Increased Prevalence of Atopic Dermatitis in Children Aged 0-3 Years Highly Exposed to Parabens.

The prevalence of allergic diseases, such as bronchial asthma, atopic dermatitis, nasal allergies (pollinosis), and food allergies, has been increasing in many countries. The hygiene hypothesis was recently considered from the perspective of exposure to antimicrobial agents and preservatives, such as parabens (CAS number, 94-13-3). It currently remains unclear whether parabens, which are included in many daily consumer products such as cosmetics, shampoos, and personal care products as preservative antimicrobial agents, induce or aggravate allergies. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between exposure to parabens and the prevalence of allergic diseases in Japanese children. The cross-sectional epidemiology of 236 children aged 0-3 years who underwent health examinations in Shika town in Japan assessed individual exposure to parabens using urinary concentrations of parabens. The results obtained showed that the prevalence of atopic dermatitis was significantly higher in children with high urinary concentrations of parabens than in those with low concentrations (p < 0.001). This relationship remained significant after adjustments for confounding factors, such as age, sex, Kaup's index, and passive smoking (p < 0.001). In conclusion, the present results from a population study suggested a relationship between atopic dermatitis and exposure to parabens. A longitudinal study using a larger sample number and a detailed examination of atopic dermatitis, including EASI scores and exposure to parabens, will be necessary.

Decreased activity of daily living produced by the combination of Alzheimer's disease and lower limb fracture in elderly requiring nursing care.

OBJECTIVES: Alzheimer's disease (AD) impairs cognitive functions, subsequently decreasing activity of daily living (ADL), and is frequently accompanied by lower limb fracture including hip fracture in the elderly. However, there have been few studies on what kinds of physical functions are affected or what degrees of dysfunction are produced by this combination. This study aims to clarify the relationship between decreased ADL and the combination of AD and lower limb fracture. METHODS: We examined present illness and ADL in 4340 elderly aged 82.8 ± 9.36 years [average ± standard deviation (SD)] requiring nursing care and compared ADL between elderly with and without AD or lower limb fracture treated with surgery or conservatively using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), with age and sex as covariants. RESULTS: We recognized that activities of cognitive function (p < 0.001), eating (dysphagia) (p < 0.001), eating (feeding) (p < 0.001), and toilet use (p < 0.001) in the elderly with AD were significantly lower than in those without the disease, even after adjusting for sex and age. Activities of bed mobility (p < 0.05), transfer and locomotion (p < 0.001), and bathing (p < 0.05) in the elderly with a fracture treated with surgery were significantly lower, which differed from the results of AD. Significant interactions of AD and fracture treated with surgery on the ADL scores for bed mobility (p < 0.001), dysphagia (p < 0.01), feeding (p < 0.001), and toilet use (p < 0.05) show that the combination had a much more profound influence on the ADL scores than AD or fracture alone. We obtained almost the same results for fractures treated conservatively as for fractures treated with surgery. CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrated that the combined effects of AD and lower limb fracture were significantly greater than expected additive effects of AD and fracture, suggesting that the combination of AD and lower limb fracture has synergistic effects on almost all types of ADL except cognitive functions.