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Background: Substantial evidence suggests that non-optimal temperatures can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality and morbidity; however, limited studies have reported inconsistent results for hospital admissions depending on study locations, which also lack national-level investigations on cause-specific CVDs., Methods: We performed a two-stage meta-regression analysis to examine the short-term associations between temperature and acute CVD hospital admissions by specific categories [i.e., ischemic heart disease (IHD), heart failure (HF), and stroke] in 47 prefectures of Japan from 2011 to 2018. First, we estimated the prefecture-specific associations using a time-stratified case-crossover design with a distributed lag nonlinear model. We then used a multivariate meta-regression model to obtain national average associations., Results: During the study period, a total of 4,611,984 CVD admissions were reported. We found cold temperatures significantly increased the risk of total CVD admissions and cause-specific categories. Compared with the minimum hospitalization temperature (MHT) at the 98 th percentile of temperature (29.9 °C), the cumulative relative risks (RRs) for cold (5 th percentile, 1.7 °C) and heat (99 th percentile, 30.5 °C) on total CVD were 1.226 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.195, 1.258] and 1.000 (95% CI: 0.998, 1.002), respectively. The RR for cold on HF [RR = 1.571 (95% CI: 1.487, 1.660)] was higher than those of IHD [RR = 1.119 (95% CI: 1.040, 1.204)] and stroke [RR = 1.107 (95% CI: 1.062, 1.155)], comparing to their cause-specific MHTs. We also observed that extreme heat increased the risk of HF with RR of 1.030 (95% CI: 1.007, 1.054). Subgroup analysis showed that the age group ≥85 years was more vulnerable to these non-optimal temperature risks., Conclusions: This study indicated that cold and heat exposure could increase the risk of hospital admissions for CVD, varying depending on the cause-specific categories, which may provide new evidence to reduce the burden of CVD., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Despite the substantial disease burden caused by nervous system diseases, few studies have examined the association between ambient temperature and nervous system diseases, especially during cold seasons. Evidence for specific disease subgroups such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's is also lacking., Objectives: This study examined the association between short-term changes in ambient temperature and nervous system diseases-related mortality in ten Japanese prefectures from 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2019., Methods: A two-stage analysis based on a time-stratified case-crossover study design was conducted. A conditional quasi-Poisson regression model with a distributed lag non-linear model for temperature was applied followed by a multivariate random-effects meta-analysis to obtain average associations. Mortality due to all and cause-specific nervous system diseases (major neurodegenerative diseases, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's) were analyzed, with consideration for sex and age (0-84 and 85+ years old) subgroups., Results: We analyzed 162,315 death cases due to nervous system diseases. Cold was associated with all categories of nervous system diseases-related mortality, but not heat. The estimated relative risks for cold, obtained by comparing the 2.5th percentile of daily mean temperature distribution to the minimum mortality temperature (MMT), were 1.43 (95 % CI: 1.28-1.60), 1.37 (95 % CI: 1.17-1.59), 1.53 (95 % CI: 1.07-2.01), and 1.54 (95 % CI: 1.13-2.10) for all nervous system diseases, major neurodegenerative diseases, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's, respectively. These associations were also observed in the sex and age subgroups in general but without evidence of effect modification. Heat (the 97.5th percentile of daily mean temperature distribution vs. MMT) was associated with Parkinson's disease-related mortality among those aged 85 years and over., Discussion: Cold was associated with an increased risk of nervous system disease-related mortality. The effect of heat was not observed, except for mortality among the elderly aged 85 years and older with Parkinson's disease., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest I declare no competing interest., (Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Background: Bisphenols, and especially bisphenol A, are widely used as components of epoxy resins and polycarbonate. Widespread detection and potential health risks have led to bisphenol A being replaced by other alternatives, including structurally similar bisphenol analogs. Several bisphenol analogs are suspected to have similar adverse health consequences. This study examined the temporal trends in bisphenol exposure among a group of Japanese women from 1993 to 2016, and assessed the associated health risks., Methods: We used archived single spot urine samples of healthy Japanese women living in the Kyoto area (n = 133) collected in 1993, 2000, 2003, 2009, 2011, and 2016. We measured the concentrations of 10 bisphenols in these samples., Results: A sharp increase in the detection rates of bisphenol F was observed after 2000. There was a distinct downward trend in urinary bisphenol A concentrations and an upward trend in bisphenol E concentrations after 2009. While the hazard index for all measured bisphenols was below 1 in all subjects, bisphenol F was determined as the most important risk driver after 2000, rather than bisphenol A., Discussion: Trends of decreasing bisphenol A and increasing bisphenol E exposure especially after 2011, along with no significant change in the sum of all bisphenol analogs in urine, provide clear evidence that bisphenol A has been replaced by other bisphenols in the study population. We found no significant change in the total exposure to bisphenols during the study period. Bisphenol F might become the most important bisphenol in terms of risk, while cumulative risks due to all bisphenol exposure were deemed insignificant. Considering the accumulating evidence indicating adverse effects at lower exposure levels, further studies are warranted to assess exposure and risk from bisphenol A analogs., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Although substantial evidence suggests that high and low temperatures are adversely associated with nonaccidental mortality, few studies have focused on exploring the risks of temperature on external causes of death., Objectives: We investigated the short-term associations between temperature and external causes of death and four specific categories (suicide, transport, falls, and drowning) in 47 prefectures of Japan from 1979 to 2015., Methods: We conducted a two-stage meta-regression analysis. First, we performed time-stratified case-crossover analyses with a distributed lag nonlinear model to examine the association between temperature and mortality due to external causes for each prefecture. We then used a multivariate meta-regression model to combine the association estimates across all prefectures in Japan. In addition, we performed stratified analyses for the associations by sex and age., Results: A total of 2,416,707 external causes of death were included in the study. We found a J-shaped exposure-response curve for all external causes of death, in which the risks increased for mild cold temperatures [20th percentile; relative risk ( RR ) = 1.09 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.05,1.12)] and extreme heat [99th percentile; RR = 1.24 (95% CI: 1.20, 1.29)] compared with those for minimum mortality temperature (MMT). However, the shapes of the exposure-response curves varied according to four subcategories. The risks of suicide and transport monotonically increased as temperature increased, with RRs of 1.35 (95% CI: 1.26, 1.45) and 1.60 (95% CI: 1.35, 1.90), respectively, for heat, whereas J- and U-shaped curves were observed for falls and drowning, with RRs of 1.14 (95% CI: 1.03, 1.26) and 1.95 (95% CI: 1.70, 2.23) for heat and 1.13 (95% CI: 1.02, 1.26) and 2.33 (95% CI: 1.89, 2.88) for cold, respectively, compared with those for cause-specific MMTs. The sex- and age-specific associations varied considerably depending on the specific causes., Discussion: Both low and high temperatures may be important drivers of increased risk of external causes of death. We suggest that preventive measures against external causes of death should be considered in adaptation policies. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP9943.