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Arm length and height could indicate cognitive and functional ability. Arm length, which was known to be less prone to degenerative processes, might be more stable as an indicator for cognitive and functional reserve capacity than height.

BackgroundThe cerebellum and its neural circuitry have been assumed to play a major role in the pathophysiology of essential tremor (ET). In this study, we sought to find associations between ET and cerebellar dysfunction.MethodsWe performed tandem gait test in 41 ET patients and 44 age-matched controls. Investigators assessed tandem gait by counting the number of missteps during ten-step tandem walk and each subject repeated the trial three times.ResultsET patients had a higher average and total numbers of missteps during tandem gait tests than control subjects (p<0.05). Sex-adjusted odds ratio of the association between tandem gait abnormality and ET was 3.40 (95% confidence intervals 1.06-10.85). According to age stratification, aged ET patients (age ≥70 years) showed significantly higher prevalence of tandem gait abnormality than young ones. Interaction terms determined by a likelihood ratio test was also statistically significant (p<0.05).ConclusionsDysfunction of cerebellar neural circuitry may be associated with the pathophysiological mechanism of ET. In addition, aging may be an important factor modifying the association.

Obesity is an independent and modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease, and known as a core of the metabolic syndrome. Obesity has been largely diagnosed based upon anthrompometric measurements like waist circumference (WC) and body mass index (BMI). We sought to determine associations between anthropometric measurements and dyslipidemia in a community adult sample composed of 1,032 community residents (356 men, 676 women) aged 50 yr and over in Namwon, Korea. Blood tests for lipid profiles, including total cholesterol (TC) and HDL cholesterol (HDL) were performed, and dyslipidemia was defined as TC/HDL greater than 4. Anthropometric measurements included WC, waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), waist-to-hip ratio, and BMI. All anthropometric measures were categorized into quartiles and evaluated for associations with dyslipidemia. TC/HDL showed the significant associations with the anthropometric measures, independently of potential confounders. In women, increases of obesity indexes by quartile analyses showed linear increases of odds ratios for dyslipidemia (p values <0.01 by trend test). In men, except BMI, same patterns of association were noted. WC and WHtR were significantly associated with dyslipidemia in Korean adult population. As a simple and non-invasive method for a detection of obesity and dyslipidemia, anthropometric measurements could be efficiently used in clinical and epidemiologic fields.