Abstract
Introduction : There are few reports of long-term medical support activities in disaster areas. We analyzed drug-related data using medical records and prescriptions obtained during the long-term medical support of patients impacted by the Great East Japan Earthquake, which occurred on March 11, 2011.
Methods : Using medical records and prescriptions, the dispensing frequency of each drug was calculated and usage trends of the top three most frequently dispensed drugs are described here. All data was collected from March 26, 2011 onwards after the medical support activity commenced.
Results : In the first week of data acquisition, a total of 166 patients visited the medical support team (median 48.5, range 14-166). Following that, the number of patients decreased with a median of 24 people per day (range 0-47). The number of prescriptions for common cold medication was the highest, followed by antihypertensive and anti-allergic medications, respectively. The usage of antihypertensive drugs and common cold medications decreased over time, whereas anti-allergic medications were prescribed on a continuous basis.
Conclusion : Disaster medical support teams should not only be prepared to support the acute phase but also long-term phase, which depends heavily on the restoration of local medical services. The earlier the intervention to provide support, the greater the likelihood that the disaster medical support team will require to provide treatment for both acute and chronic illness.

Dry solid matter (rutin content: 51.6 mg/g; quercetin content: 72.2 mg/g) extracted from Tartary buckwheat boiled noodles using 70% methanol as the solvent was found to have α-glucosidase inhibitory activity. As for fractions fractionated by silica gel column chromatography, the fractions rich in quercetin and rutin showed remarkable α-glucosidase inhibitory activity. Tartary buckwheat boiled noodles used as samples in this study contained quercetin produced from rutin by the action of rutinase, suggesting that both rutin and quercetin contained were involved in the α-glucosidase inhibitory activity of the dry solid extract. Changes in postprandial blood glucose levels were compared for boiled noodles made from two types of buckwheat (i.e., Tartary buckwheat and common buckwheat), revealing that blood glucose elevation after eating Tartary buckwheat boiled noodles was suppressed. The blood glucose level 40 minutes after eating Tartary buckwheat boiled noodles was significantly low (p<0.05). It can be concluded that this might be caused by the α-glucosidase inhibitory activity of rutin (270.0 mg) and quercetin (330.5 mg), which correspond to a total amount of 935 mg of rutin equivalents, in the gastrointestinal tract. As a result, the digestion of carbohydrates contained in the samples consumed and their absorption by the intestine might be inhibited, resulting in the suppression of increases in blood glucose levels. The presence of a certain amount of quercetin was considered to be key to the suppression of blood glucose elevation. It is important to control rapid postprandial blood glucose increases to prevent diabetes from developing or becoming serious. This study suggests the potential for Tartary buckwheat boiled noodles to contribute to diabetes prevention.