Naoakira Niino

Is there a relevant effect of noise and smoking on hearing? A population-based aging study ¿Existe un efecto relevante del ruido y el tabaquismo en la audición? Un estudio de envejecimiento de base poblacional

The objectives of the present study were to evaluate both the respective and combined effects of occupational noise exposure and smoking on hearing, taking age into consideration. The evaluation was conducted using 1478 subjects without a history of ear disease out of a population-based sample of 2267 adults, aged 40–79 years. Pure-tone audiometry and a questionnaire were administered. A deleterious effect of noise exposure on hearing was significantly observed in both genders at many frequencies after adjustment for age, income, and education. The smoking habit alone significantly affected hearing deterioration at 4000 Hz in noise-unexposed males. The combined effect of noise and smoking was not interactive but additive. A dose-response effect of smoking on hearing loss was observed in middle-aged males without noise exposure. Smoking and noise exposure were associated with hearing loss respectively.This result is noteworthy for the preservation of good hearing especially at the beginning of aging.

Circumstances of injurious falls leading to medical care among elderly people living in a rural community

The objective of the present study is to describe the circumstances of injurious falls leading to medical care among the elderly living in a rural community, which have never been reported comprehensively. From 1992 to 1993, an interview survey on falls was carried out every 3 months. Of the 1349 subjects aged 65 or more of Nakazato village in Japan, 1317 persons responded to the survey by a door-by-door interview. Two-hundred-and-fifty-six elderly people experienced a fall at least once during the 1-year period. One-hundred-and-twenty-four falls were recorded by 94 men and 215 falls were experienced by 162 women. In men, 16 (31.31/1000 person-year) injurious falls leading to medical care were documented. In women, 58 (75.74/1000 person-year) falls were found to be injurious. The difference in the rate of injurious falls between the sexes was statistically significant (P < 0.01). In each sex, there was no increased rate of injurious falls with advancing age. Most of the injurious falls occurred in the daytime. As for the location of injurious falls, outdoor falls were more frequent than indoor falls in the case of men. Half of the injurious falls in women occurred indoors. Extrinsic factors largely contributed to the occurrence of injurious falls compared with intrinsic ones. Women tended to be injured in the buttocks and hip in a greater proportion than men. This study reveals the circumstances of injurious falls leading to medical care and provides useful information on preventing injurious falls among the elderly living in the community.

Association of a -1997G-->T polymorphism of the collagen Ialpha1 gene with bone mineral density in postmenopausal Japanese women.

Genetic variants that affect collagen Iα1 metabolism may be important in the development of osteoporosis or osteoporotic fractures. A – 1997G → T polymorphism in the promoter of the collagen Iα1 gene (COL1A1) was shown to be associated with bone mineral density (BMD) for the lumbar spine in postmenopausal Spanish women. The relation of this polymorphism to BMD in Japanese women or men has now been examined in a population-based study. The subjects (1,110 women, 1,126 men) were 40 to 79 years of age and were randomly recruited for a population-based prospective cohort study of aging and age-related diseases. BMD for the lumbar spine, right femoral neck, right trochanter, and right Wards triangle was measured using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. Genotypes for the – 1997G → T polymorphism of COL1A1 were determined with a fluorescence-based allele-specific DNA primer assay system. When all women were analyzed together, BMD for the lumbar spine and trochanter was significantly lower in subjects with the COL1A1*G/*G genotype than in those in the combined group of COL1A1*G/*T and COL1A1*T/*T genotypes. When postmenopausal women were analyzed separately, BMD for the femoral neck and trochanter was also significantly lower in those with the COL1A1*G/*G genotype than in those with the COL1A1*G/*T genotype or those in the combined group of COL1A1*G/*T and COL1A1*T/*T genotypes. BMD was not associated with — 1997G → T genotype in premenopausal women or in men. Multivariate regression analysis revealed that – 1997G → Tgenotype affected BMD at various sites with a variance of 0.46–0.62% for all women and 0.61–1.01% for postmenopausal women. The – 1997G → T genotype was not related to the serum concentration of osteocalcin, the serum activity of bone-specific alkaline phosphatase, or the urinary excretion of deoxypyridinoline or cross-linked N-telopeptides of type I collagen in men or in premenopausal or postmenopausal women. These results suggest that COL1A1 is a susceptibility locus for reduced BMD in postmenopausal Japanese women.

Relationships of muscle strength and power with leisure‐time physical activity and adolescent exercise in middle‐aged and elderly Japanese women

Aim:  The purpose of the present study is to assess the relationships of muscle strength and power with recent leisure‐time physical activity and exercise during adolescence in middle‐aged and elderly Japanese women.

Prevalence of depressive symptoms among the elderly: A longitudinal study

Aim:  Depression is a common psychiatric problem in late life. The purpose of the present study was to assess the prevalence of depressive symptoms among community‐dwelling elderly, both cross‐sectionally and longitudinally.