Scientists exploring how to beat heat for better sleep
Cool showers and less coffee or alcohol: sleep quality is being harmed by hotter temperatures caused by climate change, and scientists say we need to learn how to adapt.
The human brain is very sensitive to heat, with higher temperatures raising the body's central thermostat and activating stress systems.
Scientists are increasingly exploring mechanisms that can help the body adapt to rising temperatures affecting our sleep and leading to health complications.
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Yomiuri Shimbun
a day ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Japan's Birth Rate Remains Stubbornly Low Despite Efforts; Expert Recommends Reducing Working Hours, Work-Style Reform
Yomiuri Shimbun file photo The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo Despite years of extensive efforts to combat Japan's chronically low birth rate, the latest statistics indicate that there has been little tangible impact. According to the nation's 2024 vital statistics, the number of babies born to Japanese citizens in Japan fell below 700,000 for the first time, and the total fertility rate, or the average number of children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime, slipped to a record low of 1.15. The annual number of babies born had dipped below 800,000 only as recently as 2022, and a sense of panic is spreading among central and local governments as cash handouts, making high school education free and a slew of other policies have failed to reverse these declines. Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike wore a grim expression Wednesday after the figures compiled by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry were released, but pledged to continue tackling the issue. 'I feel that we need to battle on at this time,' Koike said. 'We'll continue implementing policies.' The Tokyo metropolitan government has declared that efforts to combat the low birth rate are a high-priority issue, and has led the nation in rolling out a string of policies such as free nursery care and giving households with children aged up to 18 a handout of ¥5,000 per month. Despite these steps, the fertility rate for women living in the capital has been below 1 for two consecutive years and sank to 0.96 in 2024. 'We're trying all kinds of policies, but the situation remains severe,' a senior metropolitan government official said. Ishikawa Prefecture's fertility rate recorded a drop of 0.11 percentage points from 2023, the biggest fall among the nation's 47 prefectures. The prefecture has attempted to stem the decline through such measures as promoting businesses that support a balance between work and raising children. 'We'll accept the latest results and use the examples of other local governments as a reference for future policies,' an Ishikawa prefectural government official in charge of child policies said. Tokyo a magnet for young people The Yomiuri Shimbun The number of couples who got married in 2024 increased for the first time in two years. Although about 480,000 couples tied the knot, this figure remains well below the almost 600,000 couples who did so in 2019. The number plunged the following year as the COVID-19 pandemic erupted. The average age at which a woman married for the first time ticked up 0.1 years from 2023. The average age at which women gave birth to their first baby was 31.0, about five years older than 1975's average age of 25.7. The influx of young women to Tokyo and other major urban centers from rural areas has been identified as a major driver of these trends. According to Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry statistics, the fertility rate fell especially sharply in the Tohoku region. A striking number of municipalities in Tohoku recorded that the number of women in their 20s and early 30s who moved away in 2024 eclipsed the number of men in those age brackets who departed. In major cities, many young people said they could not consider getting married because they were too busy with their job or were employed as nonregular workers. 'Rural areas must come up with ways to increase employment opportunities that encourage women to choose to live there,' said Kanako Amano, a senior researcher on demographics at the NLI Research Institute. 'I urge local governments in major cities to concentrate resources on ensuring stable employment that allows young men and women to consider getting married and having children.' Taking kids to the office Amid these gloomy statistics, some companies have produced positive results by changing the way their employees work. People Co., a toy manufacturer based in Chuo Ward, Tokyo, encourages employees to bring their children with them, so they can work while their children play at the office. Nine of People's about 45 employees were raising children in 2019, and that figure has soared to 17 this year. Kyoto University Prof. Haruka Shibata, an expert in sociology, said calculations based on data collated from other nations indicated that expanding child-rearing allowances could nudge up the fertility rate by about 0.1 percentage points. However, reducing the working hours of men in full-time, regular employment by two hours each day could increase the rate by 0.35 percentage points. The Children's Future Strategy approved by the Cabinet in 2023 also stated that reducing long working hours would lead to people having enough time to devote to child-rearing and household chores. 'The government should discuss steps such as reducing legal working hours, and beef up national policies that could change the way people work,' Shibata said.
Yomiuri Shimbun
3 days ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Brain-Dead Organ Donors Hit Record High in Fy2024; Only 1 in 3 Relevant Institutions Have Experience in Organ Donation
Yomiuri Shimbun file photo Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Takamaro Fukuoka The number of patients declared brain dead who donated at least one organ rose to a record 139 in fiscal 2024, up 23 from the previous fiscal year, Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Takamaro Fukuoka said at the House of Councillors' Health, Labor and Welfare Committee on Tuesday. The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry partly attributes this rise to an initiative supporting medical institutions with limited experience in organ donation. A record high has been marked for three consecutive years. A single brain-dead donor can provide up to seven organs. From the 139 patients, there were 119 liver donations, 116 for hearts, 115 for kidneys, 106 for lungs, 55 for corneas, 46 for pancreases and two small intestine donations. As of the end of fiscal 2024, the cumulative number of such donors was 1,181 since the Organ Transplants Law came into force in 1997. Meanwhile, the number of patients whose organs were donated after circulatory death in fiscal 2024 was nine, down six from the previous fiscal year. Of about 900 medical institutions nationwide capable of organ donation, only about one-third have actual experience. Currently, a ministry-organized program is in place in which 31 medical institutions across the country experienced in organ donation advise nearby institutions lacking such experience. 'Through receiving instruction, medical institutions that lack confidence are gradually engaging in organ donation efforts,' a ministry official said.
Japan Times
3 days ago
- Japan Times
Global crises disrupt effort to get millions to quit smoking
The COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and wars have combined to hamper global governments' plans to reduce tobacco use, derailing efforts to get an estimated 95 million people to stop smoking, a report endorsed by 57 campaign groups said on Friday. Governments had planned to reduce smoking rates among people over 15 by 30% between 2010 and 2025 as part of an action plan tied to global sustainable development targets agreed in 2015. But the timeline to achieve the goal was extended an extra five years in 2024 as other priorities pushed countries to divert resources away from implementing a World Health Organization treaty on tobacco control signed by 168 countries. "This ... delay represents an estimated 95 million additional tobacco users, who would otherwise have quit by 2025," said the report, submitted to the U.N. Economic and Social Council, which oversees global sustainable development. While governments have succeeded in reducing the number of smokers, the failure to hit the 30% reduction target means that 1,207,800,000 people are still smoking globally, instead of the target of 1,112,400,000, based on smoking rates and population figures provided in the report. Published by Action on Smoking and Health Canada and endorsed by the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, Cancer Research U.K. and others, the report warned the delays could result in millions of additional deaths from tobacco use if sustained. The U.N. has already acknowledged that funding shortfalls, geopolitical tensions and pandemic-linked disruptions have pushed the world off track on most of the 17 wide-ranging sustainable development goals. Those goals aim, among other things, to reduce poverty and hunger and increase access to healthcare and education. The groups that endorsed ASH Canada's report urged governments to redouble their efforts on tobacco control policies such as tax increases and smoking bans.
