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It is well known that the leading causes of death are now chronic diseases such as cancer, cerebrovascular problems and heart disease in developed countries, including Japan. 1 They are related to daily lifestyle, including dietary habit, alcohol drinking, smoking, physical exercise, and factors for stress. Because dietary habit, in particular, appears to play a major role in their pathogenesis, batteries of tests to assess intake of foods/nutrients, including fats/fatty acids, antioxidants and dietary fibers, are needed for epidemiologic studies.There are several tools available, including diet records (DRs)/weighed diet records (WDRs), 24-hour recall, food frequency questionnaires (FFQs), and duplicate methods. Calculation of intake of nutrientsWe computed the average daily consumption of energy and selected nutrients using information from the FFQ and lifestyle questionnaire, including consumption of alcohol. According to the regression analysis, selected nutrients were adopted as dependent parameters and foods/food groups consumed, intake frequency, portion size (in grams) from our database, 5,8 or typical/standard values from the literature, nutrient contents per 100 grams of foods/food groups listed in the respective composition tables or of the model recipes were assumed to be independent variables. [9][10][11][12][13] With the WDRs, we calculated mean daily intakes of selected nutrients by multiplying the consumption of foods/food groups (in grams) and nutrient contents per 100 grams of foods as listed in the composition tables or model recipes. ValidationFirst, we compared mean daily intakes of energy and 26 selected nutrients gauged with the FFQ against those with the 3d-WDRs. Differences in means and ratios were computed with the FFQ vs. 3d-WDRs values, and examined by t-test using Excel ® and the SPSS ® -10.0 software package.Second, we calculated crude Pearson's correlation coefficients (CCs), log-transformed Pearson's CCs, log-transformed and energy-adjusted Pearson's CCs, and de-attenuated, log-transformed and energy-adjusted Pearson's CCs between intakes of selected nutrients based on the FFQ and 3d-WDRs. Energy adjustment was executed using regression models. 14 De-attenuated Pearson's CCs were computed by partitioning within-and inter-individual variations by one way of analysis of variance according to the formula described elsewhere. 3, 15-17 Crude Spearman's rank CCs and energy-adjusted Spearman's rank CCs were also calculated. 18,19 Statistical significance was verified with the 95% confidence interval.Third, after categorizing daily intakes of nutrients quantified with the FFQ and 3d-WDRs into quartiles, we computed percentages of exact agreement, agreement within adjacent categories, and disagreement. Ethical issuesOur study protocol was reviewed and approved by the Internal Review Board at Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences. Written informed consent was obtained from each participant. Profile of study subjectsThe mean ages standard deviations (SDs) (minimum -max...

BACKGROUND: A self-administered questionnaire on dietary habits used in the JACC Study contained a 40-item food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Although more than 110 thousand subjects enrolled in JACC Study and responded to the FFQ, no validation study has been conducted to date. METHODS: Eighty-five volunteers among the cohort members completed 2 FFQs (FFQs 1&2) and 12-day weighed dietary records (WDR). The interval between the two FFQs was one year. During the one year, the subjects carried out a 3-consecutive-day WDR in each season. We tested the reproducibility by using two FFQs. Also, we tested the validity of the FFQ by using the 12-day WDR as a gold standard. RESULTS: The intake frequencies of the 2 FFQs often agreed, showing the Spearman correlation coefficients ranging from 0.42 (edible wild plants) to 0.86 (coffee). The Spearman correlation coefficients of the energy and nutrient intakes from FFQ2, and that of the 12-day WDR were 0.20(energy) to 0.46 (animal protein, potassium). After adjusting the energy intake, the correlation coefficients showed 0.21(fish fat) to 0.51(animal fat). When classifying the FFQ2 and WDR by quartiles and examining the degree of agreement between the two methods, we obtained its median 30%. CONCLUSIONS: The FFQ is suitable to deal with a large group of subjects. However, since the energy and the amount of nutrient intake from this FFQ can not show the overall dietary intake situation, the subjects’ dietary intake should be assessed by categories.

We conducted a large‐scale, hospital‐based case‐control study to evaluate differences and similarities in the risk factors of female breast cancer according to menopausal status. This study is based on a questionnaire survey on life style routinely obtained from outpatients who first visited the Aichi Cancer Center Hospital between January 1, 1988 and December 31, 1992. Among 36,944 outpatients, 1,186 women with breast cancer detected by histological examination were taken as the case group (607 premenopausal women and 445 postmenopausal women) and 23,163 women confirmed to be free of cancer were selected as the control group. New findings and reconfirmed factors of breast cancer were as follows. 1) The risk of at least one breast cancer history among subjects’ first‐degree relatives was relatively high among pre‐ as well as post‐menopausal women. 2) A protective effect of physical activity against breast cancer was observed among both pre‐ and post‐menopausal women. 3) Dietary control decreased the risk of premenopausal breast cancer. 4) Current smoking and drinking elevated the risk of breast cancer in premenopausal women. 5) Decreasing trends of breast cancer risk were associated with intake of bean curd, green‐yellow vegetables, potato or sweet potato, chicken and ham or sausage in premenopausal women, while in postmenopausal women a risk reduction was associated with a more frequent intake of boiled, broiled and/or raw fish (sashimi). Further study will be needed to clarify the age group‐ and/or birth cohort‐specific risk factors for breast cancer among the young generation in Japan.

Objective. An association between depression and inflammation has been suggested. In patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), pain is a major symptom associated with depression and inflammation. We examined the independent associations between depression, the inflammation marker C-reactive protein (CRP) level, and pain in patients with RA. Methods. In total, 218 RA outpatients completed self-administered questionnaires, using the Beck Depression Inventory II to measure depressive symptoms and a visual analog scale to quantify their perceived pain. Functional disability and CRP level were also measured. Results. Depression scores were mildly and positively correlated with the CRP level (r ‫؍‬ 0.46, P < 0.001). Both the depression score (standardized ␤ ‫؍‬ 0.35, P < 0.001) and the CRP level (standardized ␤ ‫؍‬ 0.35, P < 0.001) were significantly associated with pain, even after adjustment for clinical covariates in regression analysis. In logistic analysis, the combined effects on the risk of severe pain (pain score in the upper tertile) increased with depression scores and CRP levels linearly. Conclusion. Depression severity and inflammation were associated with each other and appeared to have independent effects on perceived pain. Therefore, a clinical approach that takes into account both the body and the mind could have benefits and could enable optimal pain control. INTRODUCTIONRheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disorder causing inflammation of the joints and surrounding tissues (1). Patients with RA experience pain, stiffness, swelling, and deterioration of joints. Severe chronic pain accompanied by progressive joint destruction, disability, and disfigurement is known to increase the risk of experiencing emotional disturbances (2). Indeed, depression is common among patients with RA (3,4); these patients are twice as likely to be depressed as people in the general population (5).The association between systemic inflammation and depression has recently attracted attention (6 -8). Depression could promote inflammation by fostering poor health practices, dysregulation of hormonal systems, and susceptibility to atherogenic infections (9,10). Alternatively, it has been suggested that systemic inflammation might induce depressive symptoms by activating the immune-brain pathway (11,12). Various inflammation markers have been reported to have positive associations with depression. C-reactive protein (CRP) is a nonspecific acute-phase protein synthesized in the liver in response to stimulation from interleukin-6 (IL-6) and IL-1. According to a recent review (8), CRP and its precursors IL-6 and IL-1 are the most intensively examined inflammation markers in relation to depression, and a positive association has been confirmed consistently in community and clinical samples. Associations between depression and leukocytosis, increased CD4:CD8 ratios, reduced proliferative response to mitogen, and reduced natural killer cell cytotoxity were also suggested in an earlier meta-analysis (13,14).To date, the asso...

The relationship between drinking habit surveyed in 1965 and cause-specific mortality over 19 years was investigated in 5135 male Japanese physicians taking into account smoking habit and separating ex-drinker from non-drinker. As compared with non-drinkers, daily drinkers with high consumption had a significantly increased mortality from all causes. Drinking was significantly related to the so-called alcohol-related causes of death; upper aerodigestive cancer, liver cancer and liver cirrhosis. Mortality from acute myocardial infarction was inversely related to drinking, whereas other coronary heart disease showed a somewhat higher mortality among men consuming a large amount of alcohol than among non-drinkers. There was a weak, but significant, association between stroke and drinking, and the relation did not differ between haemorrhagic stroke and other stroke. No obvious relationship with drinking was observed for cancers of the stomach, large bowel, pancreas and lung.

A cross-sectional study was conducted to clarify the associations of lifestyle factors (habitual exercise, alcohol intake and smoking habit) and plasma fatty acid (FA) concentrations as biomarkers of dietary FA intakes. We collected 7-d weighed diet records, lifestyle information and blood samples from 15 male and 79 female Japanese dietitians, and estimated dietary FA intakes and analyzed plasma FA concentrations. Plasma concentrations of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and (n-3) highly unsaturated FA (HUFA) derived from marine foods, but not linoleic and alpha-linolenic acid from plant origins, demonstrated positive correlations with dietary intakes (r = 0.303-0.602, P < 0.05) in both genders. Multiple linear regression analyses adjusted for age, BMI, total energy intake, fat (or respective FA) consumption and lifestyle factors showed that dietary intakes of EPA, DHA and (n-3) HUFA were positively associated with age in men (P < 0.05) and negatively associated with BMI in women [P < 0.01 for DHA and (n-3) HUFA]. The plasma concentrations of EPA, DHA and (n-3) HUFA in women were found to be positively associated with age and marine oil (or respective FA) intake (P < 0.01), and negatively associated with total energy intake [P < 0.05 for EPA and (n-3) HUFA]. Lifestyle factors were not associated with dietary FA intakes and plasma FA concentrations. These findings suggest that the plasma concentrations of EPA, DHA and (n-3) HUFA might be useful biomarkers for the assessment of relative FA intakes without considering associations with habitual exercise, alcohol intake and smoking habit.

A case‐control study of gastric cancer was done in a rural area of northern Kyushu, Japan, in relation to dietary habits especially focusing on the relationship with the consumption of broiled fish. The study was based upon 139 cases of newly diagnosed gastric cancer at a single institution, 2,574‐ hospital controls and 278 controls sampled randomly from the residents of the study area (with sex and year of birth matched). No association was observed between the consumption of broiled fish and gastric cancer risk whether three types of broiled fish (raw fish, dried fish and salted fish) were analyzed separately or as a single category. However, consistently in the comparisons with both sets of controls, the risk of gastric cancer was inversely related with the consumption of fruits and positively associated with cigarette smoking. A decreased risk of gastric cancer was also noted among those with high consumption of green tea (10 or more cups per day).