ABSTRACT
We plotted the distribution of long-lived persons derived from the national register of long-lived persons as of fiscal years of 1980 (N=1, 349) and 2000 (N=17, 740) prepared by the Ministry of Health and Welfare to investigate various factors such as medical climatology and geography on healthy aging. The data were plotted on a map of Japan classified into various living environments, such as coastal areas, forests, and mountainous areas. In addition, we investigated universal elements and transforming elements through year-by-year comparisons over a period of 20 years. Japan was divided into nine climatic districts Hokkaido, the Japan Sea area, the Pacific Ocean area, the Sanriku district, the Tokai district, the inland district, the Seto Inland Sea district, the Northern Kyushu district, the Nankai district, and the South-western Islands.<br>Consequently, we found a common trend that relatively warm climates and climates in coastal areas are favorable for longevity. However, the following trends were also recognized as transforming elements that cannot be ignored: 1. A remarkable improvements in the rate (number of long-lived people per 100, 000 population) in cold climate regions, i.e., the Japan sea area, inland area, and Hokkaido; 2. A remarkable shift of higher rates from coastal areas, which are contaminated by industrial plants, to inland flat areas.<br>As a result, it has become clear that research on factors of healthy aging, especially in cold climate regions, have to be made in the future.
ABSTRACT
The present study was aimed to survey the relation between habitual exercise and the quality of nocturnal sleep. Questionnaires on exercise behavior and sleep were given to 452 male and female university students. The questionnaires included such questions as; on their habitual exercise, the kind of exercise, duration and frequency of doing the exercise, the period of continuation, rating of perceived exertion (RPE) and subjective feeling of their exercise load for health (heavy, suitable, light) . TMIN Life Habits Inventory were conducted to ascertain the quality of sleep. The results of all the students showed that they were more likely to experience insufficient asleep period (64.6%), were not refreshed in the morning (40.0%), found unbearable daytime napping (38.5%) . The student group with habitual exercise (n=237) showed significant “more easily fall asleep” (p<0.05) and “more insufficient asleep period” (p<0.05) tendencies than the group without habitual exercise. Further, three groups divided by their subjective feeling toward their exercise load showed some significantly different quality of sleep. The students who felt that their habitual exercise was “suitable” or “light” showed better sleep, with reference to frequency of mid-sleep awakening and deepness of sleep, as compared with students who felt that their exercise was “heavy” (p<0.05) . These results indicate that suitable or light habitual exercise might facilitate better quality of sleep, while heavy exercise which strongly activate the sympathetic nervous system, pose a risk to disrupt sleep.