Thyroid Dysfunction and Autoimmune Thyroid Diseases Among Atomic Bomb Survivors Exposed in Childhood.

Context: The risk of thyroid cancer increases and persists for decades among individuals exposed to ionizing radiation in childhood, although the long-term effects of childhood exposure to medium to low doses of radiation on thyroid dysfunction and autoimmune thyroid diseases have remained unclear.

Objective: To evaluate radiation dose responses for the prevalence of thyroid dysfunction and autoimmune thyroid disease among atomic bomb survivors exposed in childhood.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bomb survivors who were younger than 10 years old at exposure underwent thyroid examinations at the Radiation Effects Research Foundation between 2007 and 2011, which was 62 to 66 years after the bombing.

Exposure to Atomic Bomb Radiation and Age-Related Macular Degeneration in Later Life: The Hiroshima-Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Survivor Study.

Purpose: To investigate the association between radiation exposure from the atomic bombings and the prevalence of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) among older residents of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Methods: The Adult Health Study is a cohort study of atomic bomb survivors living in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, comprising 2153 participants who underwent examinations with retinal fundus photographs in 2006-2008. The radiation dose to the eye for the analysis was estimated with the revised dosimetry system (DS02).

Association of radiation dose with prevalence of thyroid nodules among atomic bomb survivors exposed in childhood (2007-2011).

Importance: Few studies have evaluated the association of radiation dose with thyroid nodules among adults exposed to radiation in childhood.

Objective: To evaluate radiation dose responses on the prevalence of thyroid nodules in atomic bomb survivors exposed in childhood.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This survey study investigated 3087 Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bomb survivors who were younger than 10 years at exposure and participated in the thyroid study of the Adult Health Study at the Radiation Effects Research Foundation.

Is the association between smoking and the retinal venular diameter reversible following smoking cessation?

Purpose: Wider retinal venular caliber is shown to be associated with an increased risk of stroke, and smoking is associated with a wider retinal venular caliber. However, the impact of smoking cessation on the retinal vessels has not been previously reported. We examined this issue in an adult cohort of atomic bomb survivors.

Glaucoma in atomic bomb survivors.

Radiation has been associated with increases in noncancerous diseases. An effect of low-dose radiation on the prevalence of clinically detected glaucoma has not been previously reported. We therefore investigated the prevalence of glaucoma in A-bomb survivors and its possible association with radiation dose.

Radiation Dose Responses, Thresholds, and False Negative Rates in a Series of Cataract Surgery Prevalence Studies among Atomic Bomb Survivors.

In order to find imperfect sensitivity or the false-negative rate of cataract surgery due to latent clinically significant or severe cataract and a dose-response threshold, cataract surgery prevalence data analysis was made for each of the two-year periods from 1986 through 2005 among atomic bomb survivors. Using the latent variable regression model published earlier, cataract prevalence studies allowing for false-negative and/or false-positive rates were conducted in each of the 10 two-year periods during 1986 to 2005. As the best statistical model for prevalence data, a logistic model with a non-negligible false negative rate was selected for analysis.

Occupational exposure to low doses of ionizing radiation and cataract development: a systematic literature review and perspectives on future studies.

Ionizing radiation is a well-known but little understood risk factor for lens opacities. Until recently, cataract development was considered to be a deterministic effect occurring at lens doses exceeding a threshold of 5-8 Gy. Substantial uncertainty about the level and the existence of a threshold subsists.

Radiation dose and cataract surgery incidence in atomic bomb survivors, 1986-2005.

Purpose: To examine the incidence of clinically important cataracts in relation to lens radiation doses between 0 and approximately 3 Gy to address risks at relatively low brief doses.

Materials And Methods: Informed consent was obtained, and human subjects procedures were approved by the ethical committee at the Radiation Effects Research Foundation. Cataract surgery incidence was documented for 6066 atomic bomb survivors during 1986-2005.

[Radiation effects on pregnant women, fetuses, and children].

We conducted a review of literature related to radiation effects on pregnant women, fetuses, and children from the perspective of epidemiology, pathology, and radiobiology. During 8-25 weeks post-conception the central nervous system is particularly sensitive to radiation. Fetal doses in excess of 100 mGy can result in some reduction of IQ (intelligence quotient).

[Cataract: based on A-bomb survivor studies].

Until now, the radiation protection community had assumed that only high doses of 2 Gy or more cause cataracts. However, new data from the atomic-bomb (A-bomb) survivors suggest that the dose threshold for both minor opacities and vision limiting cataracts may be below 1 Gy. Other studies have shown similar results in recent years.

Body iron stores and breast cancer risk in female atomic bomb survivors.

Iron can be a potent pro-oxidant and, on this basis, elevated body iron may increase the risk of cancer. Although epidemiological evidence is mixed, there is overall support for this possibility. In addition, because of this same oxidative capacity, body iron levels may alter radiation sensitivity.

Associations of ionizing radiation and breast cancer-related serum hormone and growth factor levels in cancer-free female A-bomb survivors.

Levels of exposure to ionizing radiation are increasing for women worldwide due to the widespread use of CT and other radiologic diagnostic modalities. Exposure to ionizing radiation as well as increased levels of estradiol and other sex hormones are acknowledged breast cancer risk factors, but the effects of whole-body radiation on serum hormone levels in cancer-free women are unknown. This study examined whether ionizing radiation exposure is associated with levels of serum hormones and other markers that may mediate radiation-associated breast cancer risk.

Biomarkers of radiosensitivity in a-bomb survivors pregnant at the time of bombings in hiroshima and nagasaki.

Purpose. There is evidence in the literature of increased maternal radiosensitivity during pregnancy. Materials and Methods.

UV radiation may explain intercity difference for cataract in A-bomb survivors.

Accurate assessment of risk factors is important for the evaluation of radiation-induced ocular lens damage. Our previous study identified a significant city difference between Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic-bomb survivors in terms of cataract prevalence, prompting further analysis. This study analyzed the sites of lens opacities and used model fitting that incorporated the variable impact of UV on the eye, based on the hypothesis that the city difference in the prevalence of cataract was due to differences in UV radiation between the two cities.

Epidemiological studies of cataract risk at low to moderate radiation doses: (not) seeing is believing.

The prevailing belief for some decades has been that human radiation-related cataract occurs only after relatively high doses; for instance, the ICRP estimates that brief exposures of at least 0.5-2 Sv are required to cause detectable lens opacities and 5 Sv for vision-impairing cataracts. For protracted exposures, the ICRP estimates the corresponding dose thresholds as 5 Sv and 8 Sv, respectively.

Longitudinal trends of total white blood cell and differential white blood cell counts of atomic bomb survivors.

In studying the late health effects of atomic-bomb (A-bomb) survivors, earlier findings were that white blood cell (WBC) count increased with radiation dose in cross-sectional studies. However, a persistent effect of radiation on WBC count and other risk factors has yet to be confirmed. The objectives of the present study were 1) to examine the longitudinal relationship between A-bomb radiation dose and WBC and differential WBC counts among A-bomb survivors and 2) to investigate the potential confounding risk factors (such as age at exposure and smoking status) as well as modification of the radiation dose-response.

Metabolic cardiovascular disease risk factors and their clustering in subclinical hypothyroidism.

Objective: A possible association between subclinical hypothyroidism and cardiovascular disease (CVD) has been reported. Monitoring of atomic-bomb survivors for late effects of radiation exposure at the Radiation Effects Research Foundation has provided the opportunity to examine associations between subclinical hypothyroidism and metabolic CVD risk factors. The objective of the study was to evaluate associations between subclinical hypothyroidism and metabolic CVD risk factors, and a cluster of these factors.

Thyroid diseases in atomic bomb survivors exposed in utero.

Objective: The objective of the study was to evaluate the association of thyroid disease with radiation dose in atomic bomb survivors exposed in utero.

Design: This was a cross-sectional study.

Setting: The study was conducted in atomic bomb survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.

Systolic blood pressure and systolic hypertension in adolescence of atomic bomb survivors exposed in utero.

Annual medical examinations were conducted during adolescence for the in utero clinical study sample subjects exposed prenatally to the atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Systolic blood pressure and several anthropometric measurements were recorded during these examinations. For 1014 persons exposed in utero, two types of longitudinal analyses were performed, for a total of 7029 observations (6.

Postoperative cataract cases among atomic bomb survivors: radiation dose response and threshold.

Recent evidence argues against a high threshold dose for vision-impairing radiation-induced cataractogenesis. We conducted logistic regression analysis to estimate the dose response and used a likelihood profile procedure to determine the best-fitting threshold model among 3761 A-bomb survivors who underwent medical examinations during 2000-2002 for whom radiation dose estimates were available, including 479 postoperative cataract cases. The analyses indicated a statistically significant dose-response increase in the prevalence of postoperative cataracts [odds ratio (OR), 1.

Radiation dose-response relationships for thyroid nodules and autoimmune thyroid diseases in Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bomb survivors 55-58 years after radiation exposure.

Context: Effects of irradiation on thyroid diseases such as thyroid nodules and autoimmune thyroid diseases have not been evaluated among people exposed to radiation more than 50 years in the past.

Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of thyroid diseases and their radiation-dose responses in atomic bomb survivors.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Survey study comprising 4091 cohort members (mean age, 70 [SD, 9] years; 1352 men and 2739 women) who participated in the thyroid study at the Radiation Effects Research Foundation.

A reanalysis of atomic-bomb cataract data, 2000-2002: a threshold analysis.

To obtain the best statistical model for a previous study of cataract prevalence in atomic-bomb survivors, we tested the fitness of the threshold model in an updated dataset of the study, utilizing re-diagnosis by a single ophthalmologist, use of the DS02 dosimetry system, and separation of the in utero group. The results suggest that, in 730 atomic-bomb survivors, we cannot conclude thresholds are greater than 0 Sv in cortical cataract and posterior sub-capsular opacity since the lower 90% confidence limits of the thresholds were 0 Sv. Threshold dose point estimates were 0.

Frequency of hemochromatosis gene (HFE) mutations in Russian healthy women and patients with estrogen-dependent cancers.

Possible association between the C282Y and H63D mutations in the HFE gene and estrogen-dependent cancer risk was assessed. Genotyping was performed using PCR amplification followed by digestion of products with specific restrictases. In a population of 260 healthy women (permanent residents of the southwest European Russia), mutant allele frequencies at the C282Y and H63D sites were evaluated as 3.

Improving the efficiency of nested case-control studies of interaction by selecting controls using counter matching on exposure.

Background: Studies of the effect of exposure to a risk factor measured in an entire cohort may be augmented by nested case-control subsets to investigate confounding or effect modification by additional factors not practically assessed on all cohort members. We compared three control-selection strategies-matching on exposure, counter matching on exposure, and random sampling-to determine which was most efficient in a situation where exposure is a known, continuous variable and high doses are rare.

Methods: We estimated the power to detect interaction using four control-to-case ratios (1:1, 2:1, 4:1, and 8:1) in a planned case-control study of the joint effect of atomic bomb radiation exposure and serum oestradiol levels on breast cancer.

Monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance in atomic bomb survivors: incidence and transformation to multiple myeloma.

Among 6737 atomic bomb survivors who did not have monoclonal gammopathy at the first examination, 112 developed monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) between 1985 and 2001. The crude incidence rate was 164 per 100 000 person-years in the overall study population, with a sharp increase in incidence after age 60 years. The incidence was not significantly associated with radiation dose (P = 0.