Living in Contaminated Radioactive Areas Is Not an Acute Risk Factor for Noncommunicable Disease Development: A Retrospective Observational Study.

OBJECTIVE: Although much attention is now being paid to the health risks associated with nuclear disasters, reliable information is lacking. We retrospectively evaluated the health effects of living in highly contaminated radioactive areas in Japan. METHODS: The health evaluation was conducted in Tamano district, Fukushima prefecture, in 2011 and 2012. The surface deposition density of cesium in Tamano was 600 to 1000 kBq/m2 shortly after the Fukushima nuclear accident. Clinical parameters included body mass index, blood pressure, and laboratory examinations for blood cell counts, glucose levels, and lipid profiles. A screening program for internal and external exposure was also implemented. RESULTS: One hundred fifty-five residents participated in the health evaluation. Significant decreases in average body mass index and blood pressure were observed from 2011 to 2012. Annual internal exposure levels did not exceeded 1 mSv in any participants. The levels of external exposure ranged from 1.3 to 4.3 mSv/y measured in the first test period but decreased to 0.8 to 3.6 mSv/y in the second test period. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that inhabiting nuclear contaminated areas is not always associated with short-term health deterioration and that radiation exposure can be controlled within safety limitations.

Physical performance deterioration of temporary housing residents after the Great East Japan Earthquake.

Disaster has a negative impact on health conditions, especially on those of temporary housing residents. Health status has a close relationship with physical activity and performance. However, few reports have assessed physical performance among residents living in temporary housing. In this study, we compared physical capabilities between the elderly who evacuated to temporary housing and those who stayed in their own homes after the Great East Japan Earthquake. Subjects were recruited from those over 65 years of age who participated in the medical check-ups for temporary housing residents (TH group) or check-ups for residents of downtown areas (control group) in Soma City, Fukushima, in 2012. The subjects underwent grip strength, one-leg standing (OLS), and timed up and go tests (TUG). In total, 1890 participants were recruited. The TH group showed significantly stronger grip strength than that of the control group. On the other hand, the TH group showed weaker standing stability, according to decreased OLS and increased TUG scores. We revealed that standing stability was impaired among elderly temporary housing residents 1.5 years after the disaster. Disaster responders should take into account the health risks associated with living in temporary housing.

Changes in metabolic profiles after the Great East Japan Earthquake: a retrospective observational study.

BACKGROUND: A magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck off eastern Japan in March 2011. Many survivors have been living in temporary houses provided by the local government since they lost their houses as a result of the great tsunami (tsunami group) or the expected high-dose radiation resulting from the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (radiation group). The tsunami was more than 9 m high in Soma, Fukushima, which is located 30 km north of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and adjacent to the mandatory evacuation area. A health screening program was held for the evacuees in Soma in September 2011. The aim of this study was to compare the metabolic profiles of the evacuees before and after the disaster. We hypothesized that the evacuees would experience deteriorated metabolic status based on previous reports of natural disasters. METHODS: Data on 200 subjects who attended a health screening program in September or October of 2010 (pre-quake) and 2011 (post-quake) were retrospectively reviewed and included in this study. Pre-quake and post-quake results of physical examinations and laboratory tests were compared in the tsunami and radiation groups. A multivariate regression model was used to determine pre-quake predictive factors for elevation of hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) in the tsunami group. RESULTS: Significantly higher values of body weight, body mass index, waist circumference, and HbA1c and lower high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels were found at the post-quake screening when compared with the pre-quake levels (p = 0.004, p = 0.03, p = 0.008, p < 0.001, and p = 0.03, respectively). A significantly higher proportion of subjects in the tsunami group with high HbA1c, defined as ≥ 5.7%, was observed after the quake (34.3%) than before the quake (14.8%) (p < 0.001). Regional factors, periodic clinic visits, and waist circumference before the quake were identified as predictive factors on multivariate analysis for the deterioration of HbA1c. CONCLUSIONS: Post-quake metabolic variables were impaired compared with pre-quake baseline levels in survivors who were living in temporary houses. A natural disaster could affect metabolic profiles, and careful follow-up for survivors should be planned.

Smoking, alcohol drinking, green tea consumption and the risk of esophageal cancer in Japanese men.

BACKGROUND: Although smoking and alcohol drinking are established risk factors of esophageal cancer, their public health impact is unclear. Furthermore, the effect of green tea is controversial. METHODS: The present study was based on a pooled analysis of two prospective cohort studies. A self-administered questionnaire about health habits was distributed to 9,008 men in Cohort 1 and 17,715 men in Cohort 2, aged 40 years or older, with no previous history of cancer. We identified 38 and 40 patient cases with esophageal cancer among the subjects in Cohort 1 (9.0 years of follow-up) and Cohort 2 (7.6 years of follow-up), respectively. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) of the risk of esophageal cancer incidence. RESULTS: Cigarette smoking, alcohol drinking and green tea consumption were significantly associated with an increased risk of esophageal cancer. Compared with men who had never smoked, never drunk alcohol or green tea, the pooled multivariate HRs (95% confidence intervals) were 5.09 (1.80-14.40) (p for trend <0.0001), 2.73 (1.55-4.81) (p for trend=0.0002), or 1.67 (0.89-3.16) (P for trend=0.04) for men who were currently smoking > or =20 cigarettes/day, drinking alcohol daily, or drinking > or =5 cups green tea/day, respectively. The population attributable fractions of esophageal cancer incidence that was attributable to smoking, alcohol drinking and green tea consumption were 72.0%, 48.6%, and 22.1%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Among the variables studied, smoking has the largest public health impact on esophageal cancer incidence in Japanese men, followed by alcohol drinking and green tea drinking.