Japanese cohort

Early work on L and Z supplementation suggested that both serum and macular response is dose dependent [52]. This finding is supported by more recent studies that investigated the impact of supplementation of L and Z in lower doses and did not find a significant increase in MP. For example, daily supplementation with 6 mg L for 1 year did not increase MPOD in a Japanese cohort of 43 adults, some of whom had macular disease. However, the supplementation was associated with an improvement in visual function [174]. Similarly, daily supplementation with 6 mg L as part of a randomized controlled trial did not improve contrast sensitivity in people with ARM [175] and did not improve visual function in young healthy adults [176]. 

In another cohort study of a Japanese population, researcher surveyed more than 8000 individuals over 40 years of age on their living habits, including daily consumption of green tea. Results found a negative association between green tea consumption and cancer incidence, especially among females drinking more than 10 cups per day [212]. 

Another age-based segment is that referred to as the baby boomers. The term refers specifically to the cohort of people bom between 1945 and 1966 (Muller Cleaver, 2000). The expression baby boomers applies best to the countries of Canada, the United States of America, Australia and New Zealand where economic conditions after the Second World War were sound and families were encouraged. By way of contrast, war-affected countries in Europe and Asia and developing countries in other continents did not produce the same conditions for family life and did not experience such high birth rates. Nevertheless European and Japanese travellers, in particular, share some of the characteristics outlined in North American and Australian studies (You O Leary, 1999). 

Sharma, S., Murphy, S.R, Wilkens, L.R., Shen, L., Hankin, J.H., and Henderson, B. 2003. Adherence to the food guide pyramid recommendations among Japanese Americans, Native Hawaiians, and whites Results from the multiethnic cohort study. J Am Dietetic Assoc 103(9) 1195—1198. 

A recent cohort study showed that the slowdown in increase of cancer incidence with age observed among Japanese females who consumed more than 10 cups a day is consistent with the finding that increased consumption of green tea is associated with later onset of cancer. ... 

Flynn In my book on Asian Americans, I did a study of Japanese and Chinese children bom in America between 1945 and 1949, plus those who came to America at that time and were educated in America. If they had higher IQs than white Americans it was only marginal. Yet data suggest that a Chinese American kid could spot a white American kid 7 IQ points, and match them for the credentials that got them into university. If you look at the occupational profiles in the cohorts of the 1980 census, you would have sworn that the Chinese kids had a mean IQ of 120 rather than 100. Of course one-third of that was due to the seven points. It meant that the relevant IQ threshold for entry into high-status jobs was 93 for Chinese, as compared to a white threshold of 100. The other 13 points came from... 

A total of 24 studies were evaluated which encompassed a study population of 352,661 6,405 deaths were observed in the entire cohort. The standard mortality ratio (SMR) for all cancers was reduced when the SMRs from the individual studies were combined. Most of the larger studies demonstrated a deficit for all cancers. The all cancer meta-SMR on 6,405 deaths was 85 (p<. 00001). A British industry-wide study of refinery employees found an excess of deaths from melanoma. However, no explanation of excess was offered. The meta-SMR (SMR obtained from combing SMRs from individual studies) was not significant for skin cancer. For urinary tract cancer in Japanese refinery workers, the SMR was 205 (p=0.05). British drivers had an SMR of 171... 

Data from Ford ES, Giles WH, et al. Population distribution of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein among US men findings from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2000. Clin Chem 2003 49 686-90 Yamada S, Gotoh T, et aJ. Distribution of serum C-reactive protein and its association with atherosclerotic risk factors in a Japanese population Jichi Medical School Cohort Study, Am J Epidemiol 2001 153 1183-90. 

Yamada S, Gotoh T, et al. Distribution of serum C-reactive protein and its association with atherosclerotic risk factors in a Japanese population Jichi Medical School Cohort Study. Am J Epidemiol 2001 153 1183-90. 

More studies have yielded inconsistent results. Three studies demonstrated an effect of the 677C>T polymorphism on MTX efficacy. However, results from these studies were conflicting with the T allele being a marker of both decreased and increased MTX efficacy in US [40] and Polish [41] cohorts respectively and the C allele a marker of increased MTX efficacy in a Dutch cohort [42], Eight studies showed an effect of the T allele on MTX toxicity. Four of these studies examined Asian patients which included Japanese [39,43], Korean [44], and Chinese [45] others included Dutch [37], US [46, 47], and Spanish [48] cohorts. Two metaanalyses have also yielded disparate results. One meta-analysis found an association between the 677C>T polymorphism and MTX toxicity, but no such association for the 1298A>C variant [49], However, another meta-analysis (which included 1,514 patients with RA) found no association between either of these polymorphisms and MTX toxicity and efficacy [50]. 

Hazelton, W. D., Moolgavkar, S. H., Curtis, S. B., Zielinski, J. M., Ashmore, J. P, and Krewski, D. (2006). Biologically based analysis of lung cancer incidence in a large Canadian occupational cohort with low-dose ionizing radiation exposure, and comparison with Japanese atomic bomb survivors. J Toxicol Environ Health Part A 69, 1013-1038. 

In the U.S. double-blind study in which NSAID use was unrestricted, a dose-dependent increase in serum creatinine from baseline was observed. In contrast, although slight increases were seen in the Japanese study, most patients creatinine levels remained within the normal range. Whether the concomitant use of NSAIDs was a confounding factor in the development of increased creatinine is not clear. It is important to note that the antirheumatic effect of tacrolimus becomes clear within the first 4 weeks after treatment initiation and, therefore, the potential exists to reduce the dose of NSAIDs at that time. Further clinical studies are currently under way to confirm these results in a larger cohort of patients who have failed at least one DMARD in the United States and Japan, using a double-blind, placebo-controlled paradigm. This study should also better define the safety profile of tacrolimus in this patient population. 

Stella P, Bigatti G, Tizzoni L, Barlassina C, Lan-zani C, Bianchi G, Cusi D (2004) Association between aldosterone synthase (CYP11B2) polymorphism and left ventricular mass in human essential hypertension. J Am Coll Cardiol 43 265-270 Matsubara M, Sato T, Nishimura T, Suzuki M, Ki-kuya M, Metoki H, Michimata M, Tsuji I, Ogihara T, Imai Y (2004) CYP11B2 polymorphisms and home blood pressure in a population-based cohort in Japanese the Ohasama study. Hypertens Res 27 1 ... 

Niwa T, Suzuki A, Sakakibara S, Kasahara S, Yasuda M, Fukao A, Matsuura K, Goto C, Murakami N, Itoh Y. Retrospective cohort chart review study of factors associated with the development of thrombocytopenia in adult Japanese patients who received intravenous linezolid therapy. Clin Ther 2009 31(10) 2126-33. 

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