Retrospective cohort study of the risk of impaired glucose tolerance among shift workers.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of shift working on the risk of developing impaired glucose tolerance (IGT).

Methods: This study comprised 6413 male employees (5608 daytime workers, 512 3-shift workers and 293 2-shift workers) whose work schedules remained constant during the follow-up period (mean follow-up period 9.9 years).

Retrospective cohort study of the risk of obesity among shift workers: findings from the Industry-based Shift Workers' Health study, Japan.

Objectives: The authors investigated the effect of shift working on the risk of obesity using data from the Industry-based Shift Workers' Health (IbSH) study, a retrospective cohort study based on a health care database system belonging to a manufacturing corporation in Japan.

Methods: The study database contains data on annual health check-ups and work schedules for every worker in the corporation in Japan since 1981. Study subjects consisted of 9912 male employees (8892 daytime workers and 920 rotating three-shift workers; mean age at first check-up was 23.

Anxiety about starting three-shift work among female workers: findings from the Female Shift Workers' Health Study.

In 1999, the Japanese Law on Equal Employment Opportunity and Conditions was amended and the previous prohibition of the assignment of female workers to night work was abolished. Subsequently, the number of female shift workers has been increasing in Japan, necessitating greater attention to the health care of this population. The aim of the current study is to evaluate the relationship between anxiety expressed about starting three-shift work and background characteristics among female workers who were being assigned to three-shift work for the first time.

Mortality attributable to cigarette smoking in a cohort study in Japan.

We conducted this study to estimate the association and population attributable risk (PAR) of smoking with all-cause and cause-specific mortality based on a general prospective cohort study in Japan. A total of 8,129 subjects (3,996 males and 4,133 females) aged 40 or over were analyzed. The follow-up period was from 1986 to 2003.

A prospective study of green tea consumption and oral cancer incidence in Japan.

Purpose: To examine the relation of green tea consumption with oral carcinogenesis, we prospectively analyzed data from a nationwide large-scale cohort study in Japan.

Methods: A total of 20,550 men and 29,671 women aged 40-79 years, without any history of oral and pharyngeal cancer at baseline survey, were included in the present study. During a mean follow-up period of 10.

Mortality and risk factors for stroke and its subtypes in a cohort study in Japan.

Objective: To estimate stroke mortality and evaluate risk factors for total stroke deaths and its two principal subtypes in a cohort study in Japan.

Methods: A total of 9651 subjects aged 40 or over and free of stroke were analyzed in a cohort study conducted in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The follow-up period was from 1986 to 2003.

Arsenic in drinking water and peripheral nerve conduction velocity among residents of a chronically arsenic-affected area in Inner Mongolia.

Background: It remains unclear whether chronic ingestion of arsenic in drinking water affects the peripheral nervous system. We examined the effects of arsenic exposure on nerve conduction velocity using electromyography.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted of a population living in an arsenic-affected village in Hetao Plain, Inner Mongolia, China.

Prospective study of vegetable consumption and liver cancer in Japan.

We examined the relationship between vegetable consumption and the risk of death from liver cancer in a cohort study in Japan. This analysis is based on data from 6,049 subjects aged 40 to 79 years enrolled in a cohort study conducted in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The follow-up period was from 1986 to 1999.

Visual display terminal work and sick building syndrome--the role of psychosocial distress in the relationship.

The present study investigated the association between visual display terminal (VDT) work and sick building syndrome (SBS) and the role of psychosocial factors in the relationship. Subjects were 2,161 Japanese office workers who responded to a cross-sectional anonymous self-administered questionnaire survey. Questions included were derived from the Miljömedicin 040, a validated questionnaire on SBS symptoms.

Chronic arsenic exposure and urinary 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine in an arsenic-affected area in Inner Mongolia, China.

Objective: Recent studies have shown that generation of reactive oxidants during arsenic metabolism can play an important role in arsenic-induced injury. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between arsenic in drinking water and oxidative stress in humans by measuring 8-Hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG).

Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study in an arsenic-affected village in Hetao Plain, Inner Mongolia, China.