A growing body of literature has documented that job stress is associated with the development of cardiovascular disease. Nevertheless, the pathophysiological mechanism of this association remains unclear. The purpose of this study is to elucidate the relationship between job stress, heart rate variability, and metabolic syndrome. The study design was cross-sectional, and a total of 169 industrial workers were recruited. A structured-questionnaire was used to assess the general characteristics and job characteristics (work demand, decision latitude). Heart rate variability (HRV) was recorded using SA-2000 (medi-core), and was assessed by time-domain and by frequency-domain analyses. Time domain analysis was performed using SDNN (Standard Deviation of normal to normal interval), and spectral analysis using low-frequency (LF), high-frequency (HF), and total frequency power. Metabolic syndrome was defined on the basis of risk factors being clustered when three or more of the following cardiovascular risk factors were included in the fifth quintile: glucose, systolic blood pressure, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (bottom quintile), triglyceride, and waist-hip ratio. The results showed that job characteristics were not associated with cardiovascular risk factors. Compared to the lower strain group (low strain+passive+active group), the high strain group had a less favorable cardiovascular risk profile with higher levels of blood pressure, glucose, homocysteine, and clotting factor, but the difference was not statistically significant. The SDNN of HRV was significantly lower in the high strain group than in the low strain group. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome in the lower strain group and high strain group was 13.2% and 23.8%, respectively. In the high strain group, the metabolic syndrome was significantly related to a decreased SDNN. However, we could not find a significant association in LF/HF ratio. This result suggests that decreased HRV found in the high-strain group are not a direct indicator of disease. However, it can induce cardiovascular abnormalities or dysfunctions related to the onset of heart disease among high risk groups.

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Background. Surgery and radiotherapy mainstays in the management of advanced head and neck cancer, although historically, only 20–30% of patients survive. Therefore, in an attempt to improve locoregional control and survival, a multimodal protocol using cisplatin as a radiosensitizer was implemented. Methods. Between 1984 and 1990,68 patients with advanced head and neck cancer (Stages III and IV) were treated with a regimen consisting of an induction phase of 4500 cGy and two cycles of cisplatin followed by an eradicative phase of either radical surgery (Group A, 27 patients) or radical radiotherapy (Group B, 41 patients). The maintenance phase chemotherapy consisted of adjuvant 5‐fluorouracil (5‐FU) and cisplatin after completion of locoregional treatment. Of the 68 patients, 19 had Stage III disease, and 49 had Stage IV; 21 had no regional lymph node metastases (No), and 47 had regional lymph node metastases (N+). Results. The induction phase yielded a 26% (18 patients) complete response (CR) rate and a 57% (39 patients) partial response (PR) rate (response > 50%), yielding an overall response rate of 83%. Eleven patients (16%) had stable disease (ST) (i. e., < 50% response). The 2‐year survival rates by initial treatment response for patients who had a CR, a PR, and stable disease were 53%, 56%, and 36%, respectively; for Groups A and B, 63% and 45%, respectively; for Stages III and IV, 68% and 43%, respectively; and for NO and N+, 69% and 43%, respectively. In Group A, 14 of 27 patients (52%) had no viable tumor in the surgical specimen (i. e. had pathologic complete tumor clearance [CTC]); this subgroup had a 5‐year survival rate of 58%. Ten patients (37%) who had gross total resection of tumor with negative margins but had tumor present in the specimen had a 5‐year survival of 22%. In Group B, the 5‐year survival rate was 43% for 27 patients who achieved CR after completion of radical radiotherapy (total tumor dose, 6480–7020 cGy). The 5‐year survival rate of the 14 patients who had a PR and stable disease after radical radiotherapy and 3 patients whose resection was incomplete was 0%. The overall 2‐ and 5‐year survival rates for all patients were 53% and 32%, respectively. Of 21 patients in whom treatment failed, most (90%) had a locoregional recurrence: 13 local recurrences (62%), 5 regional (24%), and 1 locoregional (5%). Two patients (10%) experienced failure at distant sites (the lung). Major treatment‐related morbidity developed in two patients. Conclusions. Although induction chemotherapy‐radiotherapy produces a high clinical response rate, this does not translate into improved survival compared with historical controls. A subgroup that showed complete tumor clearance (CTC or pathologic complete response) at surgery had an apparent improved survival and merits further study. Patient selection did not appear to be a factor for the CTC group, because the majority of patients in this group had partial responses to induction therapy, nodal disease and advanced tumor stage, and tumor presence in ...

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This study examined the possible relationship between Karasek's job strain model and blood coagulation factors VII and VIII as risk factors for cardiovascular disease in Korean male workers. Based on the postulation of the model, we invited 160 male workers (40 people each subgroup) using a stratified sampling from the base population (n = 1071). In univariate analyses, decision latitude was negatively related to blood coagulation factors VII and VIII. Work demand was positively related to coagulation factor VIII, but not to factor VII. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that job strain was associated with blood coagulation factor VIII after controlling for smoking, blood pressure, total cholesterol, and HDL cholesterol. These results indicate that job characteristics may be related to blood coagulation, and contribute to the development of cardiovascular disease with other classical risk factors.