Dr. Li will have a presentation on the topic of Forest Medicine on a symposium during the European Forest Week .

The European Forest Week was declared by the ministers responsible for forests of 46 European countries and is being jointly organized by the European Commission, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, in close collaboration with the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, France.


Organizer: IUFRO/Finnish Forest Research institute (Metla)
Title: Forests - promoting or harming human health
Room: Queen Juliana (B324)

click here to see Agenda
http://www.europeanforestweek.org/51336/en/


European Forest Week 20-24 October, 2008, Rome

Information event
Forests - promoting or harming human health?

Date: Wednesday 22 October at 16:15 - 17:45
Place: FAO Headquarters, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, Rome, Queen Juliana Room (B324)

Arranged by IUFRO Task Force on Forests and Human Health, ForHealth, www.forhealth.fi


Opening words
Dr. Matti Rousi, Finnish Forest Research Institute, Deputy Coordinator of the IUFRO Task Force on Forests and Human Health

Changing environment and zoonotic diseases from European forests
Prof. Heikki Henttonen, Finnish Forest Research Institute

Connections between forests and HIV/AIDS
Dr. Gabriel Rugalema, Senior Officer, Gender and Population Division, FAO

Therapeutic power of forest visits - growing evidence base
Dr. Qing Li, MD, PhD, Senior Assistant Professor, Nippon Medical School, President of the Japanese Society of Forest Medicine

Global change and global health policies - the role of forest ecosystems
Dr. Conor Kretsch, Director of COHAB Initiative (Co-Operation On Health And Biodiversity)

Closure

http://www.forhealth.fi/pmwiki/pmwiki.php?n=Main.SeminarOnForestsAndHumanHealth

http://www.forhealth.fi/pmwiki/pmwiki.php?n=Main.SteeringCommittee

This site has been linked by the following site. There are also some pictures taken in the forest of Japan on this site.
http://www.forhealth.fi/pmwiki/pmwiki.php?n=Main.PhysicalAndMentalHealth-Design

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20080502f1.html

The Japan Times, Friday, May 2, 2008


'Forest therapy' taking root
Researchers find that a simple stroll among trees has real benefits


By AKEMI NAKAMURA
Staff writer
For stressed-out workers, this may someday be a doctor's prescription: Walk around in the woods.


Turning over a new leaf: People take part in a "forest therapy" experiment in Iiyama, Nagano Prefecture, in 2005. COURTESY OF LI QING PHOTO


Scientists in Japan have been learning a lot in recent years about the relaxing effects of forests and trees on mental and physical health. Based on their findings, some local governments are promoting "forest therapy."

Experience shows that the scents of trees, the sounds of brooks and the feel of sunshine through forest leaves can have a calming effect, and the conventional wisdom is right, said Yoshifumi Miyazaki, director of the Center for Environment Health and Field Sciences at Chiba University.

Japan's leading scholar on forest medicine has been conducting physiological experiments to examine whether forests can make people feel at ease.

One study he conducted on 260 people at 24 sites in 2005 and 2006 found that the average concentration of salivary cortisol, a stress hormone, in people who gazed on forest scenery for 20 minutes was 13.4 percent lower than that of people in urban settings, Miyazaki said.

This means that forests can lower stress and make people feel at ease, he said, noting that findings in other physiological experiments, including fluctuations in heart beats and blood pressure, support this conclusion.

"Humans had lived in nature for 5 million years. We were made to fit a natural environment. So we feel stress in an urban area," Miyazaki said. "When we are exposed to nature, our bodies go back to how they should be."

Taking a walk in a forest, or "forest bathing" as it is sometimes called, can strengthen the immune system, according to Li Qing, a senior assistant professor of forest medicine at Nippon Medical School in Tokyo.

Li conducted experiments to see whether spending time in a forest increases the activity of people's natural killer (NK) cells, a component of the immune system that fights cancer.

In one, 12 men took a two-night trip to a forest in Nagano Prefecture in 2006, during which they went on three leisurely strolls and stayed in a hotel in the woods. Thirteen female nurses made a similar trip to another forest in the prefecture in 2007.

NK activity was boosted in the subjects in both groups, and the increase was observed as long as 30 days later, Li said.

"When NK activity increases, immune strength is enhanced, which boosts resistance against stress," Li said, adding that forest therapy for immune-compromised patients may be developed within a few years.

Li said the increase in NK activity can be attributed partly to inhaling air containing phytoncide, or essential wood oils given off by plants.

..........

The list of papers in English on the topic of forest medicine was renewed.
→http://forest-medicine.com/page11.php

International Symposium on Forests and Human Health

The international Union of Forests Research Organizations (IUFRO) will hold an international symposium on Forests and Human Health, 30 April, 2008,at Marrakesh, Morocco.

You can find the symposium program and registration form at
http://www.forhealth.fi/pmwiki/pmwiki.php?n=Main.SymposiumOnForestsAndHumanHealth

⇒Download:http://www.forhealth.fi/pmwiki/docs/forest-and-health-symposium-2008.pdf

P1A-11 (Hall A)
Pekka Saranpaa
Resin Salve From Norway Spruce（Picea Abies［ L. ］Karst. ）
Data: March 29, 2008 at 15:20〜15:50

P1A-31 (Hall A)
Eira-Maija Savonen
Matsutake-from the Finnish Forests to the Japanese Market
Data: March 29, 2008 at 14:00〜14:40

P1B-04 (Hall B)
Liisa Tyrvainen
The Importance of Nature to Finns and the Relationship of the use of Green Areas on Perceived Health And Restorative Experiences.
Data: March 29, 2008 at 14:00〜14:40


Five minutes for poster presentation and 5 minutes for discussion.

Hell, everyone,
We will have a dinner party to welcome Professor Hannu Raitio and Professor Won Sop Shin, the guest speakers in our Symposium, as well as the following researchers from the Finnish Forest Research Institute Metla.

Date： March 28, 19：00〜21：00
Place： Fontana di OTANI at the Hotel Nwe-OTANI Kumamoto
http://www.newotani.co.jp/en/group/index.html

Fees for the dinner： \7000 Japanese en per person for adult, \2000 en for child　(Including dinner, beers, wines, Japanese wines, and softdrinks)

Guests in the party

Professor, Dr. Hannu Raitio
Director General, The Finnish Forest Research Institute Metla, Finland

Professor, Dr. Won Sop Shin, Chungbuk National University, Korea

Dr. Pekka Saranpaa, The Finnish Forest Research Institute Metla

Dr. Tytti Sarjala, The Finnish Forest Research Institute Metla

Professor Liisa Tyrvainen, The Finnish Forest Research Institute Metla

MSc Eira-Maija Savonen, The Finnish Forest Research Institute Metla

Ms. Ai Takase, The Finnish Institute in Japan

There will be several people who can interpret between English and Japanese, so please feel free to join in the party.

See you in Kumamoto!!

Qing Li
Nippon Medical School
March 4, 2008

Title of the book
Natural Killer T-Cells: Roles, Interactions, and Interventions

Editors: Nathan V. Fournier

Book Description:
Natural killer T (NKT) cells are a heterogeneous group of T cells that share properties of both T cells and natural killer (NK) cells. Many of these cells recognize the non-polymorphic CD1d molecule, an antigen-presenting molecule that binds self- and foreign lipids and glycolipids. Upon activation, NK T cells are able to produce large quantities of interferon-gamma, IL-4, and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, as well as multiple other cytokines and chemokines (such as IL-2 and TNF-alpha). NKT cells seem to be essential for several aspects of immunity because their dysfunction or deficiency has been shown to lead to the development of autoimmune diseases (such as diabetes or atherosclerosis) and cancers. NKT cells have recently been implicated in the disease progression of human asthma. The clinical potential of NKT cells lies in the rapid release of cytokines (such as IL-2, IFN-gamma, TNF-alpha, and IL-4) that promote or suppress different immune responses.

Table of Contents:
Preface

NKT Cell-associated Diseases and Related-treatments
(Tan Jinquan, Li Li, Wang Li, Department of Immunology, Wuhan University School of Basic Medical Sciences, China)

Lifestyle and Natural Killer Activity (related to Forest Medicine)
(Kanehisa Morimoto, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan, Qing Li, Nippon Medical School, Japan)

Organophosphorus Compounds Inhibit Natural Killer Cell Activity
(Qing Li, Department of Hygiene and Public Health, Nippon Medical School, Japan)

NKT Cells: Dual Role in Tumor Immunosurveillance and Implications in Cancer Immunotherapy
(Sergiy S. Olishevsky, Alexandra L. Sevko, Volodymyr O. Shlyakhovenko, R.E. Kavetsky Institute of Experimental Pathology, Oncology and Radiobiology of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine)

Natural killer T Cells in Peripheral Tolerance
(Michael Nowak, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Harvard Medical School, Boston)

Possible Clinical Use of NK Cells for the Control of Hematologic Malignancies
(Giovanni F. Torelli, Roberta Maggio, Maria G. Mascolo, Department of Cellular Biotechnologies and Hematology, University “La Sapienza”, Italy)

*Natural Killer Cell Receptor NKG2A/HLA-E Interaction Dependent Differential Thymopoiesis of Hematopoietic Progenitor Cells Influences the Outcome of HIV Infection (Edmond J. Yunis, Viviana Romero and Prasad Koka)

Optimizing the Use of BETA Glycolipids as NKT Cell Ligands
(Tomer Adar, Ami Ben Ya'acov, Gadi Lalazar, Hebrew University, Hadassah Medical Center, Israel)

Index


Binding: Hardcover
Pub. Date: 2008, 2nd Quarter

ISBN: 978-1-60456-287-3

https://www.novapublishers.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=6812

Title: The trends in research on forest bathing trips in Japan, Korea and around the World

Date: March 29, 2008 (Sat) at 14：00〜16：00

Place：Big Hall at Kumamoto Civic Hall

Chairpersons (Society of Forest Medicine)

Qing Li, MD, PhD (Nippon Medical School, qing-li@nms.ac.jp)
Yoshifumi Miyazaki, Prof, PhD (Chiba University, ymiyazaki@faculty.chiba-u.jp)

1. Keynote lecture 1
Forests and human health - global trends in research and practice-
Hannu Raitio, Prof, PhD (Finnish Forest Research Institute, Finland)

2. Keynote lecture 2
Trends in research on the therapeutic effects of forest use in Korea
Won Sop Shin, Prof, PhD (Chungbuk National University, Korea)

3. Trends in research on forest bathing trips in Japan
1) Fields studying the therapeutic effects of forest and related topics
Hideki Hirano, PhD (Forest Agency of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan)

2) The forest environment and subjective evaluation of a forest bathing trip
Takahide Kagawa, MS (Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute)

3) The physiological effects of Shinrin-yoku (taking in the atmosphere of the forest)
Yuko Tsunetsugu, PhD (Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute)
Bum-Jin Park, PhD and Yoshifumi Miyazaki, Prof., PhD (Chiba University)

4) The effects of forest bathing trips on human immune function
Qing Li, MD, PhD (Nippon Medical School)

Hell, everyone,
We will have a dinner party to welcome Professor Hannu Raitio and Professor Won Sop Shin, the guest speakers in our Symposium as well as the following researchers from the Finnish Forest Research Institute Metla.

Date： March 28, 19：00〜21：00
Place： Restaurant near by the meeting place in Kumamoto (it will be decided before March 1)
Fees for the dinner： \7000 Japanese en per person for adult, \2000 en for child　(Including dinner, beer, wine, Japanese wine, and softdrinks)

Guests in the party

Professor, Dr. Hannu Raitio
Director General, The Finnish Forest Research Institute Metla, Finland

Professor, Dr. Won Sop Shin, Chungbuk National University, Korea

Dr. Pekka Saranpaa, The Finnish Forest Research Institute Metla

Dr. Tytti Sarjala, The Finnish Forest Research Institute Metla

Professor Liisa Tyrvainen, The Finnish Forest Research Institute Metla

MSc Eira-Maija Savonen, The Finnish Forest Research Institute Metla

Ms. Ai Takase, The Finnish Institute in Japan

There will be several people who can interpret between English and Japanese, so please feel free to join in the party.

Please feel free to send a mail to Qing Li (qing-li@nms.ac.jp) before March 1, 2008.

See you in Kumamoto!!

Qing Li
Nippon Medical School
February 26, 2008

International Symposium on Forests and Human Health

The international Union of Forests Research Organizations (IUFRO) will hold an international symposium on Forests and Human Health, 30 April, 2008,at Marrakesh, Morocco.

You can find the symposium program and registration form at
http://www.forhealth.fi/pmwiki/pmwiki.php?n=Main.SymposiumOnForestsAndHumanHealth

⇒Download:http://forest-medicine.com/pdf/forest-and-health-symposium-2008.pdf