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.

The Trail Making Test (TMT) is a widely used measure of attention impairment. The time needed to complete the TMT (TMT score) is longer with greater impairment of attention in patients with brain diseases. TMT score becomes large in a proportion of patients with minor ischemic stroke. The Japanese version of the TMT- (TMT-J) was published in 2019. The purpose of this study was to clarify serial changes in TMT-J scores in patients with minor ischemic stroke. We retrospectively reviewed the TMT-J scores in those patients who completed the test both 8-14 days and 29-35 days after stroke onset. On initial evaluation, 1 of 21 patients could not complete TMT-J Part A. TMT-J Part A scores had a mean of 67 s and were abnormally large in 45% of the 20 patients who completed this part. Two of these 20 patients could not complete TMT-J Part B. TMT-J Part B scores had a mean of 135 s and were abnormally large in 61% of the 18 patients who completed this part. On second evaluation, scores on Part A and Part B improved in 76% and 73% of patients, respectively. This study demonstrated that abnormal TMT-J scores 8-14 days after onset of minor ischemic stroke improved over time in most patients.