BACKGROUND Although several risk factors associated with reduced age at natural menopause (ANM) have been investigated, the results are inconsistent. Excessive stress, which leads to elevation of stress hormones, can also negatively affect reproductive ability, including by accelerating menopause. However, a direct association between stress level and ANM has not yet been demonstrated. Therefor...

Women appear to be at greater risk of developing wrinkles with age than men. To evaluate the effect of pregnancy and menopause on facial wrinkling, a total of 186 Korean women volunteers aged between 20 and 89 years were interviewed for information on menstrual and reproductive factors. An 8-point photographic scale developed for assessing the severity of wrinkles in Asian skin was used. Cumula...

OBJECTIVE To estimate the prevalence and seroprevalence of high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) in Korean girls and women. METHODS We estimated the seroprevalence of HPV subtypes 16 and 18 among 1,094 girls and women aged 9-59 years and the prevalence of genital high-risk HPV among 902 women aged 20-59 years who visited our institution for a medical checkup. Genital high-risk HPV DNA was meas...

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES To assess three breast cancer risk assessment tools in obese rural Korean women. DESIGN Cross-sectional survey design. SETTING Community settings in the rural region of northeastern South Korea. SAMPLE A nested cohort sample of 64 severely obese women aged 40-60 years from the Korean Genomic Regional Cohort registry. METHODS The Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool of t...

BACKGROUND Members of the Maasai tribe spend their days either barefoot or wearing traditional shoes made from recycled car tires. Although they walk long distances (up to 60 km) daily, they do not generally experience foot ailments. Here, we compared parameters associated with the feet, ankles, and gait of middle-aged women in Korea and the Maasai tribe. METHODS Foot length, calf circumferen...

i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to acknowledge the individuals who supported my research and made it all the more rewarding by joining me in the process. First and foremost, I would like to express my gratitude for my adviser, Professor Charlene Galarneau. I was incredibly blessed to have Professor Galarneau's support that took shape in many different forms, but always inspired me to take intel...

A cephalometric study of 18-year-old Korean subjects with acceptable profile and occlusion was carried out by means of the Downs, Steiner, Ricketts, and vertical analyses. The subjects in the study sample consisted of 35 men and 45 women. Means and standard deviations of the Korean subjects were established. Statistical analyses were performed to compare Koreans to Caucasians.

BACKGROUND This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of a low appendicular skeletal muscle index (ASMI) using three cut-off points (mean ASMI-2SD of a gender-specific young reference group (aged 18-39 years), mean ASMI-1SD of a gender-specific young reference group, and the lower 20 percentile value of a gender-specific older group (aged ≥ 65 years)) in Korean older people and the re...

This study aimed to investigate the association between serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] and metabolic syndrome along with its associated risk factors in Korean postmenopausal women. This study was performed using data from the KNHANES 2008-2010 study and included 4,364 postmenopausal Korean women. Clinical and other objective characteristics, seasonality, and presence of metabolic...