rural area performed less risk reduction behaviors than those in urban area.

Conclusions

Given the low level of awareness and knowledge about cholesterol in these women, nurses need to increase their education about cholesterol and risk reduction behaviors of CVD for middle-aged Korean women, particularly those in rural area. To resolve identified disparities in women's risk reduction behaviors between the rural and urban area, a national-level health policy can result in a successful effort to promote women's awareness of cholesterol and risk reduction behaviors for the cardiovascular health of the public.     

Muscle-specific knockout of PKC-lambda impairs glucose transport and induces metabolic and diabetic syndromes

Obesity, the metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are major global health problems. Insulin resistance is frequently present in these disorders, but the causes and effects of such resistance are unknown. Here, we generated mice with muscle-specific knockout of the major murine atypical PKC (aPKC), PKC-lambda, a postulated mediator for insulin-stimulated glucose transport. Glucose transport and translocation of glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) to the plasma membrane were diminished in muscles of both homozygous and heterozygous PKC-lambda knockout mice and were accompanied by systemic insulin resistance; impaired glucose tolerance or diabetes; islet beta cell hyperplasia; abdominal adiposity; hepatosteatosis; elevated serum triglycerides, FFAs, and LDL-cholesterol; and diminished HDL-cholesterol. In contrast to the defective activation of muscle aPKC, insulin signaling and actions were intact in muscle, liver, and adipocytes. These findings demonstrate the importance of aPKC in insulin-stimulated glucose transport in muscles of intact mice and show that insulin resistance and resultant hyperinsulinemia owing to a specific defect in muscle aPKC is sufficient to induce abdominal obesity and other lipid abnormalities of the metabolic syndrome and T2DM. These findings are particularly relevant because humans who have obesity, impaired glucose tolerance, and T2DM reportedly have defective activation and/or diminished levels of muscle aPKC.     

Comparison of subgroups based on hemorrhagic lesions between SWI and FLAIR in pediatric traumatic brain injury

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to investigate efficient ways to diagnose and predict clinical outcomes for childhood traumatic brain injury.

Methods

Hemorrhagic signal intensities in nine brain regions were observed using axial fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) and susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI). After having divided the subjects into mild presentation (GCS 14–15) and moderate-to-severe presentation groups (GCS ≤13), we divided the patients into three subgroups: Subgroup I, hemorrhagic foci observed only on SWI and not on FLAIR; Subgroup II, hemorrhagic foci observed on both SWI and FLAIR in the same brain regions; and Subgroup III, any cases with additional foci on SWI in other brain regions. We investigated the clinical course and compared lesion numbers and distributions of hemorrhagic lesions on SWI among the subgroups.

Results

Three clinical variables (hospitalization period in intensive care unit, total days of hospitalization, and outcome based on Pediatric Cerebral Performance Category Scale score) showed significant relevance to the three subgroups. Subgroup I showed the fewest lesions followed by Subgroups II and III, respectively. In all three subgroups, lesions were most abundant in cortical regions. Lesion in the thalamus, basal ganglia, corpus callosum, and brainstem was least in Subgroup I and gradually increased in Subgroups II and III. Such distinction was more significant in the moderate-to-severe group when compared with the mild group.

Conclusions

In cases of pediatric traumatic brain injury, categorizing patients into one of the above three subgroups based on hemorrhagic lesions on SWI and FLAIR is a promising method for predicting patient’s clinical outcome.     

Reduction cranioplasty for macrocephaly with long-standing hydrocephalus and non-fused fontanelle in Chiari malformation type I

Introduction

Because hydrocephalus is diagnosed and treated at an early stage in pediatric patients, pediatric neurosurgeons rarely encounter patients with hydrocephalic macrocephaly. There are even fewer cases of infants with long-standing hydrocephalus in whom macrocephaly progresses and is accompanied by skull defect due to malunion of suture lines despite long-term CSF diversion treatment.

Case report

We report the case of a male infant with Chiari malformation type I who presented with congenital hydrocephalus and occipital encephalocele that progressed to hydrocephalic macrocephaly with frontal skull defect, despite numerous cerebrospinal fluid diversion operations. The patient eventually recovered successfully after reduction cranioplasty.     

Usefulness of contrast enhanced FLAIR imaging for predicting the severity of meningitis

The aim of this study was to evaluate whether contrast enhanced fluid attenuated inversion recovery (CE-FLAIR) imaging can be used to predict the severity of meningitis based on leptomeningeal enhancement (LE) score and cerebrospinal fluid signal intensity (CSF-SI) on CE-FLAIR. We retrospectively analyzed data collected from 43 consecutive patients admitted to our hospital due to meningitis. Clinical factors including initial Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score, CSF glucose ratio, log CSF protein, log CSF WBC, and prognosis were evaluated. The LE score was semi-quantitatively scored, and we evaluated CSF-SI ratio at the interpeduncular or quadrigerminal cisterns on CE-FLAIR. We evaluated the differences in clinical variables, LE scores and CSF-SI ratios between the recovery and the complication group. We assessed the correlation between clinical variables, LE scores and CSF-SI ratios. The values of log CSF protein, CSF-SI ratio, and LE score were significantly higher in the complication group (p value <0.05). GCS score and CSF glucose ratio were significantly lower in the complication group (p value <0.01). The LE scores had significant negative correlation with GCS scores and CSF glucose ratios (p value <0.001). The LE score was significantly positively correlated with the value of log CSF protein and CSF-SI ratio (p value <0.01). The CSF-SI ratio was negatively correlated with GCS score and CSF glucose ratio (p value <0.01). The CSF-SI ratio was positively correlated with the value of log CSF protein (p value <0.05). Our results suggest that LE score and CSF-SI ratio are well correlated with clinical prognostic factors. We may predict the clinical severity of meningitis by using LE scores and CSF-SI ration on CE-FLAIR imaging.     

Comparison between high and low molecular weight hyaluronates in knee osteoarthritis patients: open-label, randomized, multicentre clinical trial

Efficacy and safety of high and low molecular weight hyaluronates in knee osteoarthritis patients were compared in a randomized, open-label trial. Patients in the high molecular weight hyaluronate group were treated once weekly for 3 weeks and in the low molecular weight group once weekly for 5 weeks. We evaluated weight-bearing pain, degree of flexion, swelling and knee tenderness; frequency and amount of rescue medication; patient and investigator global assessment of pain, and safety over 12 weeks after final injection of study medication. Significant improvements in pain and WOMAC-Likert scores were observed in both groups, but not between groups. Knee joint pain improvement was noted in both groups by patients and investigators during follow-up. Close correlation was observed between patient- and investigator-reported data. There was no significant difference in side-effects between the groups. In conclusion, the efficacy and safety of high and low molecular weight hyaluronate are similar.