To evaluate the role of dietary factors in the etiology of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), we conducted a multicenter hospital-based case-control study in a Japanese population. Cases were IBD patients aged 15 to 34 years [ulcerative colitis (UC) 111 patients; Crohn's disease (CD) 128 patients] within 3 years after diagnosis in 13 hospitals. One control subject was recruited for each case who was matched for sex, age, and hospital. A semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire was used to estimate preillness intakes of food groups and nutrients. All the available control subjects (n = 219) were pooled, and unconditional logistic models were applied to calculate odds ratios (ORs). In the food groups, a higher consumption of sweets was positively associated with UC risk [OR for the highest versus lowest quartile, 2.86; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.24 to 6.57], whereas the consumption of sugars and sweeteners (OR, 2.12; 95% CI, 1.08 to 4.17), sweets (OR, 2.83; 95% CI, 1.38 to 5.83), fats and oils (OR, 2.64; 95% CI, 1.29 to 5.39), and fish and shellfish (OR, 2.41; 95% CI, 1.18-4.89) were positively associated with CD risk. In respect to nutrients, the intake of vitamin C (OR, 0.45; 95% CI, 0.21 to 0.99) was negatively related to UC risk, while the intake of total fat (OR, 2.86; 95% CI, 1.39 to 5.90), monounsaturated fatty acids (OR, 2.49; 95% CI, 1.23 to 5.03) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (OR, 2.31; 95% CI, 1.12 to 4.79), vitamin E (OR, 3.23; 95% CI, 1.45 to 7.17), and n-3 (OR, 3.24; 95% CI, 1.52 to 6.88) and n-6 fatty acids (OR, 2.57; 95% CI, 1.24 to 5.32) was positively associated with CD risk. Although this study suffers from the shortcoming of recall bias, which is inherent in most retrospective studies (prospective studies are warranted to confirm the associations between diet and IBD risk), the present findings suggest the importance of dietary factors for IBD prevention.

Shift workers have been reported to have an increased risk of some cancers. However, the risk of prostate cancer in shift workers is not known to have been examined previously. This study prospectively examined the association between shift work and risk of prostate cancer incidence among 14,052 working men in Japan enrolled in a large-scale prospective cohort. A baseline survey was conducted between 1988 and 1990. Subjects were asked to indicate the most regular work schedule they had undertaken previously: day work, rotating-shift work, or fixed-night work. During 111,974 person-years, 31 cases of prostate cancer were recorded. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to estimate the risk, with adjustments for age, family history of prostate cancer, study area surveyed, body mass index, smoking, alcohol drinking, job type, physical activity at work, workplace, perceived stress, educational level, and marriage status. Compared with day workers, rotating-shift workers were significantly at risk for prostate cancer (relative risk = 3.0, 95% confidence interval: 1.2, 7.7), whereas fixed-night work was associated with a small and nonsignificant increase in risk. This report is the first known to reveal a significant relation between rotating-shift work and prostate cancer.

Ikspite a rapid iricre'rse in disabled cldcrly in Jcip.in, the burden of the c~regivci-h'is u o t hccn properly lack of objective ~iie~r~tireiiiciits. Our stiidy w a s 'iiiiied at ad

The purpose of this study was to examine whether a high serum concentration of phytoestrogens reduces the risk of prostate cancer in a case-control study nested in a community-based cohort in Japan (Japan Collaborative Cohort (JACC) Study). Information on lifestyles and sera of the subjects were collected in 1988-90, and they were followed up to 1999. Incident and dead cases of prostate cancer and controls were matched for study area and age. Phytoestrogens and sex hormones in sera stored at -80°C were measured in 2002. Of 14,105 male subjects of the cohort who donated their sera, 52 cases and 151 controls were identified. Three datasets were analyzed; 1) all subjects, 2) 40 cases and 101 controls after excluding subjects with low testosterone levels who were suspected of having had medical intervention, and 3) 28 cases and 69 controls with prostate specific antigen level of ≤ ≤ ≤ ≤10.0 ng/ml. The odds ratio (OR) for the highest level to the lowest was 0.38 (95% confidence interval (CI); 0.13, 1.13) for genistein, 0.41 (0.15, 1.11) for daidzein, and 0.34 (0.11, 1.10) for equol for the second dataset. Genistein and daidzein showed similar findings in the third one. Equol and equol/daidzein ratio showed consistent findings in all three datasets (OR = = = =0.39, 95% CI; 0.13, 0.89, trend P = = = =0.02 for the first dataset). Their effects seemed to be independent of serum sex hormones. In conclusion, serum genistein, daidzein, and equol seemed to dose-dependently reduce prostate cancer risk. (Cancer Sci 2004; 95: 65-71) ncidence and mortality rates of prostate cancer are much lower among Japanese men compared with Western populations.1) The incidence of prostate cancer in Japan ranges from around one-twentieth that of African-Americans to one-third that of some European populations, and the disparity in mortality is around one-ninth to one-third, respectively. Many other Asian countries also have lower incidences than Western countries. 2)Phytoestrogens, plant-origin isoflavonoids and lignans with estrogen-like activities, have been identified as key compounds that may decrease the risk of prostate cancer in Asian countries because Asian people consume more phytoestrogen-rich foods such as soybeans than Western people.3, 4) The potential protective effect has been examined by epidemiological studies on the association of prostate cancer risk with isoflavonoid-rich diet or intake of isoflavonoids estimated from nutrient databases, and most of the studies support the effect, as summarized in a review.4) However, very few epidemiological studies have measured serum or urine phytoestrogens directly. A Nordic nested case-control study failed to show any protective effect of circulating enterolactone, a metabolite of lignans.5) A case-control study in Japan showed mostly unexpected results. 6)Epidemiologic data concerning blood levels of androgens are inconclusive, 7) although a recent meta-analysis showed that a high level of total testosterone and low level of sex hormonebinding globulin (SHBG) increased the risk of...

Excessive weight gain between 20 and 40 years of age, diabetes mellitus, and lumbago were found to be independent risk factors for ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament of the spine. Follow-up studies, including the addition of hospital-based control participants and analysis of genetic polymorphisms, will be needed in the future.

AnalysesWe compared the case group with the control group using the unconditional logistic regression model 17 adjusted for sex and age. The adjusted odds ratio (OR) and its 95% confidence interval (CI) were estimated. We also conducted stratified analysis by sex and age group using this model. The 2 test and the Cochran-MantelHaenzel test were used for simple and stratified analyses of knowledge of oral health among PD patients, respectively. Tests of statistical significance were based on two-sided P values, and the -error was set at the 5% level. The SAS ® system (ver. 8) was employed for the analysis. 17Results from a case-control study Table 2 shows results using the unconditional logistic regression model, in men and women after adjusting for age, and in young elderly (from 60 to 69 years old) and old elderly (over 70 years old) after adjusting for age and sex.As shown in Table 2, more PD patients complained of chewing difficulties (OR = 6.0, 95% CI:2.8-12.8) after adjustment for sex and age. After adjusting for age, more PD patients complained of them than controls among both men (OR = 14.5, 95% CI:3.0-69.1) and women (OR = 4.2, 95% CI:1.7-10.5). In addition, more PD patients complained of chewing difficulties (young: OR = 4.5, 95% CI:1.6-12.3; old: OR = 8.9, 95% CI:2.5-32.0) than controls in both young and old elderly.Persons without their own teeth were more commonly seen among the PD patients than in the control group adjusted for sex and age (OR = 3.5, 95%CI:1.8-6.8). PD patients more commonly lacked their own teeth than controls in both sexes after adjusting for age (men: OR = 3.6, 95% CI:1.0-12.0; women: OR = 3.5, 95% CI:1.6-7.7). Among the old elderly, those without their own teeth were more commonly seen among PD patients than controls after adjusting for age and sex (OR = 4.1, 95% CI:1.8-9.3).Among the young elderly, more PD patients complained of swollen gums than controls after adjusting for age and sex.There were no differences between the two groups about having their own family dentists. Of the PD patients, 71 (68%) had their own family dentists.More PD patients complained of denture discomfort (OR = 3.9, 95% CI:1.9-8.0) than controls after adjustment for sex and age. Although the proportion of those who complained of denture discomfort did not differ between the two groups for men, more female PD patients complained of denture discomfort than female controls. More PD patients complained of denture discomfort (young: OR = 2.9, 95% CI:1.0-8.5; old: OR = 5.0, 95% CI:1.8-13.9) than controls in both the young and old elderly.

BACKGROUND: The incidence of kidney cancer is high in Western and Northern Europe and North America, and low in Asia. Although the incidence of kidney cancer in Japan is lower than the rates in the other industrialized countries, there is no doubt that it is increasing. METHODS: We evaluated the risk factors for kidney cancer death using the database of the Japan Collaborative Cohort (JACC) Study (i.e., medical history, anthropometry, and lifestyle including dietary habits). The analytic cohort included 47,997 males and 66,520 females aged 40 years and older. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to determine adjusted relative risks. RESULTS: A total of 36 males and 12 females died from kidney cancer during the follow-up of 9.6 ± 2.6 years and 9.9 ± 2.2 years, respectively. A medical history of hypertension, a fondness for fatty food, and consumption of black tea were associated with an increased risk of kidney cancer death while an intake of taro, sweet potato and potato was associated with a decreased risk. CONCLUSIONS: The present study showed four factors to be related to kidney cancer death. However, further studies may be needed to evaluate risk factors for kidney cancer death in Japan because the number of kidney cancer death in the present study was small.

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