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Document Type

Article

Abstract

Eight thousand and six American men of Japanese ancestry agreed to participate in a prospective cohort study of coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease and cancer in Hawaii. This Honolulu cohort is part of a larger, tripartite investigation taking place in Japan, Hawaii, and the U.S. mainland and is designed to study the influence of East-to-West migration on a genetically homogeneous group of Japanese men. Baseline data on physical, medical, socio-cultural, dietary, and family information were collected as were factors associated with the risk to, and manifestation of, disease outcome. To observe whether regional differences in Japan may be reflected in the experience of migrants to Hawaii, 10-year incidence and mortality of coronary heart disease (CHD) and cerebrovascular disease (CVA) were compared between subgroups according to ancestral origin in Okinawa Prefecture or in other Japanese prefectures. Somewhat higher serum cholesterol (p < 0.04) and a greater body mass index (p < 0.0001) in the men with ancestral origin in Okinawa prefecture were found. CHD incidence and mortality were similar, but stroke incidence (p < 0.05) was modestly higher in the men of Okinawan ancestry. These analyses indicate that region of ancestral origin in Japan is unlikely to have played a major role in the incidence of CHD and stroke following immigration to Hawaii.

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