1) To become physicians who care for patients as human beings, medical students must know about child welfare. A serious problem in the fields of medicine and welfare is child abuse. Collaboration is needed to support children and families, but many challenges exist.
2) The goal of our Multidisciplinary Team Workshop, which started in 2006 and targets students in a wide range of fields, is to educate future practitioners about the necessity of multidisciplinary collaboration.
3) More than 80% of the participating students felt the workshop was useful, and the participation of medical students increased the significance of the workshop for students from other disciplines.

Recently we treated two patients with Toki-shigyaku-ka-goshuyu-shokyo-to-ka-uzu decocted with 400ml of water and 400ml of rice wine SAKE for 60 minutes.
Case 1 was a 46-year-old female patient. Feelings of coldness prevented her from sleeping, and she could not get to sleep without warming up the room and heating her arms with a dryer. After boiling Toki-shigyaku-ka-goshuyu-shokyo-to-ka-uzu with sake, she was able to sleep well.
Case 2 was a 65-year-old male patient who had been suffering from polyarthralgia, low back pain and feelings of coldness. After taking Toki-shigyaku-ka-goshuyu-shokyo-to-ka-uzu boiled with sake, he felt numbness around the lips and limbs, although the amount of aconiti tuber was not changed.
It is believed that SAKE heats and enhances Yang-Ki in Kampo formulas. These characteristics are the same as those produced by aconiti tuber. At first, we suspected that aconiti tuber and alcohol combined synergistically and could therefore give rise to occurrences of aconiti poisoning. But ethanol, in amounts comparable to the alcohol content in sake, did not create this effect. The effect was dependent on the sake itself rather than the alcohol.

A 59-year-old woman was referred to our hospital with a complaint of a pulsatile mass in the right inguinal region four months after total hip replacement. Right femoral arterial injury owing to continuous contact with a fold of excess cement used in the fixation of the hip prosthesis was suspected to be the cause of the false aneurysm. Moreover, two months after the total hip replacement, the right lower leg was amputated at the below-knee level for acute ischemia due to arterial thromboembolism probably originating from the false aneurysm. False aneurysm due to direct vascular injury deserves consideration as a possible complication of total hip replacement.

Advanced cancer patients experience stress and are at risk for developing psychological problems. Early diagnosis and suitable intervention are very important for their quality of life and compliance with chemotherapy. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) is one of the most commonly used mood scales; however, HADS has not been validated for use with cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. The purpose of this study was to validate HADS as a screening tool for psychological distress among cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. We also identified possible factors contributing to psychological distress and explored the development of original screening tools. Fifty subjects agreed to complete HADS and consult with psychiatric specialists. Possible contributing factors to psychological distress were identified by HADS and logistic regression analysis. The mean score for patients with psychological distress was 20.0 ± 8.93, and for patients without distress was 9.67 ± 6.11; scores for patients with psychological distress were significantly higher. The optimal cutoff point of psychological distress appeared to be 17. This cutoff point was associated with 72.7% sensitivity and 82.1% specificity. The factor “recurrent cancer” (p=0.043) had an odds ratio of 7.24 (1.21-61.2). We verified that HADS is a useful screening tool for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. The factor “recurrent cancer” was shown to contribute to psychological distress. Palliat Care Res 2011; 6(2): 150-157

This review is partly composed of the presentation "Cytokine alteration and speculated immunological pathophysiology in silicosis and asbestos-related diseases" delivered during the symposium "Biological effects of fibrous and particulate substances and related areas" organized by the Study Group of Fibrous and Particulate Studies of the Japanese Society of Hygiene and held at the 78th Annual Meeting in Kumamoto, Japan. In this review, we briefly introduce the results of recent immunological analysis using the plasma of silica and asbestos-exposed patients diagnosed with silicosis, pleural plaque, or malignant mesothelioma. Thereafter, experimental background and speculation concerning the immunological pathophysiology of silica and asbestos-exposed patients are discussed.

It is common knowledge that exposure to asbestos causes asbestos-related diseases, such as asbestosis, lung cancer and malignant mesothelioma, not only in people who have had long-term contact with asbestos in their work environment but also in residents living near factories that handle asbestos. Since the summer of 2005, these revelations turned into a large medical problem and caused and social unrest. We have focused on the immunological effects of both asbestos and silica on the human immune system. In this brief review, we introduce immunological alterations found in patients with malignant mesothelioma and describe the experimental background in which these were found. Analyzing the immunological effects of asbestos may improve our understanding of the biological effects of asbestos.

Silica and silicates may disturb immune functions such as autoimmunity and tumor immunity, because people who are exposed to the materials sometimes develop autoimmune and malignant diseases, respectively. Although silica-induced disorders of autoimmunity have been explained as adjuvant-type effects of silica, more precise analyses are needed and should reflect the recent progress in immunomolecular findings. A brief summary of our investigations related to the immunological effects of silica/asbestos is presented. Recent advances in immunomolecular studies led to detailed analyses of the immunological effects of asbestos and silica. Both affect immuno-competent cells and these effects may be associated with the pathophysiological development of complications in silicosis and asbestos-exposed patients such as the occurrence of autoimmune disorders and malignant tumors, respectively. In addition, immunological analyses may lead to the development of new clinical tools for the modification of the pathophysiological aspects of diseases such as the regulation of autoimmunity or tumor immunity using cell-mediated therapies, various cytokines, and molecule-targeting therapies. In particular, as the incidence of asbestos-related malignancies is increasing and such malignancies have been a medical and social problem since the summer in 2005 in Japan, efforts should be focused on developing a cure for these diseases to eliminate the nation wide anxiety about these malignancies.

Asbestos exposure is known to cause malignant mesothelioma, which is associated with poor prognosis. We focused on and examined the effect of asbestos exposure on the differentiation and function of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs). CTLs have the ability to specifically attack tumor cells after being differentiated from naïve CD8 T cells following antigen stimulation. Exposure to chrysotile B asbestos suppressed the differentiation of CTLs during the mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) and was associated with a decrease in proliferation of CD8 T cells. Additionally, in an effort to investigate the mechanism associated with suppressed CTL differentiation upon exposure to asbestos, we focused on IL-2, a cytokine involved in T cell proliferation. Our findings indicated that insufficient levels of IL-2 are not the main cause for the suppressed induction of CTLs by asbestos exposure, although they suggest potential improvement in the suppressed CTL function. Furthermore, the functional properties of peripheral blood CD8 lymphocytes from asbestos-exposed individuals with pleural plaque (PP) and patients with malignant mesothelioma (MM) were examined. MM patients showed lower perforin levels in CD8 lymphocytes following stimulation compared with PP-positive individuals. The production capacity of IFN-γ in the MM group tended to be lower compared with healthy volunteers or PP-positive individuals. In an effort to determine whether chronic and direct asbestos exposure affected the function of CD8 T cells, cultured human CD8 T cells were employed as an in vitro model and subjected to long-term exposure to chrysotile (CH) asbestos. This resulted in decreased levels of intracellular perforin and secreted IFN-γ. Those findings underlie the possibility that impaired CD8 lymphocyte function is caused by asbestos exposure, which fail to suppress the development of MM. Our studies therefore reveal novel effects of asbestos exposure on CTLs, which might contribute towards the development and implementation of an effective strategy for the prevention and cure of malignant mesothelioma.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: There have been few studies on the efficacy of proton pump inhibitors and the doses required to treat dyspeptic symptoms observed in clinical practice. The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of different doses of omeprazole and different administration methods in Helicobacter pylori-negative, dyspeptic patients. METHODS: Patients with chronic upper abdominal symptoms within the previous 3 months were randomly divided into three groups: a daily, omeprazole 20 mg treatment group (OPZ20, n=61); a daily, omeprazole 10 mg treatment group (OPZ10, n=72); and an on-demand omeprazole 20 mg treatment group (on-demand, n=62). After 4 weeks of administration of the drug, symptom improvement rates were evaluated based on the Overall Global Severity score. RESULTS: The rates of symptom improvement after 4 weeks of treatment were 65.6% (40/61) in the OPZ20 group, 47.2% (34/72) in the OPZ10 group, and 50.0% (31/62) in the on-demand group. The OPZ20 group exhibited a significantly higher improvement rate (p=0.034) than the OPZ10 group. The OPZ20 group had significant improvements in regurgitation, postprandial fullness, vomiting, and bloating compared with the OPZ10 group. CONCLUSIONS: Daily treatment with 20 mg of omeprazole was efficient in treating upper abdominal symptoms. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, number UMIN000002621.
Dyspepsia ; Helicobacter ; Humans ; Japan ; Omeprazole ; Primary Health Care ; Proton Pump Inhibitors ; Proton Pumps ; Protons ; Vomiting

PURPOSE: In cardiac 2-[F-18]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG)-positron emission tomography (PET) examination, interpretation of myocardial viability in the low uptake region (LUR) has been difficult without additional perfusion imaging. We evaluated distribution patterns of FDG at the border zone of the LUR in the cardiac FDG-PET and established a novel parameter for diagnosing myocardial viability and for discriminating the LUR of normal variants. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cardiac FDG-PET was performed in patients with a myocardial ischemic event (n = 22) and in healthy volunteers (n = 22). Whether the myocardium was not a viable myocardium (not-VM) or an ischemic but viable myocardium (isch-VM) was defined by an echocardiogram under a low dose of dobutamine infusion as the gold standard. FDG images were displayed as gray scaled-bull's eye mappings. FDG-plot profiles for LUR (= true ischemic region in the patients or normal variant region in healthy subjects) were calculated. Maximal values of FDG change at the LUR border zone (a steepness index; S(max) scale/pixel) were compared among not-VM, isch-VM, and normal myocardium. RESULTS: S(max) was significantly higher for n-VM compared to those with isch-VM or normal myocardium (ANOVA). A cut-off value of 0.30 in Smax demonstrated 100% sensitivity and 83% specificity for diagnosing n-VM and isch-VM. S(max) less than 0.23 discriminated LUR in normal myocardium from the LUR in patients with both n-VM and isch-VM with a 94% sensitivity and a 93% specificity. CONCLUSION: S(max) of the LUR in cardiac FDG-PET is a simple and useful parameter to diagnose n-VM and isch-VM, as well as to discriminate thr LUR of normal variants.
Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Echocardiography ; Female ; Fluorodeoxyglucose F18/*metabolism ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Myocardial Infarction/metabolism/pathology ; Myocardium/*metabolism/*pathology ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; Young Adult