PURPOSE : The purpose of the present study was to clarify the effect of static stretching on muscular performance with concentric isotonic muscle actions under various loads.METHODS : Concentric isotonic leg extension power outputs were assessed in 12 healthy male subjects after two types of pre-treatment. The pre-treatments included 1) static stretching (SS) treatment performing static stretching of leg extensors, and 2) non-stretching (NS) treatment by resting in a sitting position. Loads during the assessment of the power output were set to 5%, 30% and 60% of the maximum voluntary contractile (MVC) torque with isometric leg extension in each subject.RESULTS : The peak power output following the SS treatment was significantly (P<0.05) lower than that following the NS treatment under each load.CONCLUSION : The present study demonstrated that static stretching significantly reduces power output with concentric isotonic muscle actions under various loads. This result suggests that static stretching decreases power performance.

The effect of octylphthalide (OP) bathing was compared with placebo bathing on patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
A liquid containing octylphthalide was dissolved in water of 40°C at a concentration of 10ppm. A liquid which has quite similar appearance and perfume to the above was used as a placebo. Double blind controlled study tests were performed.
Twenty patients (10 for OP bathing and 10 for placebo bathing) were tested by single bathing, 33 other patients (16 patients for OP bathing and 17 for placebo bathing), by serial bathing for 30 days (once a day).
After a single bathing, while grip strengths, tender joints scores, and 20m walking time improved significantly in the OP bathing group, only tender joint scores and 20m walking time improved significantly in the placebo bathing group.
After serial bathing for 30 days, tender joint scores improved significantly in the OP bathing group, but no improvement was observed in the placebo bathing group. The above results suggest that OP bathing may be beneficial for RA patients, but further study may be needed.

Objective: We investigated the relation between fasting insulin (FI) and risk of cerebral infarction in a Japanese general population. Methods: The subjects were 2,610 men and women without past history of stroke or myocardial infarction and under treatment for diabetes, examined between 1992 and 1995 as part of the Jichi Medical School Cohort Study. The FI level was measured once at the baseline. Subjects were divided into quintiles by FI levels, and Cox’s proportional hazard model was used to calculate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for cerebral infarction. Results: During an average of 11.1 years of follow-up, 87 participants developed cerebral infarction. Crude incidence rates of FI quintiles 1-5 were 4.69, 2.35, 1.85, 2.77 and 3.30 per 1,000 person-years, respectively. The multivariate-adjusted HRs for cerebral infarction were 2.33 (95% CI, 1.10 – 4.96) in quintile 1 (Q1), 1.25 (95% CI, 0.55 – 2.84) in Q2, 1.68 (95% CI, 0.76 – 3.70) in Q4 and 2.06 (95% CI, 0.94 – 4.47) in Q5, using Q3 as the reference. Conclusions: The lowest FI level was associated with increased risk of cerebral infarction and the association between FI and risk of cerebral infarction appeared to be a U-shaped relationship.