Journal of Epidemiology
Online ISSN : 1349-9092
Print ISSN : 0917-5040
ISSN-L : 0917-5040
Volume 13, Issue 1
Displaying 1-7 of 7 articles from this issue
  • P. Higgins, A. Higgins
    2003 Volume 13 Issue 1 Pages 1-14
    Published: 2003
    Released on J-STAGE: November 30, 2007
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    BACKGROUND: Peripheral arterial disease is a common disease, which increases with age and presence of vascular risk factors. The extended longevity in industrialized nations coupled with the expanding elderly female population is predicted to lead to an increase in the prevalence of this condi-tion. Little attention has been focussed on gender differences in peripheral arterial disease, or its epi-demiology in women.
    METHODS: MEDLINE search of English-language reports published between 1966 and 2002 and search of references of relevant papers.
    RESULTS: Across various populations of women with different ages and risk factor levels, the preva-lence of peripheral arterial disease ranged between 3% and 29%. Diagnosis in women using a sensi-tive and specific non-invasive test, the ankle-brachial index, detects about 3-5 times the cases than those diagnosed by history of intermittent claudication alone. Contrary to earlier beliefs, prevalence of peripheral arterial disease is similar in women and men, and women may have more asymptomatic dis-ease. Importantly, women with peripheral arterial disease have 2-4 fold increases in cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Risk factors for peripheral arterial disease appear to be similar in men and women, however relative risks vary somewhat.
    CONCLUSIONS: Performing non-invasive testing (e.g. ankle-brachial index) can better diagnose peripheral arterial disease in women than history alone. These women share risk factors with other vas-cular diseases (coronary and cerebrovascular disease) and should undergo risk factor modification to reduce their cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. More research is needed including aggressive risk factor management in women with asymptomatic peripheral arterial disease.J Epidemiol 2003;13:1-14.
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  • Masako Okamoto, Yasuhisa Takeda, Yoshioki Yoda, Kazuhisa Kobayashi, Ma ...
    2003 Volume 13 Issue 1 Pages 15-21
    Published: 2003
    Released on J-STAGE: November 30, 2007
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    We examined whether fatty liver, as diagnosed with abdominal ultrasonography, is an independent risk factor for diabetes mellitus during 10 years of follow-up. A total of 840 subjects (467 men and 373 women) were followed for the entire 10 years. The criteria for being non-diabetic were having no history of diabetes, having a fasting plasma glucose level of less than 110 mg/dl and a serum hemoglobin Air level of 6.4% or less. We indicated that every examine received all examinations after 12 hours of fast-ing. Well-trained technicians performed abdominal ultrasonography. Although univariate analysis revealed that the presence of fatty liver was related to hyperglycemia 10 years later, multiple logistic regression analysis did not support this finding. In the multiple logistic regression analysis fasting plas-ma glucose levels at the baseline and age were significantly related to hyperglycemia (odds ratio [OR]= 1.16, 95% confidence interval [Cl]: 1.11-1.21, OR = 1.07, 95% Cl: 1.01-1.14, respectively). Fatty liver was not an independent risk factor for hyperglycemia in our follow-up study 10 years after the first diag-nosis. The high fasting plasma glucose levels were a risk factor for diabetes, even in the normal range.J Epidemio/2003;13:15-21.
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  • Alina V. Brenner, Zuoyuan Wang, Ruth A. Kleinerman, Shujie Lei, Cather ...
    2003 Volume 13 Issue 1 Pages 22-28
    Published: 2003
    Released on J-STAGE: November 30, 2007
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    There are suggestions that women have higher relative risks of lung cancer than men given similar levels of tobacco exposure, implying that sex-related hormones may influence lung cancer risk. We evaluated the association between lung cancer risk and menstrual and reproductive factors on a sub-set of self-responding females in a population based case-control study in Eastern Gansu Province, China, 1994-1998. The analysis included 109 incident lung cancer cases and 435 controls selected from the census list and frequency matched to cases on age and prefecture. Odds ratios were lower for later ages at menarche (trend, P = 0.015) and later ages at menopause (trend, P = 0.074). Despite limi-tations, these findings suggest a possible role of hormones in the etiology of lung cancer in females.J Epidemiol 2003;13:22-28.
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  • Koji Suzuki, Yoshinori Ito, Junichi Ochiai, Kunio Aoki, Kenji Wakai, A ...
    2003 Volume 13 Issue 1 Pages 29-37
    Published: 2003
    Released on J-STAGE: November 30, 2007
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    This study investigated the relationship between smoking habits and serum levels of 8-OHdG, oxi-dized LDL antibodies (oLAB), Mn-SOD, and carotenoids. Subjects were 79 males (mean age ± stan-dard deviation; 62.1 ±10.0 years) and 79 females (60.3±10.3 y) who attended a health examination screening in the town of Hokkaido, Japan. Serum 8-OHdG, Mn-SOD, and oLAB levels were measured by ELISA and serum carotenoids levels were measured by HPLC. Smoking habits were assessed by public health nurses using a questionnaire. Serum 8-OHdG levels were significantly higher in males than in females. On the other hand, serum levels of β-carotene, α-carotene, β-cryptoxanthin, and zeaxanthin and lutein were significantly lower in males than in females. Serum β-carotene, β-cryptox-anthin, and zeaxanthin and lutein were significantly lower in males who were en-aut-name=Junichi Ochiai, Kunio Aoki, Kenji Wakai, Akiko Tamakoshi, Masahiko Ando, Yoshiyuki Watanabe, Kotaro Ozasa, Nao Seki, Yoshikazu Nishino, Takaaki Kondo, Yoshiyuki Ohno3 for the JACC Study Groupcurrent smokers, com-pared to non-smokers. Serum 8-OHdG levels were also significantly higher in current smokers.Furthermore, in males, serum oLAB and β-carotene levels were significantly and negatively correlated with the number of cigarettes smoked per day. Serum Mn-SOD levels were unrelated to smoking habits in males. In conclusion, this preliminary study suggests that cigarette smoking increases serum 8-OHdG levels and reduces serum levels of oLAB and carotenoids, such as β-carotene, β-cryptoxan-thin, and zeaxanthin and lutein in healthy male subjects. Serum levels of 8-OHdG, oLAB, and carotenoids may be useful biomarkers of oxidative conditions affected by smoking. J Epidemiol2003;13:29-37.
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  • Yoko Hori, Hideaki Toyoshima, Takaaki Kondo, Koji Tamakoshi, Hiroshi Y ...
    2003 Volume 13 Issue 1 Pages 38-47
    Published: 2003
    Released on J-STAGE: November 30, 2007
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    The male suicide mortality in Japan reached the highest in 1998, since statistics were first recorded in 1899. We investigated whether the recent high suicide rates were associated with economic and demographic factors, using the Pearson's correlation and multivariate regression analyses. The annual numbers of suicide deaths, economic variables, and the proportion of elderly people between 1995 and 2000 were obtained for all the 47 prefectures in Japan. The correlation analyses showed that the male SMR of suicide was mostly associated with the economic variables and the proportion of the elderly men. The female SMR of suicide was associated with the job application rate, and the proportion of elderly women in several years. The multivariate regression analyses showed that the male SMR of suicide was mostly associated positively with the job application rate and the proportion of elderly men and negatively with the amount of household savings and public assistance rate. The largest proportion of the variance of the male SMR of suicide was explained by the set of independent variables in 1998.The goodness-of-fit of the model concerning the female SMR of suicide was poor.J Epidemiol 2003;13:56-61.
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  • Isuzu Egami, Kenji Wakai, Hirotada Kunitomo, Akiko Tamakoshi, Masahiko ...
    2003 Volume 13 Issue 1 Pages 48-55
    Published: 2003
    Released on J-STAGE: November 30, 2007
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    To investigate associations of lifestyle factors with bone mineral density among young men in Japan, we measured bone mineral density of the second metacarpal bone in 143 male university students, aged 18-22 years, by the computed X-ray densitometry. The subjects completed a lifestyle question-naire including a quantitative food frequency questionnaire. Their meanq•standard deviation of bone mineral density was 2.61q•0.23 mmAl. Body mass index (Spearman's p=0.232, p=0.006), daily walk-ing time (p=0.186, p=0.028), and milk consumption at junior (p=0.250, p=0.003) and senior (p=0.195, p=0.020) high school were significantly correlated with the bone mineral density. For nutritional variables, the bone mineral density was positively correlated with energy-adjusted intakes of calcium(Pearson's r=0.302, p=0.0002), potassium (r=0.265, p=0.001), saturated fatty acids (r=0.211, p=0.011), and magnesium (r=0.173, p=0.039), and with those of milk and dairy products (r=0.228, p=0.006) and fruits (r=0.205, p=0.014), while being negatively associated with energy-adjusted noodle consumption (r=-0.185, p=0.027). The positive correlation of milk consumption at junior high school with the bone mineral density was not materially altered by adjustment for the body mass index, calcium intake, and walking time. Single-life students had lower bone mineral density compared with those lived with families (p=0.044). Bone mineral density could be increased by modifying dietary habits in young men. J Epidemiol 2003;13:48-55.
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  • Hirokuni Aihara, Masayuki Iki
    2003 Volume 13 Issue 1 Pages 56-61
    Published: 2003
    Released on J-STAGE: November 30, 2007
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    The male suicide mortality in Japan reached the highest in 1998, since statistics were first recorded in 1899. We investigated whether the recent high suicide rates were associated with economic and demographic factors, using the Pearson's correlation and multivariate regression analyses. The annual numbers of suicide deaths, economic variables, and the proportion of elderly people between 1995 and 2000 were obtained for all the 47 prefectures in Japan. The correlation analyses showed that the male SMR of suicide was mostly associated with the economic variables and the proportion of the elderly men. The female SMR of suicide was associated with the job application rate, and the proportion of elderly women in several years. The multivariate regression analyses showed that the male SMR of suicide was mostly associated positively with the job application rate and the proportion of elderly men and negatively with the amount of household savings and public assistance rate. The largest proportion of the variance of the male SMR of suicide was explained by the set of independent variables in 1998.The goodness-of-fit of the model concerning the female SMR of suicide was poor.J Epidemiol 2003;13:56-61.
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