The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident occurred after the Great East Japan Earthquake on 11 March 2011. The regulations for food items contaminated with radioiodine or radioactive cesium were introduced immediately after the accident by establishing a tentative limit for the contamination level. These regulations excluded or minimized the excessive internal radiation exposure in Japan.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlthough serum uric acid (UA) has been reported to be positively associated with increased arterial stiffness as evaluated by cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI), UA also has an antioxidative effect that prevents endothelial damage. Therefore, the status of endothelial repair induced by endothelial damage might affect the correlation between UA and CAVI. To clarify the correlation between UA and CAVI in relation to endothelial repair activity, we performed a cross-sectional study with 246 Japanese men aged 60-69 years undergoing a general health check-up.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlthough fast eating speed has been associated with cardiovascular risk factors, no studies have reported an association between fast eating speed and atherosclerosis as evaluated by carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT). Rapid glucose ingestion is known to cause glucose spikes, which may accelerate atherogenesis and increase levels of growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF-15). Therefore, GDF-15 levels may influence the association between fast eating speed and atherosclerosis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPLoS One
September 2023
The total annual effective dose has steadily decreased since the fallout of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. However, chronic internal exposure to 137Cs still persists and fluctuates in a complex and unpredictable manner. Recently, body contamination was found to primarily occur owing to the intake of forest foodstuffs that contain long-lived 137Cs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTo maintain normal level of thyroid hormone, especially for free thyroxine (FT4), individuals with latent thyroid gland damage might have required higher thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) than those without latent thyroid gland damage. Anti-thyroid peroxidase antibody (TPO-Ab) is a main cause of auto-immune thyroiditis, and therefore euthyroid individuals positive for TPO-Ab might have latent damage to the thyroid gland. Therefore, the association between TSH values and TPO-Ab positivity may be useful to determine the influence of latent thyroid gland damage on requirement of TSH.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn an aging society, it is important to visualize the conditions of people living with diseases or disabilities, such as frailty and sarcopenia, and determine the environmental and genetic factors underlying such conditions. Atherosclerosis and arterial stiffness are key conditions between these factors and noncommunicable diseases. In 2014, we launched a population-based prospective open-cohort study, the Nagasaki Islands Study (NaIS), which was conducted in Goto City, located in the remote islands of Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan, mostly involving middle-aged and older residents.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGrowth differentiation factor 15 (GDF-15), which modulates cellular energy balance, is reported to be positively associated with cardiovascular disease. However, there have been no reports about the association between serum GDF-15 concentration and atherosclerosis as evaluated by carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) among the general population. A cross-sectional study of 536 Japanese individuals aged 60 to 69 years was conducted.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHeight is inversely associated with inflammation that stimulates endothelial repair. In our previous study involving elderly men aged 60-69 years, we found that active arterial wall thickening, which is known as the process of endothelial repair, requires CD34-positive cells. As thyroid hormone regulates CD34-positive cell production and as the absence of thyroid cysts might indicate latent damage in the thyroid, the status of thyroid cysts possibly influences the association between height and active arterial wall thickening.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMany people living around the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (CNPP) have been exposed to 137Cs for several decades after the CNPP accident. Although half-life of 137Cs is about 30 years, some wild forest foodstuffs are contaminated by 137Cs even now. We pointed out in a previous report that low-dose internal radiation has been occasionally detected in people's body.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHeight loss starting in middle age is reportedly significantly associated with death due to cardiovascular disease. Impaired blood flow is the main pathology in cardiovascular disease. Hematopoietic stem cells such as CD34-positive cells play an important role in maintaining the microcirculation and preventing impaired blood flow by activating endothelial repair and angiogenesis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe ratio of free triiodothyronine (FT3) to free thyroxine (FT4) (FT3/FT4), a maker of peripheral thyroxin deiodination, could indicate activity of thyroid hormone. Since positive association between subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) was reported, clarifying the association among FT3/FT4, SCH, and CKD could be an efficient tool to make a strategy for preventing CKD. A cross-sectional study with 1724 Japanese with normal thyroid hormone was conducted.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSubclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) was reported to be associated with accelerating endothelial dysfunction, which is recognized as one of the upstream mechanisms that leads to glomerular injury (lower glomerular filtration rate (GFR)). SCH was also reported to be associated with hyperglycemia, which is associated with higher hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels and induces endothelial dysfunction. Therefore, SCH status could influence the association between HbA1c and reduced eGFR.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAmong euthyroid individuals, having an anti-thyroid peroxidase antibody (TPO-Ab) titer in the normal range (negative) is positively associated with atherosclerosis as evaluated based on carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT). Atherosclerosis is an established risk factor for cardiovascular disease, but no significant association between yearly progression in CIMT and cardiovascular disease has been reported. Therefore, clarifying the association between having a TPO-Ab titer in the normal range and yearly progression in CIMT (i.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: High normal levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) have been reported to be associated with chronic kidney disease (CKD) among euthyroid individuals. However, there has been only limited research on the association between TSH and proteinuria, a major risk factor for the progression of renal disease.
Methods: A cross-sectional study of 1595 euthyroid individuals was conducted.
Our recent studies indicate that thyroid cysts have clinical implications. Thyroid cysts could have a positive effect on the supply of thyroid hormones. Both hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism cause hypertension.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnti-thyroid peroxidase antibody (TPO-Ab) is revealed to be inversely associated with thyroid cysts among euthyroid population. TPO-Ab causes autoimmune thyroiditis by bolstering thyroid inflammation. Therefore, at least partly, absence of thyroid cysts could indicate latent thyroid damage.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant accident released vast amounts of various fission products, of which 131I and 137Cs are considered the most important because they are a major source of radiation exposure to the general public. 137Cs, unlike 131I, has a 30-year half-life that continues to expose people internally and externally for several decades after being deposited into the ground. 137Cs can be easily transmitted to the body through the intake of products and wild forest foodstuffs produced in contaminated areas.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The absence of thyroid cysts may indicate latent thyroid damage, as demonstrated in our previous study. However, the association between the absence of thyroid cysts and latent functional damage of the thyroid is unknown. At low thyroid hormone productivity, which may be associated with latent functional damage of the thyroid, the association between thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and hypertension might be enhanced.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHypertension frequently occurs in subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH). By bolstering thyroid inflammation, anti-peroxidase antibody (TPO-Ab) causes autoimmune thyroiditis, which is one of the most common causes of SCH. Since the absence of thyroid cysts is associated with TPO-Ab (+) based on the indication of latent thyroid damage, we explored the potential mechanism underlying the association among TPO-Ab, SCH, hypertension, and thyroid cysts.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnti-thyroid peroxidase antibody (TPO-Ab), which is the known cause of autoimmune thyroid disease, enhances proinflammatory cytokine responses. Since low-grade inflammation is a known risk factor for atherosclerosis, a normal range of TPO-Ab (TPO-Ab negative) could be positively associated with atherosclerosis among participants with normal thyroid function. However, no study reported the association between normal range of TPO-Ab and atherosclerosis among eu-thyroid participants.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJapanese firefighting organisations are essentially run as village, town, or city units. The Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995 led to the establishment of emergency support teams to ensure rapid action in response to disasters beyond the capacities of local fire departments. The 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake involved both a tsunami and a radiation disaster caused by a nuclear reactor meltdown, underscoring the need for responses in complex disasters.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Anti-thyroid peroxidase antibody (TPO-Ab) has been shown to cause autoimmune thyroiditis by inducing a deleterious influence on thyroid hormone synthesis. Further, thyroglobulin, which has an important role in thyroid hormone synthesis, is reported to be high in the fluid from thyroid cysts. Therefore, TPO-Ab could be associated with the presence of thyroid cyst, partly by affecting the activity of thyroid hormone synthesis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: We herein report the discordance rate between primary breast cancer and synchronous axillary node metastasis, its characteristics and its prognostic impact.
Methods: One hundred and four patients with invasive breast cancer with synchronous axillary node metastasis who underwent surgery were included. Estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PgR), human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2), and Ki-67 were stained by immunohistochemistry in both primary and node metastasis.
Purpose: We analyzed the prevalence of gustatory test abnormalities in breast cancer (BC) patients undergoing chemotherapy.
Methods: We enrolled 43 BC patients undergoing chemotherapy and 38 BC patients who had never undergone chemotherapy (control group). Two gustatory tests were conducted: an instillation method examining the threshold for four basic taste stimuli and an electrogustometry method measuring the threshold for perception with electric stimulation at the front two-thirds of the tongue (cranial nerve VII) and at the back third of the tongue (cranial nerve IX).