Kayo Ueda

Hokkaido University | Hokudai · Graduate School of Medicine

Background: The acute effects of temperature and air pollution on mortality are well-known environmental factors that have been receiving more recognition lately. However, the health effects resulting from the interaction of air pollution and temperature remain uncertain, particularly in cities with low levels of pollution. This study aims to exami...

Background: understanding the effects of coexposure to compound extreme events, such as air pollution and extreme heat, is important for reducing current and future health burdens. This study investigated the independent and synergistic effects of exposure to air pollution from vegetation fires and extreme heat on all-cause mortality in Upper North...

Background: The impact of temperature on morbidity remains largely unknown. Moreover, extensive evidence indicates contrasting patterns between temperature-mortality and temperature-morbidity associations. A nationwide comparison of the impact of temperature on mortality and morbidity in more specific subgroups is necessary to strengthen understan...

Climate change poses significant threats to human health, propelling Japan to take decisive action through the Climate Change Adaptation Act of 2018. This Act has led to the implementation of climate change adaptation policies across various sectors, including healthcare. In this review, we synthesized existing scientific evidence on the impacts of...

Increasing air pollution and decreasing exposure to greenness may contribute to the metabolic syndrome (MetS). We examined associations between long-term exposure to residential greenness and air pollution and MetS incidence in the Bangkok Metropolitan Region, Thailand. Data from 1369 employees (aged 52–71 years) from the Electricity Generating Aut...

BACKGROUND AND AIM: This study aims to determine the association between temperature and gastroenteritis of forcibly displaced persons in refugee camps, Bangladesh. METHOD: Daily time series data, based on case reports, were collected from two clinics organized by UNHCR in Kutupalong and Nayapara camps in Ukhia and Teknaf Upazila, Cox's Bazar, Bang...

The combined toxicological effects of airborne particulate matter (PM), such as PM2.5, and Asian sand dust (ASD), with surrounding chemicals, particularly quinones, on human airway epithelial cells remain underexplored. In this study, we established an in vitro combination exposure model using 1,2-naphthoquinones (NQ) and 9,10-phenanthroquinones (P...

Objective Despite an increase in the number of studies examining the association between extreme weather events and infectious diseases, evidence on respiratory infection remains scarce. This study examined the association between extreme rainfall and acute respiratory infection (ARI) in children aged <5 years in sub-Saharan Africa. Setting Study...

Background: The risk of cardiovascular diseases may be reduced by residing in green environments. However, there are relatively few longitudinal cohort studies, especially in Southeast Asia, that focused on the health benefits of long-term greenness exposure in young adults. The present study examined the association between long-term exposure to...

Higher residential greenness is associated with a lower risk of chronic kidney disease, but evidence on the association between greenness exposure and kidney function has not been conducted. Using cohort data from Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) employees, we investigated the association between long-term exposure to greenness a...

Studies have established a link between exposure to fine particles (PM2.5) and mortality in infants and children. However, few studies have explored the association between post-birth exposure to PM2.5 and under-5 mortality. We conducted a scoping review to identify relevant epidemiological evidence on the association between post-birth ambient PM2...

Exposure to particulate air pollution may induce hepatotoxic effects via low-grade inflammation. However, only a few longitudinal epidemiological studies have investigated the long-term effects of air pollution on liver enzyme levels. The present study examined associations between long-term air pollution exposure and serum liver enzymes [alkaline...

Experimental and epidemiological studies have demonstrated that fine particulate matter with a diameter of <2.5 μm (PM2.5) affects both the respiratory and immune systems. However, effective approaches to reduce PM2.5-induced hazardous effects have not been discovered yet. Streamer discharge is a category of plasma discharge in which high-speed ele...

Background Climate change and its subsequent effects on temperature have raised global public health concerns. Although numerous epidemiological studies have shown the adverse health effects of temperature, the association remains unclear for children aged below five years old and those in tropical climate regions. Methods We conducted a two-stage...

Ozone (O3)-induced health effects vary in terms of severity, from lung function deterioration, hospitalizations to death. Several studies have noted a linear increase in the health risk after O3 exposure. However, current evidence suggests a non-linear U- and J-shaped concentration-response (C-R) function. The potential increasing risks with decrea...

Numerous epidemiological studies have reported that ozone (O3) and temperature are independently associated with health outcomes, but modification of the effects of O3 on health outcomes by temperature, and vice versa, has not been fully described. This study aimed to investigate effect modification by temperature on the association between O3 and...

Background and aim Short-term associations between air pollution and mortality have been well reported in Japan, but the historical changes in mortality risk remain unknown. We examined temporal changes in the mortality risks associated with short-term exposure to four criteria air pollutants in selected Japanese cities. Methods We collected daily...

The air quality in Upper Northern Thailand (UNT) deteriorates during seasonal vegetation fire events, causing adverse effects especially on respiratory health outcomes. This study aimed to quantitatively estimate respiratory morbidity from vegetation fire smoke exposure, and to assess the impact of a burning ban enforced in 2016 on morbidity burden...

Smoke haze due to vegetation and peatland fires in Southeast Asia is a serious public health concern. Several approaches have been applied in previous studies; however, the concepts and interpretations of these approaches are poorly understood. In this scoping review, we addressed issues related to the application of epidemiology (EPI), health burd...

Background Environmental factors have been associated with adverse health effects in epidemiological studies. The main exposure variable is usually determined via prior knowledge or statistical methods. It may be challenging when evidence is scarce to support prior knowledge, or to address collinearity issues using statistical methods. This study a...

A limited number of studies have investigated the association between short-term exposure to PM2.5 components and morbidity. The present case-crossover study explored the association between exposure to total PM2.5 and its components and emergency ambulance dispatches, which is one of the indicators of morbidity, in the 23 Tokyo wards. Between 2016...

Background: The air quality in Upper Northern Thailand (UNT) deteriorates during seasonal vegetation fire events, causing adverse effects especially on respiratory health outcomes. This study aimed to quantitatively estimate respiratory morbidity from vegetation fire smoke exposure, and to assess the impact of a burning ban enforced in 2016 on morb...

Background Upper Northern Thailand (UNT) has been episodically affected by air pollution from vegetation burning, which causes adverse respiratory health effects. However, no study has evaluated the effect of regulatory actions to prohibit vegetation burning on respiratory morbidity. We examined the effect of a burning ban enforced in May 2016 on h...

Yokkaichi asthma from the 1960s to the early 1980s involved the onset and exacerbation of asthma, chronic bronchitis, and chronic obstructive lung disease, which was attributed to sulfur dioxide (SO2). Inhaled SO2 easily dissolves in the epithelial lung lining fluid of the nose and upper airways and generates secondary reactive compounds, such as s...

Forest fires in peatlands emit pollutants to the atmosphere, affecting public health. Though air quality data and epidemiology information are helpful in the management of the environment and public health, they are not always available. We aimed to reveal the utility of newspaper articles for estimating the public health concerns posed by air poll...

A diesel exhaust particle (DEP) is a type of particulate matter that is easily produced from combustion in a diesel power engine. It has been reported that DEPs can cause short- and long-term health problems. This is because DEPs are complex mixtures that are highly inhalable through the airways due to their small particle size. However, the relati...

Rationale Epidemiological evidence indicates that ambient exposure to particulate matter ⩽2.5 μm in aerodynamic diameter (PM2.5) has adverse effects on lung function growth in children, but it is not actually clear whether exposure to low-level PM2.5 results in long-term decrements in lung function growth in pre- to early-adolescent schoolchildren....

Background Kidney dysfunction is considered a cardiovascular risk factor. However, few longitudinal studies have examined the effects of air pollution on kidney function. We evaluated associations between long-term air pollution exposure and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) using data from a cohort of the Electricity Generating Authority...

Background and aim The seasonal occurrence of vegetation fire in the Mainland Southeast Asia (MSEA) has deteriorated air quality, which can increase respiratory diseases. Nevertheless, no study has assessed the health burden from exposure to vegetation-fire smoke in the MSEA. We aimed to estimate the number of hospital visits from respiratory disea...

It has been reported that long-term exposure to air pollution is linked to metabolic syndrome (MetS), which is an important risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. However, no study has investigated the epidemiological association between long-term air pollution exposure and MetS in Southeast Asia. We examined the association between long-term exp...

Background Studies on the association between smoke haze (hereafter ‘haze’) and adverse health effects have increased in recent years due to extreme weather conditions and the increased occurrence of vegetation fires. The possible adverse health effects on under-five children (U5Y) is especially worrying due to their vulnerable condition. Despite c...

Background Ankle-brachial index (ABI) and cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI) are surrogate measures of atherosclerosis based on the functional performance of vessels, and are highly related to cardiovascular events. However, only a few longitudinal studies have been conducted on their associations with long-term air pollution exposure. Objective T...

Only a few studies have investigated the association between long-term exposure to air pollution and alterations of serum lipids and blood sugar level in developing countries. The present longitudinal study examined associations between long-term air pollution exposure and serum lipids [total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), high-density lipop...

In Japan, various countermeasures have been undertaken to reduce the atmospheric concentration of fine particulate matter (PM2.5). We evaluated the extent to which these countermeasures were effective in reducing PM2.5 concentrations by analyzing the long-term concentration trends of the major components of PM2.5 and their emissions in Nagoya City....

Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is composed of a variety of chemical components, and the dependency of the health effects of total PM2.5 on specific components is still under discussion. We hypothesised that specific PM2.5 components are responsible for the health effects, and investigated the association between PM2.5 components and mortality in 2...

Background Epidemiological studies based on mortality and crime data have indicated that short-term exposure to higher temperature increases the risk of suicide and violent crimes. However, there are few studies on non-fatal intentional injury, especially on non-fatal self-harm which is much more common than suicide. Objectives We aimed to clarify...

Background: Studies on the adverse effects of Asian dust (AD) on respiratory function in children are scarce. The objective of this study was to examine the association between AD and respiratory function by measuring peak expiratory flow rates (PEFRs) in asthmatic children. Methods: The study was carried out from March to May from 2014 through...

Few studies have focused on the effects of exposure to air pollutants from vegetation fire events (including forest fire and the burning of crop residues) among children. In this study we aimed to investigate the association between PM 10 concentrations and hospital visits by children to address respiratory disease, conjunctivitis, and der-matitis....

Background Several studies have shown the health effects of air pollutants, especially in China, North American and Western European countries. But longitudinal cohort studies focused on health effects of long-term air pollution exposure are still limited in Southeast Asian countries where sources of air pollution, weather conditions, and demograph...

Abstract This study presents the results of the ERTDF S-12 project for searching an optimum reduction scenario of the short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) to simultaneously mitigate the global warming and environmental problems. The study utilized REAS emission inventory, Asia-Pacific Integrated Model-Enduse (AIM/Enduse), MIROC6 climate model, NI...

Aim: To examine the association between long-term exposure to suspended particulate matter (SPM) and cardiovascular mortality in Japan after controlling for known major confounding factors among a large middle and elderly cohort study in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. Methods: We followed 91,808 residents (men 34%) who undertook a national health check...

Importance Out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCAs) are a major public health concern and a leading cause of death worldwide. Exposure to ambient air pollution is associated with increases in morbidity and mortality and has been recognized as a leading contributor to global disease burden. Objective To examine the association between short-term exp...

Several studies have noted that the existence of comorbidities lead to an increase in the risk of premature mortality and morbidity. Most of the studies examining the effects of air pollution on comorbidity visits were from Northern American countries, with scarce literature from Asia. This study contributes to existing, yet limited understanding o...

A reduction in heart rate variability (HRV) is reportedly associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular mortality and morbidity. In previous studies, an inverse association was noted between HRV and particulate air pollution, but the sample populations were small and most consisted only of elderly individuals. We examined the association betw...

Numerous epidemiological studies have demonstrated that short-term exposure to ambient PM2.5 increases mortality and morbidity. Investigating the association using hourly ambient PM2.5 exposure may provide important insights, as current evidence is limited mostly to daily lag term. This study aimed to investigate the hourly association between ambi...

Objectives: In this multicity study, we aimed to elucidate the city-specific factors affecting the association of high ambient temperature with ambulance dispatches due to acute illnesses. Methods: We used the data of ambulance dispatches in 27 cities in Japan with more than 500,000 population excluding Tokyo, from May to September from 2012 to 201...

Asian dust is a phenomenon involving the long-range transport of atmospheric pollutants originating from the desert areas of China and Mongolia. In recent years, the health effects of Asian dust have raised public concerns. Numerous studies on the health effects of Asian dust have been published since the last review in 2010. Thus, a literature rev...

Abstract In 1952, the Japanese Society for Hygiene had once passed a resolution at its 22nd symposium on population control, recommending the suppression of population growth based on the idea of cultivating a healthier population in the area of eugenics. Over half a century has now passed since this recommendation; Japan is witnessing an aging of...

Exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is a potential aggravating factor for respiratory and allergic diseases. However, which PM2.5 sources are associated with such diseases remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the association of PM2.5 sources with allergic and respiratory symptoms in schoolchildren. PM2.5 samples were collected i...

Background: Previous research has highlighted the importance of major atmospheric aerosols such as sulfate, through its precursor sulfur dioxide (SO2), black carbon (BC), and organic carbon (OC), and their effect on global climate regimes, specifically on their impact on particulate matter measuring ≤ 2.5 μm (PM2.5). Policy regulations have attempt...

Measures for protecting against PM2.5 (particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters ≤2.5 µm), which exacerbates respiratory diseases, have not been established. The present study investigated the effects of extracts of curry powder and its components on pro-inflammatory responses, extracellular and intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) produ...

Background: From around 2012, the use of automated equipment for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) measurement with equivalence to a reference method has become popular nationwide in Japan. This enabled us to perform a national health effect assessment employing PM2.5 concentrations based on the standardised measurement method. We evaluated the assoc...

Additional information related to the article "Effects of ambient air pollution on daily hospital admissions for respiratory and cardiovascular diseases in Bangkok, Thailand"

Background: Although health effects of air pollutants are well documented in many countries especially in North American and Western Europe, few studies have been conducted in Thailand where pollution mix, weather conditions, and demographic characteristics are different. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of ambient air pollution o...

Background: The elderly population has been the primary target of intervention to prevent heat-related illnesses. According to the literature, the highest risks have been observed among the elderly in the temperature–mortality relationship. However, findings regarding the temperature–morbidity relationship are inconsistent. Objectives: This study a...

Short-term health effects of ambient PM2.5 have been established with numerous studies, but evidence in Asian countries is limited. This study aimed to investigate the short-term effects of PM2.5 on acute health outcomes, particularly all-cause, cardiovascular, respiratory, cerebrovascular and neuropsychological outcomes. We utilized daily emergenc...