This retrospective cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate associations between peptic ulcer disease (PUD), bone mineral density, and metabolic syndrome (MetS) and its components in healthy populations. Data were collected from the health examination database of a tertiary medical center in southern Taiwan from January 2015 to December 2016. Subjects who had undergone metabolic factors assessment, upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, and dual energy X-ray absorptiometry scans were enrolled. In total, 5102 subjects were included, with mean age 52.4 ± 12.0 years. Among them, 1332 (26.1%) had PUD. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that age (OR 1.03, p < 0.001), male (OR 1.89, p < 0.001), diabetes (OR 1.23, p = 0.004), BMI (OR 1.03, p = 0.001), and GOT (OR 1, p = 0.003) are risk factors for PUD. Regarding MetS parameters, larger waist circumference (OR 1.26, p = 0.001) is associated with PUD, and high triglycerides (OR 1.20, 95% CI 1.01–1.43) is associated with gastric ulcer, while low HDL (OR 1.31, 95% CI 1.07–1.59) and osteoporosis (OR 1.44, 95% CI 1.08–1.91) are associated with duodenal ulcer. In conclusion, central obesity is associated with PUD in a middle-aged healthy population. Subjects with high triglycerides are prone to gastric ulcers, and those with osteoporosis and low HDL are prone to duodenal ulcers.

Colorectal polyps are the precursor lesions of most colorectal cancers. This study aimed to evaluate associations between bone mineral density (BMD), metabolic syndrome (MetS), and gastrointestinal diseases with colorectal polyps in middle-aged and elderly populations. A retrospective cross-sectional study was performed using data from the health examination database of a tertiary medical center in southern Taiwan in 2015. Subjects aged 50 years and older who had been assessed for metabolic factors and had undergone colonoscopy, upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, and dual energy X-ray absorptiometry scan (DEXA) were included. Factors associated with colorectal polyps were evaluated using univariate and multivariate logistic regression. In total, 1515 subjects were included, with mean age 60.1 years. Among them, 710 (46.9%) had colorectal polyps. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that high fasting glucose (OR = 1.08, p = 0.001), high triglycerides (OR = 1.02, p = 0.008), high total cholesterol (OR = 1.004, p = 0.009), reflux esophagitis (OR = 1.44, p = 0.002), duodenal polyps (OR = 1.75, p = 0.026), gastric ulcer (OR = 1.38, p = 0.024), duodenal ulcers (OR = 1.45, p = 0.028), osteopenia (OR = 1.48, p = 0.001), and MetS (OR = 1.46, p < 0.001) were independently associated with colorectal polyps. In conclusion, hyperglycemia, hypercholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia, MetS, duodenal polyps, gastric and duodenal ulcers, reflux esophagitis, and low BMD are independent risk factors associated with colorectal polyps in the middle-aged and elderly Taiwanese population.

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of comprehensive geriatric assessment performed by an inpatient aging consultation team on older patients with geriatric syndromes. Methods: Fifty-nine patients with ≧65 years, Barthel Index score ≦60, at least one geriatric syndrome, and admitted to non-geriatric wards were enrolled. By their preference, 16 were in the intervention group with comprehensive geriatric assessment and instructions from the consultation team. And 43 were in the control group, receiving standard care from non-geriatric-specialist physicians. Outcomes were readmission and mortality within one year after discharge. Results: The mean age of the intervention and control groups was 78.35 (8.54) and 80.23 (6.36) years (p = 0.36), with female of 62.5% and 60.5%, respectively. Compared to control, intervention is not significantly associated with attenuated risk for readmission (adjusted hazard ratio (aHR): 0.256, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.12– 1.78, p = 0.256) and mortality (aHR: 2.13, 95% CI: 0.29– 15.7, p = 0.457) within one year after discharge. Multivariate analysis showed that patients with a fall history ≧1 in the past one year had a lower risk of readmission (aHR: 0.28, 0.07– 0.6, p = 0.004) or mortality (aHR: 0.11, 95% CI: 0.01– 0.97, p = 0.047), and disability is associated with mortality (aHR: 5.37, 95% CI: 0.87– 33.12, p = 0.07). Conclusion: Intervention is not significantly associated with outcomes in our pilot study. But fall history ≧1 in the recent one year is associated with a lower risk of readmission and mortality among all included patients. More participants and longer follow-up are needed for better elucidation.

Purpose: Previous studies revealed an inconclusive association between dyslipidemia and decreased vitamin D levels. This study aims to investigate the association between dyslipidemia parameters and decreased serum vitamin D levels among the southern Taiwanese population during a health examination. Patients and Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted from January 2020 to December 2020, enrolling 2430 subjects in a southern Taiwanese medical center. We performed logistic regression to examine the association between lipid profiles and vitamin D insufficiency or deficiency. Results: The prevalence of vitamin D sufficiency was higher in males (65.9%). Compared to individuals with total cholesterol (TC) < 200 mg/dL, those with TC ≥ 200 mg/dL exhibited vitamin D insufficiency or deficiency (OR, 1.46; 95% confidence intervals (CI), 1.10– 1.94) after adjustment for age, gender, waist circumference (WC), fasting blood glucose, and uric acid levels. Compared to triglyceride (TG) levels of < 150 mg/dL, TG levels ≥ 150 mg/dL had a higher association with vitamin D insufficiency or deficiency (OR, 1.48; 95% CI, 1.17– 1.86) after adjustment for the same covariates. Post-gender stratification, we found female individuals with TC ≥ 200 mg/dL had a significantly higher association with vitamin D insufficiency or deficiency (OR, 2.11; 95% CI, 1.36– 3.27), whereas TG ≥ 150 mg/dL in males exhibited a significantly higher association with vitamin D insufficiency or deficiency (OR, 1.70; 95% CI, 1.29– 2.24) after adjustment for the same covariates. Conclusion: The study revealed a negative association between decreased serum vitamin D levels and TC and TG levels. However, no significant association was observed with low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). Further studies are needed to understand the mechanism.

Bone supports animal bodies, is the place where blood is produced, and is essential for the immune system, among other important functions. The dominant inorganic component in bone is hydroxyapatite (Hap), the structure and dynamics of which still pose many unsolved puzzles. An updated understanding of HAp is of great significance to osteology, dentistry, and the development of artificial bone and other biomaterials. In this work, HAp nanoparticles were synthesized with the wet chemical precipitation method and their structure and morphologies were controlled by varying pH and adding fluoride ions by two different routes: (1) fluoride ions were added during synthesis, and (2) fluoride ions were introduced after the samples were synthesized by soaking the samples in solutions with fluoride ions. XRD and HRTEM were employed to confirm the composition and structure, while various multinuclear (¹H, ¹⁹F, ³¹P) solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) methods including 1D single pulse, cross-polarization under magic-angle spinning (CPMAS), and 2D heteronuclear correlation (HETCOR) were used to characterize the structure, morphology, and dynamics, validating the general core-shell morphology in these F-HAp samples. It was found that all hydroxide ions were substituted when the fluoride ion concentration was above 0.005 M. An NMR peak corresponding to water structure emerged and the bulk water peak was shifted upfield, indicating that fluoride substitution modifies both the crystalline core and the amorphous shell of F-HAp nanoparticles. With the second route of fluoride substitution, increases in soaking time or fluoride ion concentration could increase fluoride substitution in HAp, but could not achieve complete substitution. Finally, with ¹H-³¹P CPMAS and HETCOR, it was established that there are two types of phosphorous, one in the crystalline core (PO₄³⁻) and the other in the amorphous shell (HPO₄²⁻). These results are valuable for clarifying the fluoride substitution mechanism in HAp in biomaterials or in organisms, and provide insights for developing next generation replacement materials for bone, tooth, or coating films, drug delivery systems, etc.

Background: This study investigated whether a health literacy intervention program could improve the health literacy and quality of life among hospital volunteers. The study also explored the impact of health literacy on hospital volunteers’ health and psychological well-being. Methods: Overall, 35 hospital volunteers were recruited and divided into an experimental group (n = 22) and a control group (n = 13). The experimental group participated in an 8-week health literacy intervention program, which covered topics such as medication information, physiological and symptom-related vocabulary, and disease representation. The control group did not receive any intervention. A questionnaire survey was conducted to assess participants’ health literacy and quality of life before and after the intervention, and the comparison between two groups was statistically analyzed. Results: The experimental group showed significant improvements in multiple aspects of health literacy, particularly in medication information, physiology vocabulary, symptom vocabulary, and signs vocabulary (p < 0.05). In terms of quality of life, the experimental group demonstrated significant enhancements in psychological well-being and overall quality of life (p < 0.05). In contrast, the control group exhibited a downward trend in most health literacy dimensions with a significant decline in organ vocabulary (p < 0.05) and no significant changes in quality of life. Conclusions: The health literacy intervention program effectively improved hospital volunteers’ health literacy and quality of life with particularly notable effects on psychological well-being and the understanding of health-related professional terminology. By enhancing hospital volunteers’ health literacy and quality of life, healthcare organizations can foster more effective, sustainable, and satisfactory service quality.