Japanese population, incidence

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]. 

The immunological predisposition to thyroid disorders has been studied in 17 of 439 Japanese patients who had symptomatic autoimmune thyroid disorders during interferon alfa treatment (521). There was a significantly higher incidence of the human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-A2 hap-lotype compared with the general Japanese population (88 versus 41%), suggesting that HLA-A2 is a possible additional risk factor for the development of interferon alfa-induced autoimmune thyroid disease. 

Hyperthyroidism and toxicity Iodine-induced hyperthyroidism A mild increase in the incidence of hyperthyroidism worldwide has been described following iodized salt programs (Connolly et al. 1970, Stewart et al. 1971, Bauch 1985, Koutras etal. 1999, Joseph 1989, Meng etal. 1989, Lobbers etal. 1989, Pickardt 1989). Joseph et al. (1980) reported that iodine intakes of < 100 xg per day pose no risk for patients with autonomous tissue due to iodine deficiency critical amounts are between 100 and 200 jg I per day. The absence of iodine deficiency in the Japanese population accounts for the absence of iodine-induced thyrotoxicosis (Nagataki 1987). Hyperthyroidism is easily controlled with antithyroid drugs. 

The total leukemia frequency is five times lower for the Japanese bomb victims who received only a slightly larger radiation dose than the average of the whole Japanese population. This may be caused by an early removal of "leukemia sensitive" individuals (i.e. pre-destined victims of leukemia because of inherited leukemia oncogenes) from the group or "protection by radiation" related to the stimulation of the DNA repair mechanism as discussed above, which reduces the susceptibility to the normal incidence of leukemia. 

The severe health effects observed in the Japanese Yusho incident of 1968 were attributed to the ingestion of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). At that time, the forefront of analytical chemistry was represented by the determination of trace components at the parts per million (ppm) concentration level. It was not until about ten years later that analytical methodology was able to detect polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) and polychlorinated dibenzodioxins (PCDDs) at concentrations of 10 parts per billion (ppb) or less in the presence of PCBs. The significance of the determinations lies in the assessment of risk to human populations exposed to undegraded PCBs and to mixtures of chemically similar compounds of concern derived from uncontrolled reactions such as might occur when a PCB filled transformer undergoes eventful failure. 

A meta-analysis of pregabalin safety in Japan as compared to Western coxmtries [143 ] found that dizziness and somnolence were the most common adverse effects, and that they tended to occur early in the course of pregabalin treatment and later resolved. A slightly higher incidence of dizziness and somnolence was reported in Japanese studies as compared to those from Western nations. The authors speculated that this may be related to the lower mean body weight in the Japanese population leading to a higher mg/kg dose. 

A review of Japanese patients found that of the 15 patients who had developed hematological malignancies since 1975, 6 had other risk factors for leukemia, such as Fanconi s syndrome or prior chemotherapy or radiotherapy. The incidence of leukemia in this study was 3 per 100 000, similar to that in the general population of the same age (68). The National Cooperative Growth Study (NCGS—a postmarketing database that includes 19 846 patient-years since the time of growth hormone exposure) similarly reported no increase in the incidence of new leukemia when patients with other risk factors were excluded from the analysis (96). 

However, this option presents some difficulties for radionuclides, because studies of radiation effects in human populations have focused on cancer fatalities as the measure of response and probability coefficients for radiation-induced cancer incidence have not yet been developed by ICRP or NCRP for use in radiation protection. Probabilities of cancer incidence in the Japanese atomic-bomb survivors have been obtained in recent studies (see Section 3.2.3.2), but probability coefficients for cancer incidence appropriate for use in radiation protection would need to take into account available data on cancer incidence rates from all causes in human populations of concern, which may not be as reliable as data on cancer fatalities. Thus, in effect, if incidence were used as the measure of stochastic response for radionuclides, the most technically defensible database on radiation effects in human populations available at the present time (the data on fatalities in the Japanese atomic-bomb survivors) would be given less weight in classifying waste. 

The incidence of PMs of debrisoquine/sparteine has been investigated in many populations, in most of them with a fairly small number of subjects (16). Among 1011 Swedish Caucasians, we found 69 (6.3%) PMs of debriso-quine (Fig. 1) (17). This incidence is very similar to other European (16) and American (18) Caucasian populations. In collaboration with professor Lou and associates in Beijing, we showed that the incidence of PM among 695 Chinese was only 1.0% using the antimode MR = 12.6 established in Caucasian populations (Fig. 1) (17). A similar low incidence of PM has been shown in Japanese (18) and Koreans (19). 

Primary intracerebral hemorrhage is more common than subarachnoid hemorrhage, and its incidence increases with age (see Fig. 1.1). It is more frequent in Southeast Asian, Japanese and Chinese populations than in whites. The most common causes are intracranial small vessel disease, which is associated with hypertension, cerebral amyloid angiopathy and intracranial vascular malformations (Sutherland and Auer 2006). Rarer causes include saccular aneurysms, hemostatic defects, particularly those induced by anticoagulation or therapeutic thrombolysis, antiplatelet drugs, infective endocarditis, cerebral vasculitis and recreational drug use (Neiman et al. 2000 O Connor et al. 2005). 

United States and Japanese scientists (the Radiation Effects Research Foundation RERF) on 92 000 survivors who were within 10 km of the center of the respective blasts and 27 000 others who were not in either city at the time of the explosions. The study includes detailed dose reconstruction for 76 000 individuals and medical follow-up on as many of the survivors as possible. As the follow-up has continued, the RERF has periodically published updates of the cancer incidence and mortality data for these populations. Data as of 1988 showed a total of 3435 cancers, of which 357 were radiation induced. From these data, excess cancer risks are calculated which form the basis for many of the current radiation risk factors in use today. It should be noted that a large fraction of the atomic bomb survivors are still alive, particularly those who were irradiated as children, so that additional information can be anticipated as this population continues to be studied. 

The 1 allele occurs at a frequency of 20% to 26% in Asian populations and about 53% to 55% in Caucasians [83-86]. In Caucasians and Chinese, the 1/1 genotype has been associated with a significantly better and faster SSRI response, while the s/s allele is associated with poor response [83,84,87-97]. In two studies in Japanese and Korean patients, one found that neither the 1 nor s allele had an effect on treatment response the other observed only a slight improved response among s allele carriers [98,99]. The 1 allele has been associated with improved response to paroxetine, fluoxetine, sertraline, and tricyclic antidepressants in depressed patients, while the s allele has been associated with both poorer response and greater incidence... 

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