Presently, it seems fair to say that the nutrition community has a floating definition of essential fatty acids (EFA). My view is that, at the best, the term EFA is used too broadly and too loosely to be truly useful; at the worst, I feel that it actually has impeded progress in three ways: (1) In understanding the equivalent though distinctive importance of w3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) to w6 PUFA. (2) In understanding the conditional need for long chain polyunsaturates (LC-PUFA) in human infant development. (3) In recognizing the biological roles of non-EFA. Some recognize only linoleate and α-linolenate as EFA, others include LC-PUFA as EFA, especially during infancy. Still others include as EFA one or more intermediate PUFA with important health attributes, i.e. eicosapentaenoate. No common standards seem to exist making this ambiguity confusing and unworkable. It is now time to develop a classification that implicitly addresses the conditional need for PUFA under defined circumstances. 'Conditionally dispensable' and 'conditionally indispensable' fatty acids are proposed as new terms to replace the term-EFA.

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. Pollinosis by Japanese Cedar in spring has become national phenomenon. Steroid treatment in atopic dermatitis and bronchial asthma is essential, but causes side effects when used improperly. Sophisticated research in allergy will going to develop a new therapy using drugs such as humanized anti-IL5. anti-IgE or DNA-based immunotherapy. Clinical Trials of anti-IL5 remain controversial but the trials using anti-IgE or DNA-based immunotherapy are promising. Our projects involve the traditional and affordable resources such as simple preventive tips and Japanese green tea, and are going to extend clinical trials after preliminary experiments. Comparative reviews of allergy control between Japan and Western countries are introduced from the aspects of culture, food, climate and history.

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Objective: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the association of fatty acid composition of plasma and erythrocyte membrane phospholipid with depressive symptoms among the elderly.
Methods: Subjects were 37 females aged 65 and over (the mean ages were 81.1) living almost independently in the home for the aged. Fatty acid composition of plasma and erythrocyte membrane phospholipid were analyzed by gasliquid chromatography. Depressive symptoms were measured by the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). The subjects, whose GDS-scores were 11 or higher, were regarded as having depressive symptoms (depression (+)). Fatty acid compositions were compared between depression (+) and depression (-) by t-test.
Results: C20:5n-3 (eicosapentaenoic acid, EPA) of plasma and erythrocyte membrane phospholipid was significantly lower in depression (+) group than in depression (-) group. The ratio of C20:4n-6 (arachidonic acid, AA) to EPA of plasma and erythrocyte membrane phospholipid was significantly higher in depression (+) group than in depression (-) group (p<0.05).
Conclusion: The results suggested that low proportion of plasma and erythrocyte membrane n-3PUFA may have some relationship with depressive symptoms.

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