This study investigated the association between micronutrient intake and breast cancer risk in South Korean adult women. This association was stratified according to body mass index (BMI) categories. Data from the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study (KoGES) and the Health Examinee Study were analyzed. Altogether, 63,337 individuals (aged ≥40 years) completed the baseline and first follow-up surveys; 40,432 women without a history of cancer at baseline were included in this study. The association between micronutrient intake and breast cancer was determined by estimating the hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) using the Cox proportional hazard regression model. A stratified analysis by BMI (<25 kg/m² and ≥25 kg/m²) was performed. The an analysis of 15 micronutrients and breast cancer risk revealed that none of the micronutrients were associated with breast cancer risk after adjusting for covariates. In obese women, the risk of breast cancer was significantly reduced in the group that consumed vitamin C more than the recommended level (HR = 0.54, 95% CI: 0.31–0.93) and vitamin B6 levels above the recommended level (HR = 0.48, 95% CI: 0.25–0.89). In obese women, exceeding the recommended daily intake levels of vitamin C and vitamin B6 was associated with a lower risk of breast cancer. However, other micronutrients were not associated with breast cancer risk in these women.

In 1945, atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Approximately 70 000 Koreans are estimated to have been exposed to radiation from atomic bombs at that time. After Korea’s Liberation Day, approximately 23 000 of these people returned to Korea. To investigate the long-term health and hereditary effects of atomic bomb exposure on the offspring, cohort studies have been conducted on atomic bomb survivors in Japan. This study is an ongoing cohort study to determine the health status of Korean atomic bomb survivors and investigate whether any health effects were inherited by their offspring. Atomic bomb survivors are defined by the Special Act On the Support for Korean Atomic Bomb Victims, and their offspring are identified by participating atomic bomb survivors. As of 2024, we plan to recruit 1500 atomic bomb survivors and their offspring, including 200 trios with more than 300 people. Questionnaires regarding socio-demographic factors, health behaviors, past medical history, laboratory tests, and pedigree information comprise the data collected to minimize survival bias. For the 200 trios, whole-genome analysis is planned to identify de novo mutations in atomic bomb survivors and to compare the prevalence of de novo mutations with trios in the general population. Active follow-up based on telephone surveys and passive follow-up with linkage to the Korean Red Cross, National Health Insurance Service, death registry, and Korea Central Cancer Registry data are ongoing. By combining pedigree information with the findings of trio-based whole-genome analysis, the results will elucidate the hereditary health effects of atomic bomb exposure.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to evaluate the agreement of disease status collected through a survey of the Korean Atomic Bomb Survivor Cohort (K-ABC), compared with medical claim records from the Korean National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) database and the Korean Central Cancer Registry (KCCR).METHODS: Data on the lifetime physician-diagnosed morbidities of 1,215 K-ABC participants were collected through an interviewer-administered questionnaire between 2020 and 2022. Survey data were linked to the NHIS and KCCR databases. Eleven diseases were included for validation. We evaluated the following indicators: sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, accuracy, the area under the curve, and the kappa coefficient.RESULTS: The mean±standard deviation age was 62.1±18.7 years, and 42.6% of the participants were aged ≥70 years. Hypertension and cataracts showed the highest prevalence rates (33.8 and 28.8%, respectively). Hypertension, diabetes, and cancer demonstrated high sensitivity (>0.8) and specificity (>0.9), whereas diabetes, cancer, myocardial infarction, angina pectoris, and asthma exhibited high accuracy (>0.9). In contrast, arthritis, allergic rhinitis, and asthma showed low sensitivity (<0.4) and kappa values (<0.3). In the participants aged ≥70 years, the kappa value was ≥0.4 for all diseases except arthritis, allergic rhinitis, and asthma.CONCLUSIONS: The results from this initial analysis showed relatively high agreement between the survey and NHIS/KCCR databases, especially for hypertension, diabetes, and cancer. Our findings suggest that the information on morbidities collected through the questionnaires in this cohort was valid for both younger and older individuals.

Background: Diarrhea, a common symptom of gastrointestinal infections, can lead to severe complications and is a major cause of emergency department (ED) visits. Objective: This study explored the temporal association between internet search queries for diarrhea and its synonyms and ED visits for diarrhea-related symptoms. Methods: We used data from the National Emergency Department Information System (NEDIS) and NAVER (Naver Corporation), South Korea’s leading search engine, from January 2017 to December 2021. After identifying diarrhea synonyms using ChatGPT, we compared weekly trends in relative search volumes (RSVs) for diarrhea, including its synonyms and weekly ED visits. Pearson correlation analysis and Granger causality tests were used to evaluate the relationship between RSVs and ED visits. We developed an Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average with Exogenous Variables (ARIMAX) model to further predict these associations. This study also examined the age-based distribution of search behaviors and ED visits. Results: A significant correlation was observed between the weekly RSV for diarrhea and its synonyms and weekly ED visits for diarrhea-related symptoms (ranging from 0.14 to 0.51, P<.05). Weekly RSVs for diarrhea synonyms, such as “upset stomach,” “watery diarrhea,” and “acute enteritis,” showed stronger correlations with weekly ED visits than weekly RSVs for the general term “diarrhea” (ranging from 0.20 to 0.41, P<.05). This may be because these synonyms better reflect layperson terminology. Notably, weekly RSV for “upset stomach” was significantly correlated with weekly ED visits for diarrhea and acute diarrhea at 1 and 2 weeks before the visit (P<.05). An ARIMAX model was developed to predict weekly ED visits based on weekly RSVs for diarrhea synonyms with lagged effects to capture their temporal influence. The age group of <50 years showed the highest activity in both web-based searches and ED visits for diarrhea-related symptoms. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that weekly RSVs for diarrhea synonyms are associated with weekly ED visits for diarrhea-related symptoms. By encompassing a nationwide scope, this study broadens the existing methodology for syndromic surveillance using ED data and provides valuable insights for clinicians.

Jeong A, et al. J Korean Med Sci. 2023 Mar;38(13):e110. https://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2023.38.e110