Objective : In development of lifestyle-related diseases, imbalance in homeostasis plays some role. Above all, the oxidative stress regulation system of human body is directly involved in development of lifestyle-related diseases. In the present study, we evaluated the oxidative stress regulation system both in healthy subjects and in patients with various diseases such as functional diseases (functional somatic diseases), organic diseases (pathologically organized diseases), lifestyle-related diseases, cancer-related diseases, and psychiatric diseases. Subjects and methods : The subjects comprised 50 healthy volunteers (healthy subject-group) and 79 patients (patient-group, all these patients visited our hospital because of some kind of diseases). The patient-group was fur- ther divided into four groups according to the disease entity : functional disease group (30 cases), organic disease group (27 cases), cancer-related disease group (14 cases), and psychiatric disease group (8 cases). All the patients included in this study met our inclusion criteria of having typical condition of each disease group. As the variables to determine the oxidative stress regulation system, FRAS 4 (Free Radical Analytical System 4), d-ROM test (reactive oxygen metabolites, oxidative stress), BAP test (biological antioxidant potential, anti-oxidant potential) and modified BAP/d-ROM ratio (modified ratio, relative tolerance to oxidative stress) were used. Results : The Japanese healthy subjects showed 284.6±17.5CARR U in d-ROM test and 2137.1±228.3μ in BAP test. The ratio (BAP test value/d-ROM test value) was 7.541±0.978. So modified BAP/d-ROM ratio (modified ratio) is calculated by BAP value/d-ROM value/7.541. The ration is 1.000±0.130. When the modified ratio is bigger than 1.00, it is considered that the relative tolerance to oxidative stress is better, but when it is less than 1.00 the relative tolerance to oxidative stress is poor. As compared to the healthy subject-group, the d-ROM values were higher for all the patient groups. In particular, the value was remarkably higher for the cancer-related disease group. The value of BAP test was also elevated for the patient groups. When classified into each disease group, the elevation was seen only for the cancer-related disease group. The modified ratio was lower for the patient groups. When looking into the results as classified by each disease, the value was lower for all the disease groups except for the functional disease group (in particular, lower value was recorded for the cancer-related disease group). Even in patients with the same disease, variations in values were seen according to the disease entity and lifestyle of each patient. Discussion : It was shown from the present study that evaluation of the oxidative stress regulation system, in particular determination of d-ROM test value and modified ratio, is useful for early detection of lifestyle-related diseases. Endogenous factors of lifestyle-related diseases (heredity, disease itself, sleep disturbance) are well reflected in d-ROM test results, while exogenous factors such as contents of meals (quantity and quality) are in the results of BAP tests. It is considered that evaluation of the oxidative stress regulation system, in particular determination of modified ratio, is essential for providing treatment of high QOL.

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Though at, present, the main stream of psychosomatic approach to diabetes mellitus is a behavioral approach, the effect of behavioral approach is not necessarily good enough. This may be caused by the difficulty of being aware of the relationships between life habits and deep consciousness by behavioral approach. So we tried to approach patients with diabetes mellitus by depth psychological approach including Jung's psychology and Process Oriented Psychology (POP). Research 1 : The effect of "anima" and "animus" was examined between male and female patients in our former study about the relationships between coping styles and glycemic control in 94 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. The incidence of emotion-focused coping, that was close to "anima", was significantly higher in male patients showing good glycemic control. On the other hand, the incidence of problem-focused coping, that was close to "animus", was significantly higher in female patients showing good glycemic control. These results suggested that the integration of "anima" and "animus" in deep consciousness was related with improvement of life habit diseases both in male and female patients. Research 2 '・ POP can lead to recovery of wholeness and solution of bad life habits by considering life habits including overeating and overdrinking as "dreaming" which is the essence of dream. One case is a fifty-fifth female patient. Due to poor improvement in depression and overeating was poor in spite of antidepressant and cognitive behavioral approach for two years, POP has been introduced. By inner work and channel of relationships, she became aware that be aware that beauty, youth, and good personality were her "primary process," which is relatively close to her own awareness. She also could be aware that death, old age, dirt, and desire for dependency and freedom were her "secondary process," that was relatively far from her awareness through synchronicity among habits of overeating and pachinko, dream figures, diabetes mellitus, relationships in her family members and so on. Since then she has become able to maintain her emotions and body weight. Her husband also has resumed and controlled self-care on his diabetes mellitus and pachinko properly. In conclusion, depth psychological approach to life habit related diseases can lead not to only personal behavioral transformation in the patients but to also spiritual therapeutic goals.

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Background : In Japan, heart disease and cerebral vascular disease are the second and third leading causes of death, respectively, following neoplasm. Unhealthy lifestyles exacerbate risk factors for cardiovascular disease, which may be closely associated with psychosocial stress. Stress is the term used to define the body's physiological and/or psychological reaction to circumstances that require behavioral adjustment. According to the Japanese National Survey of Health in 2004, 49% of those 12 years or older reported experiencing stress in their daily lives. In this survey, the subjects answered "yes" if they perceived stress in any of 28 domains including work, family and neighborhood relations as well as living-, social-, financial-, and health-related situations. Concerning a Japanese working population, overtime work and a variety of work-related stresses have been reported to increase cardiovascular risks such as hypertension and dyslipidemia. The risks may be apparent under the psychosocial pressure of unstable employment. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of term-limited employment systems on changes in cardiovascular risks and health-related lifestyles, using data from annual health examinations over a 5-year period. Methods : The subjects were 554 male researchers (375 term-limited and 179 tenure-track, aged 33 to 42 years) participating in annual health examinations at an institute during 2001 to 2005. The outcomes were physical factors (body mass index, blood pressure, serum cholesterol, and blood hemoglobin Ale) and behavioral factors (smoking, alcohol consumption, exercise, breakfast intake, sleep, and working hours). Multiple regression analyses of a random effects model were performed, including employment status (term-limited or tenure-track), year of examination, age, and interaction of employment status and year of examination as independent variables. Results : Term-limited status was associated with an annual increase in the serum total cholesterol level (p=0.013) and an annual decrease in the high-density-lipoprotein level (p=0.002). No significant differences were found between the term-limited and tenure-track researchers in annual changes of health-related behaviors, but the termlimited researchers tended to work more hours (p=0.020), compared with the tenure-track researchers. Conclusions : These results imply that health-care practitioners in the workplace need to pay attention to the cardiovascular risks of term-limited employees in association with overtime work. According to a guideline of the "Comprehensive Program for the Prevention of Health Impairment Due to Overwork (2002)" published by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japanese employers are required to limit extra working hours to less than 45 per month. It is important to monitor the health status of term-limited employees carefully, paying particular attention to excessive overwork based on the published guidelines. This approach could reduce the risks of cardio-vascular diseases in the workplace, and further studies are needed to focus on the health of term-limited employees.

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Chronic psychosocial stress is thought to affect the onset and development of different "lifestyle diseases" via human lifestyle and/or psycho-physiological mechanisms. If psychosocial interventions that alleviate chronic stress could prevent lifestyle diseases and improve disease courses, mind-body medicine would contribute much to the countermeasure of lifestyle diseases, which in turn would lead to the improvement of the social and/or economical environment of medical care/service providers. In this regard, however, it would be necessary for citizens to accept the utility of mind-body medicine in this field, which would require "convincing epidemiologic data". The former part of this paper presents an overview, mainly through recent reviews, of epidemiologic data concerning cancer and heart disease (especially coronary heart disease), which respectively are the first and second causes of death in Japan, in relation to selected psychosocial risk factors and the efficacy of psychosocial interventions. The latter part introduces a series of epidemiologic studies on lifestyle disease and personality carried out by Grossarth-Maticek and colleagues, and presents an overview of studies from home and abroad based on their theory and methods.

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Background ・ Eating behavior is a serious problem among adolescents in Japan. However, there is no reliable questionnaire to assess abnormality of the eating behavior. The purpose of this study is to develop an eating behavior scale for high school students and to investigate the eating behavior factor structure associated with Himand (seriously under weight, slightly under weight, healthy weight range, over weight, obese). Subjects and method : The subjects consisted of 950 high school students (male = 791 ; female = 159). The subjects completed the questionnaire consisting of 30 items. Results : Factor analysis was carried out and five dimensions were identified. Those factors were as follows : CD eating as diversion, (2)overfeeding, (3)eating quickly, (4)irregular eating, (5)content of meals. The abnormality level of eating behavior was higher in the female group than in the male group. The results of ANOVA that was performed with Himando as the dependent variable and five factors of eating behavior, the significant group effect was detected on eating as diversion, overfeeding, eating quickly, and content of meals factors. Conclusion : In this study, we developed an eating behavior scale for high school students. In high school students, gender difference effects their eating behavior. We found that the abnormality level of eating behavior was higher in the very under weight group, slightly under weight group, over weight group and obese group than in the healthy weight range group.

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