J Formos Med Assoc
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Comparative Study
DNA polymorphisms of apolipoprotein B in the population of Taiwan.
Four apolipoprotein B (apoB) genetic polymorphisms, the AluI, XbaI, MspI and EcoRI restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs), were analyzed for 162 individuals in Taiwan by polymerase chain reaction. Allele frequency determination revealed that this population has 0.86 AluI- (A-), 0.99 XbaI- (X-), 1.0 MspI+ (M+), and 0.98 EcoRI+ (E+) alleles. Major genotypes were A-/A- (0.75), X-/X- (0.98), M+/M+ (1.0) and E+/E+ (0.96). ⋯ The XbaI allele frequency is similar to that found in the Japanese population (XbaI- 0.96), but is significantly different from that in Caucasians (XbaI- 0.31-0.54). Significant differences (p < 0.001) between the Taiwanese and Caucasians were also observed for the AluI, EcoRI and MspI RFLP alleles of the apoB gene. More heterozygous genotypes are observed in Caucasians than in the Taiwanese.
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Owing to different cultural backgrounds, epidemiological disease patterns as well as economic status, it is important to collect local data regarding Emergency Medical Services (EMS), in order to direct our planning and to establish an appropriate EMS policy. This study was conducted from 1 July 1991 through 30 June 1992. During the 109 days of the study, 12502 prehospital records from Taipei city's 119 ambulances were collected and analyzed. ⋯ The results provided the following information: 1) in 7.41% of the ALS cases, ECG monitoring accounted for 3.13%, CPR for 3.55%, and IV injections for 0.73%; 2) cases needing the use of an ambulance accounted for 16.26% of the total; 3) the response time was 4.89 minutes on average; 4) time spent on the scene was 3.78 minutes; 5) the transportation time was 9.76 minutes; and 6) the percentage of abuse was 29.09%. Based on these results we recommend the following: 1) in enacting the EMS law, the policy stipulating that one ambulance should be expected to serve a population of 50 thousand should be modified because of limited daily emergency calls; and 2) education of the lay public is needed to prevent ambulance abuse. These are the main issues that need to be focused on in the development of our EMS system.
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Postoperative management of kidney allograft recipients requires a reliable and rapid diagnostic method so that proper therapy can be initiated. In this study, we tried to correlate serum neopterin levels with different conditions after transplantation. Serial serum neopterin levels were assessed after operation. ⋯ In summary, the serum neopterin levels were persistently high in uremic and post-transplant ATN patients. Acute rejection episodes were correlated with an increased level of neopterin. It appears that daily measurement of the serum neopterin level may be useful for biochemical detection of immunologic complications in allograft recipients.
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The authors describe the rare occurrence of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) in 14 aboriginals of Taiwan (ABT), a minor ethnic group now accounting for less than 2% of the total population in Taiwan. The observation is epidemiologically unusual, representing a low-risk ethnic group in an NPC prevalent area. With regard to patient characteristics, symptomatology and pathology, we have not found any appreciable differences in reports from other geographic areas. ⋯ Interestingly, 12 of the 14 patients were found to be exclusively from the Paiwan tribe residing in Pintung, a district in southern Taiwan. Since the exact prevalence of NPC in this minority remains unknown, it is not clear whether the apparent preponderance is real or merely causal due in part to geographic bias. To a lesser extent, however, our observations indicate that NPC is not an uncommon malignancy in Paiwan aboriginals of southern Taiwan.
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Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is endemic in Taiwan, with 15-20% of the adult population carrying the surface antigen (HBsAg). Hualien in Eastern Taiwan is relatively isolated from other parts of the island by the Central Mountains. The status of HBV infection among mountain aborigines in Hualien has not been studied on a large scale before. ⋯ The infection rate increased significantly with age (p < 0.05). The results show that HBV infection is a serious problem among the children of mountain aborigines in Hualien, with nearly one-third of them carrying HBsAg. Aggressive vaccination, as well as public health education programs, are greatly needed.