Objective: We investigated factors which slow arteriosclerosis in the carotid arteries of subjects at high risk for metabolic syndrome.
 Methods: Research subjects consisted of 114 males aged from 26 to 63 (mean±SD;46.2±8.2) with at least three of the four following metabolic syndrome risk indicators: obesity, hypertension, abnormal lipid metabolism and high blood sugar. We measured the maximum intima media thickness (max IMT) of each of their bilateral carotid arteries in 2009 and again in 2013. We calculated the mean of each bilateral data and the value (mean max IMT) was used in analysis. Cases were divided into two roups: one group included cases whose mean max IMT in 2009 was under 1.1mm and the other group cases whose mean max IMT in 2009 was 1.1mm or greater. We investigated the relationship between increases in mean max IMT over a period of 4 years and the subjects’ 2009 health check data.
 Results: No significant relationship was seen in the latter group (mean max IMT≧1.1mm) between the increase in mean max IMT and the subjects’ overall health indexes. On the other hand, in the former group (mean max IMT≧1.1mm), two factors correlated with an increase in mean max IMT after 4 years. One factor was age. Younger subjects were less likely to show an increase in mean max IMT than older subjects. The second factor was their serum LDL cholesterol level. When serum LDL cholesterol levels were divided into three groups (less than 140mg/dL, 140-159mg/dL and 160mg/dL or greater), cases belonging to the second group which LDL cholesterol level is 140-159mg/dL showed the smallest increase in mean max IMT.
 Conclusion: Our results suggest younger subjects with moderately high serum LDL cholesterol (140-159mg/dL) exhibit slower rates of arteriosclerosis in the carotid arteries where the progression of arteriosclerosis is relatively mild.

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 Subclinical hypothyroidism (SHO) and subclinical hyperthyroidism (SHP) are defined biochemically as a normal serum free thyroxine (FT₄) concentration in the presence of an elevated and diminished serum thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) concentration, respectively. The objective of this study was to investigate the changing prevalence of SHO and SHP from April 2004 to March 2014, which analyzed the cases of 386,846 medical checkup patients during the ten year period. SHO and SHP were found in 4.02% and 1.23% of the subjects, respectively. The age-specific prevalence of SHO demonstrated a tendency to increase with age, while that of SHP showed a gradual decrease with age. Although the number of examinees mostly remained unchanged from 2006, the prevalence of SHO showed an increasing trend, and the prevalence of SHP showed a decreasing trend on a yearly comparison. The age group with the most prevalent number of SHO cases was changing by year. In contrast, the number of SHP cases was most prevalent in the 40s age group except for in 2006, and SHP in the 30s age group had decreased remarkably each year. This study concludes that within this 10 year period, there was an increasing trend of SHO prevalence while SHP demonstrated a decreasing trend.

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 Obesity is a well-known important risk factor of cardiovascular events. A report of the 5th specific medical checkup and specific health guidance meeting conducted by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, showed that the rate of cardiovascular events was two times higher in non-obese patients who have risk factors (e.g., hypertension, dyslipidemia, and diabetes mellitus) than in those without risk factors.
 Therefore, we investigated whether non-obese (abdominal circumference ≤84 cm) company employees have acute myocardial infarction and stroke. Seventeen of 8,813 company employees suffered from acute myocardial infarction (n=8) and stroke (n=9) during 1.5 years. All of them were men. Half of these events occurred in their 40s. Cardiovascular events occurred in less than 50% of company employees with metabolic syndromes. When obesity was defined as an abdominal circumference >85 cm, cardiovascular events occurred in only 53% of obese employees. Notably, stroke occurred in 67% of non-obese employees. Action for preventing lifestyle-related diseases should be performed in people, even though they are not obese. Specific medical checkups and specific health guidance could be started at 30 or 35 years for preventing cardiovascular events because these events occur when people are aged in their 40s.

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[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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 Our anti-aging center (AAC) began providing health check-up services to local citizens in western Japan in February 2006.
 Dementia, which is characterized by a progressive decline in cognitive function, is a major concern in aging societies. Although a number of treatments have been approved, an effective treatment for the disease has yet to appear. At this stage, early detection of cognitive decline is essential for disease prevention. The condition of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) was first described in 1999 as a common disorder of aging that increases the risk of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and patients with MCI progress to dementia at an annual rate of 15.0%. Shankle et al demonstrated that it is feasible to apply the most sensitive MCI screening tests in community healthcare settings. Using this test, AAC published two manuscripts in 2017. These are as follows:
1) Skin autofluorescence examination as a diagnostic tool for MCI in healthy people.
 The pathogenesis of AD is thought to involve the accumulation of advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs). We found an association between accumulation of AGEs estimated by skin autofluorescence and MCI, which was independent of brain atrophy, in healthy subjects.
2) A cross-sectional study of equol producer status and cognitive impairment in elderly.
 It is well known that consumption of isoflavones reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease. However, the effectiveness of isoflavones in preventing dementia is controversial. One possible reason is that the ability to produce equol, a metabolite of a soy isoflavone, differs greatly in individuals. In addition to existing data, we sought to confirm whether an apparent beneficial effect in cognitive function is observed after soy consumption in equol producers compared with non-producers.
 In this study, compared with equol non-producers, equol producers showed an apparent beneficial effect in cognitive function in after soy intake.

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 Aging-related change was examined from the viewpoints in the health evaluation and promotion. The decreased factors for estimated glomerulus filtration (eGFR) and estimated the lower limbs muscle mass (leg points) used bioelectrical impedance analysis was studied. The hyperuricemia and sedentary time decreased eGFR significantly. The sedentary time also decreased leg points which shows sarcopenia. Practicing six healthy habits contributes to the prevention of decreasing of leg points. The abnormal field of vision is increased with aging, especially due to glaucoma. The test of eye field test was introduced in the general medical checkup in 2001. Comparing of the former stage without this test, the ophthalmology treatment rates increased to 3 times.

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 The symposium titled “Reducing age-related risks by health screening/Ningen dock!?” was held at the 45th annual meeting of the Japan Society of Health Evaluation and Promotion. Experts from the Japan Society of Health Evaluation and the Japanese Society of Anti-Aging Medicine explained the latest results on extending healthy life expectancy and achieving “successful aging” from the perspective of both general health screening and specialized anti-aging checkups.
 Japan is already a super aging society, and the proportion of elderly people is steadily increasing year by year. Thus, the need for “primary prevention” from age-related diseases through health screening is growing. Anti-aging checkups can offer specialized examinations to detect early signs of age-related changes such as vascular, hormonal, oxidative stress-induced and body composition changes, and help people reduce age-related risks with specialists in anti-aging medicine.
 Since its foundation in June 2006, Tokai University Tokyo Hospital has conducted anti-aging checkups of over 1,900 examinees. Analysis of the health data from these checkups over a decade reveals that some age-related factors including adiponectin and dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate (DHEA-S) did not deteriorate, or even improved. Sarcopenic obesity is defined as a normal BMI with excessive body fat. Another analysis of the anti-aging checkup examinees reveals that those with sarcopenic obesity had equally elevated risks for lifestyle-related diseases as obese people because of aging-associated changes in body composition. These results validate our anti-aging checkup, and suggest that health screening/Ningen dock can reduce age-related risks.

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