We have been holding “health fairs” at pharmacies with the aim of improving lifestyle habits. It is difficult for participants to improve these habits, and support from pharmacies is required. One possible reason for this is a lack of evidence to persuade participants to improve their lifestyle habits. However, in recent years, medical big data has been developed and accumulated. The National Database of Health Insurance Claims and Specific Health Checkups of Japan (NDB) collects data on insurance medical receipts (diseases) and specific health checkups (lifestyle habits and other information for approximately 30 million people). In this study, we aimed to clarify the correlation among “lifestyle habits” (including motivation to improve) using NDB Open Data Japan. Our results suggest that people do not exercise because they have good lifestyle habits; people who have problems with their eating habits or body mass index (BMI) are more motivated to exercise, although there are differences between men and women. We also found that “being able to eat just about anything” or “eating slowly” correlated to a decrease in BMI ≥25 kg/m2 and an increase in BMI 18.5 to <25 kg/m2. This suggests the importance of the dental area of mastication in BMI changes. In the future, we plan to provide health support in collaboration with the dental field. Correlation and causation are different, so further study is needed, but this study shows that the NDB can be useful in health support for individuals and society.

In this study, we aimed to clarify awareness regarding genetic testing among pharmacists in Hiroshima City to contribute to regional medical care provided in pharmacies. Pharmacists should consider the advantages and disadvantages of being able to easily receive genetic tests. We conducted an awareness survey on genetic testing among pharmacists belonging to the Hiroshima Pharmaceutical Association, at 645 pharmacies in Hiroshima City. Responses were received from 674 pharmacists, yielding a response rate of 43.4% (280 pharmacies). In response to the question, “Can you perform genetic testing at a pharmacy?”, 6.7% of pharmacists answered yes and 65.4% said this was impossible. Among the 92.4% of pharmacists other than those available, 79.6% answered “I am worried about my knowledge of genetic testing,” followed by 39.3% “cannot take the time,” 29.2% “hurdles for new business,” 28.1% “problems such as pharmacy facilities to protect personal information,” and 15.7% “ethical difficulties.” From the age difference, pharmacists do not carry out genetic testing even if they have knowledge; they need to make an ethical judgment to determine whether to conduct genetic testing. Additionally, although pharmacies provide medication guidance and protect personal information, 28.1% of pharmacists answered that there are problems with their pharmacy’s ability to protect personal information when handling “genetic information.” Pharmacists should consider it critical to treat “genetic information” as personal information, with the utmost care and understanding.