Biomedical subjects

H Hara

Publications and source records attributed to H Hara.

At least 325 records · Page 18Linked to original sources

PubMed1996

[Incidence and duration of febrile episodes in a hospitalized geriatric cohort].

Fever is a common and important clinical symptom observed among hospitalized geriatric patients. To investigate the frequency and duration of fever episodes, we surveyed fever episodes in a hospital where the frequency of patients over 60 years of age exceeds 90 per cent of the patients. Fever episodes with body temperature of over 37.5 degrees C were registered from May in 1991 to December in 1994, and 6809 episodes were subjected to analysis. The average incidences per month were 157.1, 165.3, 158.0, and 139.3 in 1991, 1992, 1993, and 1994, respectively. The numbers of episodes per month did not show any significant correlation with temperature or humidity. Average duration of the episodes were 8.0, 6.5, 7.6, and 6.7 days for 1991, 1992, 1993, and 1994, respectively. Episodes of one day duration were the most frequent in all months, and the frequencies of that ranged from 37.1% to 58.6% with a mean of 47.8%. The average duration of episodes and the frequency of one day episodes did not change significantly irrespective of a notable decrease in the total incidence. The high frequency of one day episodes and their consistency through the observed period suggest that fevers with one day duration are one of the characteristic features of the febrile symptoms in geriatric patients. Causality and prevention methods for these one day fever episodes should be investigated.

Aged↗

PubMed1996

[Serum albumin level as a predictor of incidence of febrile episodes and mortality in hospitalized geriatric patients].

To investigate the relationship between serum albumin level and incidence of febrile episodes and mortality in the elderly, we studied 748 patients hospitalized for over one year. The subjects included 123 males and 355 females with a mean age 81.2 years. The average serum albumin level was 3.79 g/dl and levels of serum albumin decreased with advancing age. The incidence of febrile episodes was 1.8 per year in patients with serum albumin levels over 4.1 g/dl, increasing with decline of serum albumin levels. The incidence of febrile episodes was 5.3 per year in patients with serum albumin levels under 3.0 g/dl. Patients with serum albumin levels under 3.0 g/dl displayed a high incidence of febrile episodes irrespective of age. Age adjusted in-hospital mortality was 40.4% during the observed period in patients with serum albumin levels under 3.0 g/dl, significantly higher than that of the patients with serum albumin levels over 3.1 g/dl. Relative risk of febrile episode and mortality calculated using the patients with serum albumin levels over 4.1 g/dl as a control was 2.9 and 2.1, respectively, in the patients with serum albumin levels under 3.0 g/dl. These results indicate that serum albumin level is a simple, but strong, predictor of susceptibility of febrile episode and death. Patients with serum albumin levels under 3.0 g/dl may constitute a high risk group for febrile episode and death.

Aged↗

PubMed1996

[An outbreak of influenza A (H3N2) among hospitalized geriatric patients].

An outbreak of influenza A (H3N2) in a hospital where almost 90% of the inpatients are aged over 70 years is described. An increase of febrile episodes was seen during the period from January 29th to March 17th, 1992 in two of six wards paired sera, at the onset of fever and more than two weeks later, were obtained from patients in sixty-five episodes. Serum antibody titer to influenza A (H3N2) elevated over four times in 39 (60%) of 65. Influenza A (H3N2) virus was also isolated from seven patients. These results indicated an outbreak of influenza A (H3N2) in this population. Maximum body temperature was over 39 degrees C in 18 patients (46.2%) with influenza, and were significantly higher than that of the non-influenza patients. The duration of fever in 12 patients of 39 was longer than 8 days in 12 patients, and significantly longer than that of non-influenza cases. Bronchopneumonia was found in ten patients (25.6%). These results suggest that the influenza infection causes a high grade fever in geriatric patients and lasts longer than is commonly seen in patients with fever not associated with influenza. Influenza infection also frequently induces bronchopneumonia and may contribute to increase mortality in the elderly, especially in patients over 70 years old.

Aged↗

PubMed1996

CK-independent increases in pancreatic secretion induced by dietary protein in chronic BPJ-diverted rats.

Previously, we demonstrated that, in rats with chronic bile-pancreatic juice (BPJ) diversion, pancreatic enzyme secretion was increased after feeding animals a 25% casein fat-free diet. We determined whether cholecystokinin (CCK) or the cholinergic pathway is associated with the response of pancreatic secretion after protein ingestion in the diverted rats, using a potent CCK antagonist, MK-329 or FK-480, and a cholinergic blocker, atropine. Secretion rates of chymotrypsin and trypsin in the fasting state were very high 7 days after a BPJ diversion, and the hypersecretion of the proteases was markedly reduced with an injection of MK-329, FK-480, or atropine and was further reduced by combined injection of FK-480 and atropine. The lowered secretion of the proteases in CCK-antagonized rats was increased after oral feeding of a protein diet and after a duodenal instillation of some protein sources, especially hydrolysate of guanidinated casein (HGC). The CCK-independent increases by HGC instillation are completely depressed by atropine. In rats treated with only atropine, the lowered secretion tended to be increased by a duodenal instillation of HGC. Increases in secretion after an administration of the protein source in CCK-antagonized rats were not affected by bestatin, an inhibitor of brush-border peptidases. We conclude that the stimulatory effects of dietary protein on the pancreatic enzyme secretion partially do not depend on CCK in chronic BPJ-diverted rats and that the CCK-independent increase is atropine sensitive.

Animals↗

PubMed1996

ACh dilates pial arterioles in endothelial and neuronal NOS knockout mice by NO-dependent mechanisms.

We used mice with deletions in either the endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) or neuronal NOS (nNOS) gene to investigate the role of eNOS and nNOS in acetylcholine (ACh)-induced relaxation of pial arterioles (20-30 microns). Pial arteriolar diameter was measured by intravital microscopy through a closed cranial window, and NOS activity was determined by the conversion of [3H]arginine to [3H]citrulline in subjacent cortex. ACh superfusion (1, 10 microM) caused atropine-sensitive dose-dependent arteriolar dilation in all three mouse strains. At 10 microM, increases of 20 +/- 2, 31 +/- 3, and 23 +/- 3% were recorded in wild-type (n = 25), nNOS mutant (n = 15), and eNOS mutant (n = 20) mice, respectively. NG-nitro-L-arginine (L-NNA, 1 mM) superfusion inhibited cortical NOS activity by > 70% and abrogated the response in wild-type mice while blocking the dilation by approximately 50% in eNOS mutant and nNOS mutant mice. Only in the eNOS mutant did tetrodotoxin (TTX) superfusion (1 microM) attenuate ACh-induced dilation (n = 6). The residual dilation after L-NNA in eNOS mutant mice could be blocked completely by TTX-plus L-NNA. Our findings indicate that 1) ACh dilates pial arterioles of wild-type mice by NOS-dependent mechanisms as reported in other species, 2) the response in nNOS mutant mice resembles the wild-type response except for enhanced dilation to ACh and reduced L-NNA sensitivity, and 3) surprisingly, the response in eNOS mutant mice is partially NOS dependent and attenuated by both TTX and L-NNA. Because nNOS is constitutively expressed in eNOS mutants, these findings coupled with the TTX results suggest that an nNOS-dependent mechanism may compensate for the chronic loss of eNOS activity after targeted gene disruption.

Acetylcholine↗

PubMed1996

Temporal correlation mapping analysis of the hemodynamic penumbra in mutant mice deficient in endothelial nitric oxide synthase gene expression.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Mice containing deletions in the genes encoding nitric oxide (NO) synthase have been useful to dissect the role of NO in cerebral ischemia. We recently reported that mice lacking expression of the endothelial isoform of NO synthase (eNOS) develop larger infarcts after middle cerebral artery occlusion. Because NO or a related product of NO synthase activity is important for relaxation of cerebral blood vessels, we examined for possible hemodynamic differences in the peri-ischemic zone of eNOS-deficient and wild-type mice after middle cerebral artery occlusion using functional CT scanning techniques. METHODS: Wild-type SV129 mice (n = 10) and mice deficient in eNOS gene expression (n = 10) were subjected to middle cerebral artery occlusion under halothane anesthesia. Thirty minutes after ischemia, functional CT scanning was performed with dynamic scanning protocols to measure the cerebral transit profiles of injected contrast agents. A temporal correlation mapping technique was used to analyze the pattern of hemodynamic perturbations based on alterations in the shape of the cerebral transit profiles. Statistical thresholds defined the hemodynamic core and penumbra. RESULTS: Hemodynamic deficits were more severe in the mutant than wild-type mouse. When expressed as a percentage of the total insult, core areas were significantly increased in mutant mice (39.8 +/- 3.7%) compared with wild types (28.8 +/- 3.4%). Conversely, areas of the hemodynamic penumbra were significantly smaller in mice deficient in eNOS activity (60.2 +/- 3.7%) than in wild-type mice (71.2 +/- 3.4%). Furthermore, the calculated relative perfusion index within the hemodynamic penumbra was significantly lower in the group with eNOS gene deletion (35.6 +/- 1.5% in mutants versus 43.0 +/- 2.4% in wild types). CONCLUSIONS: These data indicate that mice lacking eNOS expression show a greater degree of hemodynamic compromise after middle cerebral artery occlusion and suggest that a product of eNOS activity (eg. NO) may protect brain after focal cerebral ischemia, possibly by improving blood flow within the penumbral zone.

Animals↗

PubMed1996

Impaired pancreatic acinar sensitivity to cholecystokinin but not to carbachol in rats with chronic bile pancreatic juice diversion.

Changes in the sensitivity and responsiveness to CCK and cholinergic stimuli were examined in isolated pancreatic acini prepared from 7-day BPJ-diverted rats. The sensitivity to CCK was lower in BPJ-diverted rats than in the control rats, but the sensitivity to the cholinergic agonist, carbachol, was not changed. These results suggest that the contribution of the cholinergic pathway to pancreatic enhancement by feeding dietary protein can be increased after chronic BPJ diversion.

Animals↗

PubMed1996

Plasma selectin levels in patients with Graves' disease.

Adhesion molecules relate to cell invasion of autoimmune thyroid disease. We studied plasma soluble P-Selectin (platelet activation-dependent granule-external membrane protein), E-Selectin (endothelial leukocyte adhesion molecule) and L-Selectin (leukocyte endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1) levels in patients with Graves' disease before and during methimazole treatment. Plasma P-, E- and L-Selectin levels in patients with untreated Graves' disease were significantly higher than those in normal subjects. Plasma P-Selectin levels decreased when their thyroid functions were normal for more than 6 months after the start of methimazole treatment. No significant change in plasma E- and L-Selectin levels in patients with Graves' disease was found between hyperthyroid state and euthyroid state after the start of methimazole treatment, but plasma L-Selectin levels in patients with untreated Graves' disease were significantly lower than those in the patients in the first euthyroid state. There was no significant correlation between plasma P-Selectin levels and serum FT4 levels, nor between plasma P-Selectin levels and serum FT3 levels. These results suggested that thyroid hormones might reflect expression of P-, L- and E-Selectin from endothelial cells, or lymphocytes, or platelets in patients with Graves' disease.

Adult↗

PubMed1996

Spinal epidural abscess associated with epidural anesthesia: gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging and its usefulness in diagnosis and treatment.

A case of spinal epidural abscess following epidural anesthesia is described. Gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance images were essential in diagnosis of the abscess without frank pus formation, in defining the extension of the infection, and in assessing the therapeutic effect. The patient was successfully treated non-operatively before neurological symptoms developed and full recovery was achieved.

Abscess↗

PubMed1996

Inhibitory effect of antineoplaston A10 and AS2-1 on human hepatocellular carcinoma.

Antineoplastons, first described by Burzynski, are naturally occurring peptides and amino acid derivatives which control neoplastic growth. Antineoplaston A10 (3-pehnylacetylamino-2,6-piperidinedion) is the first chemically identified antineoplastons and when it is administered orally it is hydrolysed in pancreatic juice to phenylactylglutamine and phenylacetylisoglutamine in the ration of 4 to 1. These metabolites are water soluble and have antitumor effect, they are further degraded to pehnylacetic acid. The mixture of phenylacetylglutamine and phenylacetylisoglutamine in the ratio of 4 to 1 was formulated as Antineoplaston A10 injectable formulation. The mixture of phenylacetylglutamine and phenylacetic acid in the ratio of 1 to 4 was also shown to have antitumor effect in tissue culture study, then formulated as Antineoplaston AS2-1. The reported cytostatic inhibitory effect of A10 on human hepatocellular carcinoma cells and differentiation inducing effect of AS2-1 on various tumor cells suggest potential benefit for the treatment of human hepatocellular carcinoma since this tumor recurs frequently despite initial successful treatment. We report here the effects of Antineoplaston A10 and AS2-1 on cell proliferation, cell morphology, cell cycle, and DNA in human hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines. Both agents inhibited cell proliferation and increased the number of cells in G0 and G1 phases and Antineoplaston AS2-1 induced apoptosis, we also describe our clinical experience of a hepatocellula carcinoma (HCC) patient whose tumor, after incomplete trancathere arterial embolization (TAE) for a 7cm 7cm HCC, has been stable for more than 15 months during which time he has been taking Antineoplaston AS2-1 continuously without any serious adverse effects.

Antineoplastic Agents↗

PubMed1996

Entactin modulates the attachment of rabbit corneal epithelial cells.

PURPOSE: To understand the biological activity of entactin, a component of the basement membrane of the corneal epithelium, we investigated the ability of rabbit corneal epithelial cells to attach to an entactin matrix and the effect of entactin on the cells' attachment to other corneal basement proteins. METHODS: Multiwell plastic plates were coated with bovine serum albumin (BSA), alone or with BSA and entactin, laminin, fibronectin or collagen type IV. Cultured rabbit corneal epithelial cells were seeded on the plates. After incubation (usually 90 min), the cells were fixed and stained with 1% crystal violet. The number of attached cells was counted under a light microscope. RESULTS: The numbers of attached cells increased in proportion to both the incubation period and the concentration of entactin coated. Furthermore, the number of cells attached to the entactin-coated plate was greater than the number attached to the BSA-coated plate for each incubation period (30 to 120 min). Likewise, when laminin-coated plates were treated with entactin, the number of the attached cells increased in proportion to the concentration of entactin. However, entactin did not affect the cellular attachment of fibronectin or type IV collagen. Cellular attachment to entactin was partially inhibited by the cells' preincubation with the synthetic peptide (GRGDSP). CONCLUSIONS: The present results showed that cultured corneal epithelial cells adhere to entactin and that entactin stimulated the attachment of these cells to the laminin matrix. These findings suggest that entactin plays a specific role in maintaining the normal integrity of the corneal epithelium.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1996

[Two cases of von Recklinghausen's disease with diffuse pulmonary changes].

Two patients with von Recklinghausen's disease had diffuse pulmonary diseases. The pulmonary diseases were interstitial fibrosis and emphysematous bullae. In case 2, examination of a specimen obtained by transbronchial lung biopsy revealed fibrotic interstitial thickening and adenomatous hyperplasia. Diffuse pulmonary abnormalities in von Recklinghausen's disease have been said to be fibrotic changes and emphysematous changes, as shown in roentgenograms in these two cases. The biopsy specimen obtained in case 2, however, revealed fibrotic changes only, which could not be distinguished from findings in cases of idiopathic interstitial pneumonia. In case 2, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid was also examined but it did not reveal any unique features of von Recklinghausen's disease. Since 1978, von Recklinghausen's disease has been diagnosed 10 times in our hospital, but diffuse pulmonary diseases was seen in only two of those 10 cases.

Adult↗

PubMed1996

[II. multidisciplinary analysis of chronic excretors of Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacilli].

For the most patients with pulmonary tuberculosis, treatment are successful and the chemotherapy can be finished within a year. Few patients, though receiving standard anti-tuberculous chemotherapy, expectorate tubercle bacilli continuously for more than a year. They are named "chronic excretors of mycobacterium tuberculosis bacilli" or "intractable tuberculosis patients". Being suspected that this phenomenon is produced by many factors, it is necessary to correspond suitably to these patients for eradication of tuberculosis. This symposium was organized to search for some factors on the bacterium and on the host, which caused patients to be the chronic excretors or intractable patients. We hope that our discussion may contribute to take the appropriate measures for such hard diseases. The main results are summarized as follows. 1) Dr. TSUCHIYA conducted a epidemiologic study by questionaire method to 33 Japanese national sanatoriums. The total number of tuberculosis patients admitted to these hospitals on a optimal day from September to October 1994 were 1,295. Numbers of patients who had expectorated bacilli continuously for more than 12 months were 85 (6.6%). The male/female ratio was about 3, their average age was 64. They had a tendency of thin-physique and most of them had past histories of tuberculosis, being the refractory cases. The average clinico-epidemiologic conditions of the patients came before our eyes. 2) Dr. OGATA analysed the results of drug sensitivity tests of mycobacterium tuberculosis bacilli from 2,630 pulmonary tuberculosis patients which contained 179 chronic excretors. The only 2.2% of bacilli from the chronic excretors were sensitive to RFP (50 gamma). The 99.4% of bacilli showed to be resistant to INH (0.1 gamma). The 39.1% of bacilli were sensitive to streptomycin (20 gamma). To EB (2.5 gamma) 34.1% of bacilli were sensitive. However, the ratio of chronic excretors in tuberculosis patients was not increased in these 17 years, and for many cases of these chronic excretors, they are all inexperienced in PZA, multi-sensitive-drug chemotherapy including PZA and OFLX were useful. Some of them underwent lobectomy combined for effective chemotherapy. The chronic excretors are likely to be affected multidrug-resistant bacilli, and it is important for such cases to treat intensively with several kinds of sensitive drugs. 3) Dr. FUJIWARA studied Interleukin-10 (IL-10) producing function of monocytes stimulated by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M-TB). The IL-10 usually down-regulates a number of different macrophage functions, including microbicidal activity against intracellular bacteria such as Mycobacterium species. They found that the mean IL-10 production by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) obtained from a healthy tuberculin-reactor stimulated with multidrug-resistant M-TB was greater than that with drug-sensitive M-TB. The IL-10 producing cells were monocytes, not T-lymphocytes. They moreover found that PBMC from intractable tuberculosis patients secreted greater amounts of IL-10 than those of healthy subjects. These data may give a hint for development of new immunotherapeutic methods for multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis patients. 4) Dr. HARA analysed clinical courses of 580 consecutive cases of bacilli positive pulmonary tuberculosis admitted in his hospital from a point of underlying diseases. All of dead 24 cases had some underlying diseases; diabetes mellitus 3, chronic liver diseases 4, others 17 (malignant neoplasms, central nerve vascular diseases, malnutritional condition, etc). (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED)

Chronic Disease↗

PubMed1996

[From the aspects of complicated diseases].

Pulmonary tuberculosis is one of the most prevalent infectious diseases in Japan. Host defense mechanisms may play an important role in every aspect of the disease, for example in acquiring the disease and/or in progression of the clinical course. Host defense mechanisms are constituted from mechanical protection such as cough or sneeze, chemical resistance such as complements or lactoferrin, nonspecific cellular defense such as macrophages or neutrophiles and specific immunological defense mechanisms such as immunoglobulins or immunocompetent cells. If there were any complicated disease other than pulmonary tuberculosis, the disease outcome might become different. We examined 44 patients whose sputa culture was continuously positive for one year or more, despite of administration of anti-tuberculous regimens. And we also analyzed clinical outcome of 556 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis (control group) who were discharged after bacteriological negative conversion. Diabetes mellitus is one of the most common complications in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis, 11/44 in continuously positive patients and 101/580 in control group. There was no statistical significance between these two. Next, the control group was divided into four subgroups, those were 1. no complication, 2. complicated with diabetes mellitus, 3. complicated with liver dysfunction, 4. complicated with the other diseases. Bacteriological negative conversion rate was analyzed in these four subgroups. At the first and the second month, there were significant difference in negative conversion rate between subgroup 1 and 2. But these differences disappeared as the time goes by.

Adult↗

PubMed1996

[Video-assisted right pneumonectomy for small cell carcinoma].

We presented a case of video-assisted right pneumonectomy for small cell carcinoma. A 54-year-old male was admitted because of an abnormal shadow on a chest rentogenogram occasionally. The bronchoscopic biopsy revealed squamous cell carcinoma at the right intermediate bronchus. His magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated a 5-cm right hilar mass involving with right pulmonary artery. The operation was carried out by video-assisted thoracotomy with small lateral thoracotomy. Pathological findings revealed oat cell carcinoma with a subcarinal node involvement postoperatively. His postoperative course was uneventful. He received adjuvant chemotherapy and 60 Gy radiation in the mediastinum. He is alive 12 months after surgery without any evidence of recurrence. The advantages of the video-assisted thoracotomy were reported less postoperative pain and discharged earlier than the standard thoracotomy. Video-assisted pneumonectomy had not disturbed him in the adjuvant therapy for oat cell carcinoma.

Carcinoma, Small Cell↗

PubMed1996

[Ten-year follow-up of percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty].

The long-term efficacy of percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) was evaluated in 124 patients who underwent PTCA between October 1982 and June 1985. Seventy-six patients had their proximal coronary arteries completely revascularized by PTCA (including repeat PTCA) and follow-up angiography showed the vessels were patent 3 to 6 months after the last intervention (group A). The other 48 patients showed incomplete revascularization (group B). The 10-year event-free survival rates from cardiac death and non-fatal myocardial infarction were 89.7% in group A and 93.5% in group B, respectively. Survival rates free from cardiac death, myocardial infarction, coronary bypass surgery, and repeat angioplasty for new lesions were 82.5% and 62.7%, respectively (p < 0.001). Ninety-nine percent of patients in group A and 79.5% of patients in group B were asymptomatic at the follow-up. Coronary angiography was performed in a total of 22 patients (19 patients in group A, 3 in group B). In group A, myocardial infarction occurred in one patient 8 years after PTCA. The infarct-related lesion seemed to be the same as the previous PTCA lesion. Although the other 20 PTCA lesions were all patent without progression, nine significant and new lesions were found on the coronary angiograms. Successfully revascularized vessels remained patent for over 10 years, but new lesions sometimes occur in segments other than the previously treated segment.

Aged↗

PubMed1996

Incidence of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus and its risk factors in Japanese-Americans living in Hawaii and Los Angeles.

UNLABELLED: The incidence of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) and its risk factors were analysed from data of a follow-up study conducted on Japanese-Americans living in Hawaii and Los Angeles areas known to have a high prevalence of NIDDM. There were 1144 Japanese-Americans aged 40 years or more (mean (+/- SD) age: 60.7 +/- 10.1) available for follow-up, and who were non-diabetic based on glucose tolerance test (GTT) results conducted at the time of the initial examination. During the study period (6.3 +/- 3.2 yr), 124 cases of NIDDM occurred with an incidence rate as high as 10.8% or 17.2 persons per 1000 person-years. The incidence of NIDDM was 1.25 times higher in males than in females, and the rate increased with age. The incidence in obese people (body mass index: BMI > or = 25) was approximately twice that in the non-obese, the rate increasing with the level of obesity. Using Cox's proportional hazards model, the risk factors for NIDDM were analysed after adjusting for sex and age. Significant risk factors were the serum glucose (SG) level (fasting, 1-h, 2-h), the serum immuno-reactive insulin (IRI) level (1-h, 2-h) during GTT, BMI, serum triglycerides, high density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol, serum uric acid, diastolic blood pressure, systolic blood pressure, serum total protein, and delta IRI/delta SG (0-30 min) level. In particular the hyperinsulinaemia was a significant risk factor even after adjusting for sex, age, and obesity. The incidence of NIDDM in the sub-group whose delta IRI/delta SG (0-30 min) level was under 0.3 was higher than that of the over 0.8 sub-group by a factor of approximately 12. Likewise, after dividing the subjects into five sub-groups according to the fasting or 2 h IRI level, the incidence of NIDDM was higher in the highest quintile than in the lowest quintile sub-group by a factor of approximately 3 and 7, respectively. The results of the GTT of the subjects who developed NIDDM during the follow-up period were analysed longitudinally and compared with the results obtained 8 years before occurrence of NIDDM. An increase in the 2-h serum IRI was observed initially, followed by an increase in the 2-h serum glucose level, preceding the appearance of NIDDM. IN CONCLUSION: 1. A high incidence of NIDDM is clearly observed in the population of Japanese-Americans, who are genetically indistinguishable from native Japanese; causes of this increase, from the survey results, are suspected to include westernization of lifestyle, particularly the reduction in the level of physical activity, conversion to a diet containing markedly more animal fat, simple carbohydrates, and less complex carbohydrates. 2. In the Japanese-Americans, diminished early insulin release to an oral glucose challenge and increased insulin resistance characterized by hyperinsulinaemia are suspected to be some of the important risk factors for NIDDM. Consequently, this study strongly suggested the possibility that the development of NIDDM in Japanese persons may be influenced by environmental factors.

Adult↗

PubMed1996

A comparison of the prevalence and risk factors of high blood pressure among Japanese living in Japan, Hawaii, and Los Angeles.

THE AUTHORS STUDIED THE PREVALENCE AND RISK FACTORS of hypertension in samples of 2053 Japanese ages 40 to 70 in Hiroshima, Hawaii, and Los Angeles. The prevalence of hypertension (systolic blood pressure greater than or equal to 140 mmHg, diastolic blood pressure greater than or equal to 90 mmHg, or receiving antihypertensive drug treatment) was higher in Hawaii and Los Angeles for both sexes and almost all ages than in Hiroshima. The age- and sex-adjusted prevalence of hypertension in Hawaii, Los Angeles, and Hiroshima was 42.6%, 37.2%, and 29.7%. Hypertension was associated with a significant elevation in serum glucose, insulin, triglyceride, and total cholesterol levels in the combined participant population of Hawaii, Los Angeles, and Hiroshima. Age- and sex-adjusted mean values of serum total cholesterol, triglyceride, and insulin were highest in Hawaii and lowest in Hiroshima. The mean body mass index and 2-hour serum glucose levels were greatest in Hawaii and equal in the two other cohorts. These results suggest that hyperinsulinemia and hyperlipidemia may explain the prevalence of hypertension in the research participants.

Adult↗