Background: Although dermatitis herpetiformis (DH) is a relatively common disease in Caucasian populations, it is rare in Asian populations including the Japanese. We encountered a Japanese case of DH which showed granular IgA and C3 deposits in the papillary dermis and which was associated with gluten-sensitive enteropathy but no HLA-B8/DR3/DQ2. Objective: The purpose of this study is to describe the characteristics of Japanese DH cases, since most of them have been reported in Japanese language and dermatologists outside Japan are not familiar with the characteristics of Japanese DH. Methods: We have reviewed all 34 Japanese DH cases reported previously. Results: We found several features of Japanese DH compared with Caucasian DH, such as a high frequency of the fibrillar pattern, rarity of gluten-sensitive enteropathy and an absence of the HLA-B8/DR3/DQ2 haplotype. Conclusion: There might be significant differences in pathophysiology between Caucasian and Japanese DH cases.

The present longitudinal study addressed the ongoing debate regarding the benefits and risks of infant-parent co-sleeping by examining associations between sleep arrangement patterns across the first year of life and infant and parent sleep, marital and family functioning, and quality of mothers’ behavior with infants at bedtime. Patterns of infant sleep arrangements across the infants’ first year were derived from information obtained from 139 families at 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months of infant age in a U.S., central Pennsylvanian sample. Linkages between these patterns and parent-infant sleep, marital and coparenting stress, and maternal behavior at bedtime (from video-recordings) were assessed. Compared to families whose infants were solitary sleepers by 6 months, persistent co-sleeping was associated with sleep disruption in mothers but not in infants, although mothers in persistent co-sleeping arrangements reported that their infants had more frequent night awakenings. Persistent co-sleeping was also associated with mother reports of marital and coparenting distress, and lower maternal emotional availability with infants at bedtime (from home observations). Persistent co-sleeping appeared to be a marker of, though not necessarily a cause of, heightened family stress, although the present design did not enable strong tests of causal processes, and results may be particular to cultures that are not supportive of co-sleeping. Findings are discussed in terms of cultural contexts of infant sleep and the need for further investigations into the role of the health of the family system in influencing how parents structure infant sleep.

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Study Objectives We examined initial levels (intercepts) of sleep–wake problems in childhood and changes in sleep–wake problems across late childhood (slopes) as predictors of externalizing behavior problems, depressive symptoms, and anxiety in adolescence. To ascertain the unique effects of childhood sleep problems on adolescent mental health, we controlled for both childhood mental health and adolescent sleep problems. Methods Participants were 199 youth (52% boys; 65% White/European American, 35% Black/African American). Sleep–wake problems (e.g. difficulty sleeping and waking up in the morning) were assessed during three time points in late childhood (ages 9, 10, and 11) with self-reports on the well-established School Sleep Habits Survey. At age 18, multiple domains of mental health (externalizing behavior problems, depressive symptoms, and anxiety) and sleep–wake problems were assessed. Results Latent growth curve modeling revealed that children with higher levels of sleep–wake problems at age 9 had consistently higher levels of such problems between ages 9 and 11. The initial level of sleep–wake problems at age 9 predicted externalizing behaviors, depressive symptoms, and anxiety at age 18, controlling for mental health in childhood and concurrent sleep–wake problems in adolescence. The slope of sleep–wake problems from ages 9 to 11 did not predict age 18 mental health. Conclusions Youth who had higher sleep–wake problems during late childhood had higher levels of mental health problems in adolescence even after controlling for childhood mental health and concurrent sleep–wake problems. Findings illustrate that childhood sleep problems may persist and predict adolescent mental health even when potentially confounding variables are rigorously controlled.