Exercise has been well known to a fundamental treatment of diabetes mellitus, as well as diet therapy. Nevertheless, its therapeutic use and clinical effects are still unknown in details. The aim of this study is the establishment of practical exercise therapy for the patients with diabetes mellitus. The present study shows the acute exercise effects on blood metabolites and the effects of long term physical training in diabetics.
The following results were obtained.
1) Although no significant change of blood glucose level was observed in normals, the decrease of blood glucose and triglyceride levels were observed in diabetics in acute exercise. Moreover marked elevation of FFA level was also observed after acute exercise in diabetics.
2) Significant decrease of blood glucose and increase of HDL-cholesterol levels were found in diabetics by long term regular physical training.
3) Body weight reduction without loss of lean body mass and the improvement of physiological response to exercise test were achieved after long term physical training.
These results suggest that the regular physical training leads to the better control of diabetes mellitus and keeps good condition in patients with diabetes mellitus, and that it may have a important role of the prevention for the diabetic vascular complication.

OBJECTIVESTo assess trends in smoking prevalence among Japanese adolescents and to analyze possible causal factors for the decrease in smoking prevalence observed in a 2004 survey.

METHODSNationwide cross-sectional surveys were conducted in 1996, 2000 and 2004. Survey schools, both junior and senior high schools, considered to be representative of the whole of Japan were sampled randomly. Enrolled students were asked to complete a self-reporting anonymous questionnaire on smoking behavior. The questionnaires were collected from 115,814 students in 1996, 106,297 in 2000, and 102,451 in 2004. School principals were asked about the policy of their respective school on smoking restrictions.

RESULTSCigarette smoking prevalence (lifetime, current, and daily smoking) in 2004, based on the completed questionnaires, had decreased relative to previous years in both sexes and in all school grades. The most important trends were: a decrease in smoking prevalence among the fathers and older brothers of the students; an increase in the proportion of students who did not have friends; a decrease in the proportion of current smokers who usually bought cigarettes in stores decreased in 2004, in particular for the oldest boys. An association was found between a lower smoking rate at a school and a smoke-free school policy.

CONCLUSIONSJapan has experienced a decrease in the prevalence of smoking among adolescents. A decrease in smoking prevalence among the fathers and older brothers, limitations to minors' access to tobacco, an increase in the proportion of students without friends, and a school policy restricting smoking may have contributed to this decreasing trend.

PURPOSE: In cardiac 2-[F-18]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG)-positron emission tomography (PET) examination, interpretation of myocardial viability in the low uptake region (LUR) has been difficult without additional perfusion imaging. We evaluated distribution patterns of FDG at the border zone of the LUR in the cardiac FDG-PET and established a novel parameter for diagnosing myocardial viability and for discriminating the LUR of normal variants. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cardiac FDG-PET was performed in patients with a myocardial ischemic event (n = 22) and in healthy volunteers (n = 22). Whether the myocardium was not a viable myocardium (not-VM) or an ischemic but viable myocardium (isch-VM) was defined by an echocardiogram under a low dose of dobutamine infusion as the gold standard. FDG images were displayed as gray scaled-bull's eye mappings. FDG-plot profiles for LUR (= true ischemic region in the patients or normal variant region in healthy subjects) were calculated. Maximal values of FDG change at the LUR border zone (a steepness index; S(max) scale/pixel) were compared among not-VM, isch-VM, and normal myocardium. RESULTS: S(max) was significantly higher for n-VM compared to those with isch-VM or normal myocardium (ANOVA). A cut-off value of 0.30 in Smax demonstrated 100% sensitivity and 83% specificity for diagnosing n-VM and isch-VM. S(max) less than 0.23 discriminated LUR in normal myocardium from the LUR in patients with both n-VM and isch-VM with a 94% sensitivity and a 93% specificity. CONCLUSION: S(max) of the LUR in cardiac FDG-PET is a simple and useful parameter to diagnose n-VM and isch-VM, as well as to discriminate thr LUR of normal variants.
Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Echocardiography ; Female ; Fluorodeoxyglucose F18/*metabolism ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Myocardial Infarction/metabolism/pathology ; Myocardium/*metabolism/*pathology ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; Young Adult