METHODS: Intervention studies published in English between 2000 and August 2018 were retrieved from PubMed, Google Scholar, and Web of Science using various keywords.
RESULTS: This article is a review of 36 studies conducted in 13 different countries which included a total of 15,931 participants between 19 and 70 years of age. The effect of 26 genes and 64 SNPs on the reduction of body weight and metabolic risk factors in response to diet, exercise, and lifestyle interventions was reviewed.
CONCLUSION: Gene-lifestyle interaction studies on the same candidate gene in different populations have reported information which is challenging to interpret. Thus, it is difficult to arrive at a particular model for a strategy on weight management at this point in time. Most of the intervention studies focus on the effect of variants of a single candidate gene on weight loss. Further evidence from large-scale studies is necessary to assess the effect of multiple candidate genes to compute a gene score that could be used in a model intervention programme. Our review suggests that a healthy lifestyle with a balanced diet and regular physical activity will benefit individuals who carry the risk alleles of the obesity-related candidate genes. This message should be the mainstay of the recommendations and guidelines published by nutrition societies across the world.
METHODS: This is a retrospective study of all the patients who had undergone colonoscopy at Gastroenterology endoscopy unit, Serdang Hospital from 1st January 2010 to 31st December 2016. Patients who had a history of colorectal cancer, polyp or inflammatory bowel disease were excluded. Data collected which included patients' demography, indication for colonoscopy, colonoscopy finding, and histopathology results. Data was analysed with SPSS version 16.
RESULTS: Among the 559 patients who had fulfilled the inclusion criteria (68 males, 44 females), 112 patients were found to have at least one polyp giving the polyp detection rate (PDR) of 20% and 168 polypectomies were performed. The PDR among male patients was higher than that of females (22.5% vs 17.1%, p<0.05). The detection rate of polyp was nearly equal in Malays, Chinese, Indians, and Others. The polyps were more common in those of age 40 years old and above (p<0.05), with the mean age of 63.0±1.5 years. The commonest morphology of polyp in our patients was sessile (58%) and majority was medium size (5-9mm). Otherwise, the polyps were commonly found in the distal colon those that in proximal colon (55.3% vs 38.7%, p<0.05). The adenoma detection rate (ADR) was 19.1% (107/559).
CONCLUSION: The detection rate of colonic polyp from colonoscopy is 20% in our centre.
METHODS: Patients fulfilling the International Headache Society (IHS) criteria for TN were prospectively interviewed for their demographic and clinical data. Pain intensity was rated with a visual analog scale (VAS), anxiety and depression were determined by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and QoL was assessed by the Short-Form 36 (SF-36) questionnaire. Chi-square, Mann-Whitney U, and Spearman correlation tests were used to test for differences considering a significance level of P < .05.
RESULTS: Of the 75 included patients, 52 (69.3%) were women with a mean ± standard deviation (SD) onset age of 52.0 ± 12.7 years, and 57.3% were Chinese, 24.0% Malay, and 18.7% Indian. Pain was more common on the right side (69.3%) and in the maxillary and mandibular divisions. VAS scores for pain at its worst were higher in anxious/borderline anxious patients compared to non-anxious patients (89.5 ± 15.9 vs 80.9 ± 17.2, respectively; P < .05), and VAS scores for pain at its least were higher in depressed/borderline depressed subjects compared to non-depressed subjects (38.4 ± 25.8 vs 23.0 ± 19.2, respectively; P < .05). Chinese patients had lower VAS scores for pain at its least compared to Indian patients (19.7 ± 16.1 vs 39.9 ± 24.7; P < .01). TN patients scored lower in all eight domains of the SF-36 compared to the general population. Indian patients had lower scores in role limitations due to physical health (8.9 ± 23.2 vs 49.4 ± 43.8; P < .01) and social function (56.3 ± 13.6 vs 76.5 ± 23.6; P < .01) than Chinese patients, and Malay patients had lower mental health scores compared to Chinese patients (59.1 ± 19.5 vs 73.0 ± 21.0; P < .01).
CONCLUSION: Clinical characteristics of TN patients were similar to those of other populations. There were differences in pain ratings and QoL between TN patients of different ethnicities, as well as between those with anxiety and depression.
OBJECTIVE: To determine the effectiveness of a brief intervention for smoking cessation using the '5A' model with self-help materials compared to using self-help materials alone.
METHODS: This randomised controlled trial was conducted at the Primary Care Clinic at the University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) between June and October 2009. Subjects were all current smokers aged 18 years and above. A total of 208 subjects were recruited and randomised into two groups. Subjects in the intervention group were given a brief intervention based on the '5A' model with selfhelp materials, while the control group received self-help materials alone. Subjects were later followed up at one and four months via telephone calls. The outcome measure was a self-reported attempt to quit smoking.
RESULTS: At one-month follow-up, 15/77 (19.5%) of the participants in the intervention group had attempted to quit smoking compared to 8/80 (10.0%) in the control group. There was no significant difference between the two groups (p=0.09). At the four-month follow-up, 13/58 (22.4%) participants in the intervention group had attempted to quit smoking compared to 9/57 (15.8%) in the control group. Once more, there was no significant difference between the two groups (p=0.37).
CONCLUSION: This study showed that there was no significant difference between a brief intervention using the '5A' model with self-help materials and using self-help materials alone for smoking cessation in a Malaysian primary care setting. However, these results do need to be treated with caution when taking into consideration the high dropout rate and bias in the study design.