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Menstrual irregularity is an indicator of endocrine disorders and reproductive health status. It is associated with various diseases and medical conditions, including obesity and underweight. We aimed to assess the association between body weight changes and menstrual irregularity in Korean women.
A total of 4,621 women 19 to 54 years of age who participated in the 2010 to 2012 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were included in this study. Self-reported questionnaires were used to collect medical information assessing menstrual health status and body weight changes. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated to evaluate the association between body weight changes and menstrual irregularity.
Significantly higher ORs (95% CI) were observed in the association between menstrual irregularity and both weight loss (OR, 1.74; 95% CI, 1.22 to 2.48) and weight gain (OR, 1.45; 95% CI, 1.13 to 1.86) after adjusting for age, body mass index, current smoking, heavy alcohol drinking, regular exercise, calorie intake, education, income, metabolic syndrome, age of menarche, parity, and stress perception. Of note, significant associations were only observed in subjects with obesity and abdominal obesity, but not in non-obese or non-abdominally obese subjects. U-shaped patterns were demonstrated in both obese and abdominally obese subjects, indicating that greater changes in body weight are associated with higher odds of menstrual irregularity.
We found a U-shaped pattern of association between body weight changes and menstrual irregularity among obese women in the general Korean population. This result indicates that not only proper weight management but also changes in body weight may influence the regulation of the menstrual cycle.
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Metabolic syndrome (MetS), a cluster of multiple metabolic abnormalities, is one of the major public health challenges worldwide. The current study was conducted to evaluate the association between sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption and MetS and its components in Iranian adults.
This cross-sectional study was conducted among 5,852 men and women, aged 19 to 70 years, who participated in the fourth phase (2009 to 2011) of the Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study. Demographics, anthropometrics, biochemical measurements, and blood pressure (BP) were assessed and MetS was defined by National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III definition. Frequency and quantity of SSB intakes including carbonated drinks and synthetic fruit juices were collected using a validated semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire.
Mean age of participants (43%, men) was 40.6±12.9 years. Significant positive associations between SSBs and waist circumference, triglyceride level, systolic and diastolic BP in the third and fourth quartile of SSBs were observed, after adjustment for all potential confounding variables. The odds of MetS in the third and fourth quartiles compared to the first quartile category of SSBs was 1.21 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01 to 1.45) and 1.30 (95% CI, 1.06 to 1.58), respectively (
Higher intake of SSBs was associated with the higher odds of MetS in adults. It is suggested that reducing consumption of SSBs could be a practical approach to prevent metabolic abnormalities.
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Abdominal obesity is associated closely with insulin resistance, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Waist circumference (WC) is a useful surrogate marker commonly used for abdominal adiposity. The determination of WC cutoff levels is important in the prevention and treatment of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and related cardiovascular diseases. Recent epidemiological evidence suggested that appropriate optimal cutoffs for Koreans ranged over 80 to 89.8 cm in males and 76.1 to 86.5 cm in females. We analyzed the data from two large cohorts using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis with the incidences of diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, cerebrovascular disease, myocardial infarct, angina, coronary artery disease, and multiple metabolic risk factors as outcome variables. Optimal WC cutoff points for Koreans were 85 cm in males and 80 cm in females. However, considering the prevalence of abdominal obesity and the health costs for its prevention and management, 90 cm in males and 85 cm in females are probably more appropriate thresholds for abdominal obesity. These values may be modified once better research is performed through prospective studies using representative populations, common health outcomes, and proper analytical approaches.
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A Novel Indicator of Children’s Lipid Accumulation Product Associated with Impaired Fasting Glucose in Chinese Children and Adolescents
Differences in the Association Among the Vitamin D Concentration, Dietary Macronutrient Consumption, and Metabolic Syndrome Depending on Pre- and Postmenopausal Status in Korean Women: A Cross-Sectional Study
We investigated the association of coronary artery calcium score (CACS) with body composition and insulin resistance in apparently healthy Korean adults.
Nine hundred forty-five participants (mean age, 48.9 years; 628 men) in a medical check-up program were selected for analysis. Body composition was assessed by bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA). Insulin resistance was evaluated using the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR). The CACS was assessed by multidetector computed tomography.
One hundred forty-six subjects (15.4%) showed coronary artery calcification and 148 subjects (15.7%) had metabolic syndrome. CACS showed a significant positive correlation with age, fasting glucose level, waist circumference (WC), blood pressure, hemoglobin A1c, HOMA-IR, and waist-hip ratio (WHR) assessed by BIA. CACS had a negative correlation with high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). Subjects with high CACS showed significantly higher mean WHRs and lower mean values for lean body mass compared with subjects without coronary artery calcification. In logistic regression analyses with coronary artery calcification as the dependent variable, the highest quartile of WHR showed a 3.125-fold increased odds ratio for coronary artery calcification compared with the lowest quartile after adjustment for confounding variables. When receiver operating characteristics analyses were performed with coronary artery calcification as the result variable, WHR showed the largest area under the curve (AUC) value among other variables except for age and WC in women (AUC=0.696 for WHR, 0.790 for age, and 0.719 for WC in women).
In our study population of apparently healthy Korean adults, WHR was the most significant predictor for coronary artery calcification among other confounding factors, suggesting that it may have implication as a marker for early atherosclerosis.
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