Japanese cedar pollinosis: discovery, nomenclature, and epidemiological trends

The history of pollinosis in Japan before the discovery of Japanese cedar pollinosis was presented in part I in this paper. Until early 1960s, it was believed that there was no pollinosis in Japan except one case of ragweed pollinosis. The summary of how the Japanese cedar pollinosis was discovered and named was presented in part II, by referring to the paper in which we reported the presence of Japanese cedar pollinosis for the first time. The epidemiology after the discovery of Japanese cedar pollinosis was presented in part III. The number of the patients suffering from Japanese cedar pollinosis gradually increased since the 1970s. The annual incidence rate of the pollinosis had correlations with the dispersed pollen count per year. The prevalence rate of the patients with Japanese cedar pollinosis increased from 16.2% in 1998 to 26.5% in 2008 by the nationwide survey. The prevalence rate of the patients with Japanese cedar pollinosis in Tokyo metropolitan area was 10% from 1983 to 1987, 19.4% in 1996, and 28.2% in 2006. The prospects of current research and future studies were discussed in parts IV and V.