Qualitative changes in the health hazards are at issue as the rural communities have been transformed in recent years. One such sign is the obesity of women in the rural communities. There is a need to make an epidemiological study on what effects obesity has brought about on their health.
We have conducted a fact-finding survey on the distribution of obesity among rural women, changes in the rate of obesity by age, relations among obesity, abnormal findings in various examinations and morbidity, relations between annual changes in body weight and changes in the test values as well as relations between obesity and factors associated with the living environment for an analysis.
The survey covered persons who underwent a mass health screening we carried out in Nagano Prefecture. In checking relations between changes in the rate of obesity and factors associated with the living environment, inhabitants of the village of Yachiho in South Saku County of Nagano Prefecture were covered,
Findings: The rate of obesity has become higher among rural women in their middle and high age brackets. Particularly, there were marked signs of obesity between 1950 and 1970. By occupation, the rate was high among women who were not engaged in farm work, but by area, the rate was high among women living in the mountain areas. By crop, there were signs of a rise in the rate in areas where vegetables constituted the main produce. There were also signs of a rise among women whose gross income and non-agricultural income were high. In relation to health hazards, the morbidityassociated with the circulatory, endocrine, muscular and skeletal systems was high. In terms of test values, the higher the obesity, the higher the maximum and minimum blood pressure values, ischemic changes ECG, arteriosclerotic changes in the fundus, GOT, GPT, blood glucose, uric acid and total cholesterol. In the dietary pattern, there were signs that the intakes of calory, protein, fat and sugar were higher among women with obesity, whereas the intake of calcium, iron and vitamin C was rather low. By type of food, the intake of sugar, oil and drinks was high among women with obesity, but that of beans, fishes and shellfishes, milk and greens was low. Though the calory was high, signs of an unbalanced nutrition intake, which could be described as low in nutrition, could be observed.

Introduction : Every day, patients undergo rehabilitation training under the guidance of a physical therapist person-to-person, but it ends in a short time. A patient who are taking walking exercises in the rehab center is confined to a wheelchair when that patient returns to the hospital ward. Such being the situation, we introduced part of the rehabilitation program into daily routine in the ward life. All the staff of the convalescent ward joined forces to help the patients restore their ability to perform the basic activities if daily living (ADLs) and motivate them to return to normal. The results of our efforts shall be reported here.Subjects and Methods : A total of 10 patients who were undergoing training in the rehab center were the subjects for this study. The progression of rehabilitation was observed and documented. The target of rehabilitation at the hospital ward was set. Their ability to perform ADLs were assessed.Results : Eight of the 10 subjects achieved the objective. Two persons failed because they got out shape. Two of the eight subjects who could attain the objective became eager to do daily routine.Discussion : Before this study, we only drove the patients to and from the rehab center, but when the study got started, we came to observe the patients from various angles because we had opportunities to grasp the situation about rehabilitation, to asked physical therapists questions about care and exercises and exchange views with them. We thought that the introduction of part of the program implemented in the rehab center into daily routine in the ward life and the setting of the target of rehabilitation contributed to the enhancement of the levels of the patient’s ability to perform the ADLs. The old people exhibit a peculiar state of mind due to physical inactivity and aging. When they are hindered from performing daily activities, they feel frustrated and plunge into helplessness. We thought that it is important to make them take an interest in what they can do instead of what they cannot do, if we are to uplift their ability to perform ADLs and improve the quality of their life.Conclusion : Giving the patients rehabilitation training in concert with physical therapists results in the improvement of their ability to do the activities of daily living.
Patients' Rooms ; Rehabilitation aspects ; Hospitals ; Training ; Rehabilitation therapy

In view of the present situation of agriculture in which housewives have to handlethe bulk of farm work, a study was made on the health conditions of women engaged in farming in comparison with those of non-farmers.
The study covered a total of 28, 600 females, aged from 40 to 59, who received masshealth screenings conducted between 1978 and 1980 on rural inhabitants in Nagano Prefecture as part of the outreach program by the health service corps of our hospital.
All the examinees live in areas whose principal crops are rice, vegetables and/or fruits.
The data were arranged according to seasons based on the dates of health examination in order to clarify the seasonal variations of morbidity rates and other indices of health.
Another investigation was made into seasonal changes in the length of time used byhousewives in farming, domestic chores, rest and so on with a view to studying correlation between the mode of living and health conditions.
To sum up, our findings are as fllows:
(1) Seasonal variations in the results of various laboratory tests and morbidity rates were notable, depending on the amount of farm work, dietary habits, coldness and the height above sea level.
(2) During summer months, the incidence of anemia was exceedingly high, obesity rates plummeted, and serum cholinesterase values dropped sharply among housewives who are engaged in farm work, compared with those who are not.
(3) In summer, farm housewives worked long hours in the fields, slept less and rested less. They had not enough time to attend to household duties.

The purpose of this study was to explore the burden of introducing LCP-J in two wards（medical oncology and respiratory medicine）in Tohoku University Hospital. We administered audit evaluations about dying cancer patients and interviewed 2 doctors and 8 nurses regarding LCP-J intervention. LCP-J was used for 22 patients（38％）, and no significant difference in infusion, potent opioid analgesic and sedative medication within last 48 hours were seen between users and nonusers. Responses were categorized into［confirm directions about dying care among health care professionals］, and［training in dying care in a structured way］as usefulness facets of the LCP-J, and［difficulty in assessment of dying］,［burden of health care professionals］, and［difficulty using LCP-J without knowledge and training in dying care］as burdens of the LCP-J. We explored the burden of LCP-J in general wards, and found that use of the LCP-J could need education in dying care and backup of the palliative care team.

Objective: To examine how best to provide information on over-the-counter (OTC) drugs in the future, the Japan Self-Medication Industry (JSMI) conducted an online survey on public attitudes toward changes in the system for controlling the sales of OTC drugs specified by the revised Pharmaceutical Affairs Act effective since June 2009.
Methods: A secure web-based questionnaire system was developed and linked to the JSMI website.  The survey was conducted between July 17 and August 31, 2009.
Results: Of the 4,257 people who responded to the questionnaire, 56.8% indicated they understood the provisions of the revised Pharmaceutical Affairs Act.  More than half of the responders had positive opinions of the revision.  They welcomed the improvement in convenience resulting from the availability of drugs at convenience stores, but “Druggists,” who are responsible for sales of the drugs, were not sufficiently represented among responders.  It was inferred that the general public feels that they should be able to purchase OTC drugs for self-medication after receiving sufficient information about the drugs from qualified sources.

Introduction: We perform our trials in Tsurumi ward, Yokohama city aiming at reducing the number of “cancer refugees” to zero. State: There are many patients who receive cancer therapy outside their hometown. Once their treatment is finished due to progressive disease or deteriorating condition, they are told to leave the hospital and to get palliative care in their district. And they become so-called “cancer refugees”. The beds of palliative care units are limited so the ability to accept patients in case of emergencies is poor. In Tsurumi ward, here are a lot of home care clinics providing palliative care but the place patients want to be or receive palliative care when their condition deteriorates isn't fixed. We organized the “Tsurumi Homecare Network” as the core of medical cooperation, and have worked on improving palliative care and increasing patients who die at home. Specifically, our hospital has played a central role as a special place for palliative care, we send out our original questionnaire to home care clinics to find out how they perform palliative care and introduce patients to the appropriate clinic. Patients who are in need of hospitalization are assured acceptance. On the other hand, we propose the cancer treatment hospitals to follow their patients together with us from their early stage of cancer treatment. Problem: To maintain a good relationship for regional palliative care, improving the management for outpatients, strict and timely backup system, advanced quality of homecare-supporting staff for palliative care and cooperation between home care clinic doctors are necessary.

Objective: There is little information on the effectiveness and safety of health foods for pregnant women. The purpose of this study was to analyze the risk of health food to pregnant women and fetuses from pharmaceutical interventions and clarify the problems for standardization of pharmaceutical management and guidance.Methods: Among 243 pregnant inpatients who received consultations from our pharmacists, 61 subjects were taking health food products were recruited from May 2015 to April 2017. We developed novel guidelines for the use of health food products for pregnant women, and used the guidelines to provide pharmaceutical interventions. Results of these interventions were reviewed retrospectively to identify issues associated with pharmaceutical management of the use of health food products.Results: Among 61 subjects, 10 (16%) received a total of 11 interventions for the use of health food products. Suggestions to discontinue the use of health food products were accepted by 9 subjects (82%). The majority of interventions (n=7, 64%) were related to therapeutic disadvantages of health food products, such as “bleeding complications during childbirth” and “interaction with other medicines”. Information on the number of weeks of pregnancy, drug history, and treatment status were used to trigger and determine appropriate pharmaceutical interventions.Conclusion: From the intervention cases, the potential disadvantages associated with the use of health foods were confirmed, and the risk status of pregnant women and fetuses associated with the use of health foods was clarified. It is necessary to intervene before embarking on using health foods, to make judgements based on risk assessment considering the number of weeks of pregnancy and patient background, and to provide accurate information to pregnant women. We anticipate that future studies will provide additional insights into the effects of health food intake on pregnant women, and that support systems for pregnant women will be established by medical professionals.