The 15th international conference of ICMART was held from the 25th to 27th of May 2012 in Athens, Greece, under the theme of "The Point where all Different Ideas Meet."There were 210 participants. In addition to lectures on general subjects, eight topics were examined in depth during eight separate sessions. Ten workshops were held. The overall quality of the presentations appeared to be high. For visitors who were unable to attend some of the lectures because of lectures being held at the same times, the meeting time was managed in such a way that time for providing summarized explanations on the contents of all lectures was arranged every day. Furthermore, a questionnaire survey was conducted on visitors'motives for attending the conference and on the current situation of acupuncture in various countries. On the basis of the aggregate survey results, discussions were conducted. Starting this year, participation in the conference has been restricted to only physicians and veterinarians. I was allowed to attend the conference at the request of The Japan Society of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, for news coverage. The topic of my report was "the diagnostic results and treatment of the victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake based on traditional medicine."

The regulatory effects of Gorei-san (Wu-Ling-San) on circulatory, metabolic and diuretic function were investigated analyzing the perioperative transition of serum sodium levels, peripheral platelet counts and urinary 6-keto-prostaglandin F₁α levels in fifty-eight female patients who underwent cholecystectomy because of cholelithiasis or gallbladder polyps.
The endothelial cells were considered to be activated by administration of Goreisan as shown by an increase of prostaglandin I₂ production, resulting in circulatory and metabolic stimulation and partly promotion of diuretic function by a dilatation of the renal vessels. The urinary 6-keto-prostaglandin F₁α, a metabolite of serum prostaglandin I₂ and also excreted by the interstitial cells in the renal medulla or by the epithelial cells of the renal collecting tubules, was considered to regulate diuretic function through suppressing the antidiuretic hormone.
The phenomena mentioned above were not recognized when Sho-saiko-to (Xiao-Chai-Hu-Tang) was administered instead of Gorei-san.

Female patients suffering from gallbladder stone disease were administered Sho-saiko-to (Xiao-Chai-Hu-Tang), Gorei-san (Wu-Ling-San) or Toki-shakuyaku-san (Dang-Gui-Shao-Yao-San) preoperatively, and were examined by cholangiomanometry during operation. Perfusion pressure was significantly elevated, when Sho-saiko-to or Gorei-san were administered, meaning that the pressure threshold of the sphincter of Oddi for volume load in the bile duct was lowered. This phenomenon tended to be more obvious in Gorei-san group, and will prevent duodenal fluid from transpapillary reflux. Parameters concerning the declining curve (T_1/2, T_1/4, T_1/5) showed a significantly rapid relaxation of the sphincter of Oddi only in Sho-saiko-to group, which will result in a prevention of stasis of bile. These modulating functions of Sho-saiko-to and Gorei-san for the sphincter of Oddi would be one of the main reasons why these formulas are used for hypochondriac fullness and distress or excessively accumulated intestinal fluid. Toki-shakuyaku-san showed no such effects on the sphincter of Oddi.

We recently experienced a case of Y graft replacement for recurrent blue toe syndrome (BTS) following cardiac catheterization. A 64-year-old male, who had undergone cardiac catheterization, complained of bilateral multiple toe cyanosis and pain. Angiograms revealed that infrarenal aortic stenosis was the recurrent embolic source. He refused surgical treatment because he thought the BTS was an iatrogenic complication. No conservative therapy was effective. He finally suffered from right foot and all left toe necrosis after nine months. Then he recieved Y graft replacement. Thereafter no embolic episode was seen. Cardiac catheterization recently has become a routine examination. However, informed consent is very important because it is difficult to anticipate BTS following the examination. Surgical treatment is recommended for recurrent BTS because conservative therapy fails in most cases.

Western Herbs and Botanicals ; Fusion, NOS ; Medicine

We introduced a compulsory medical ethics course for first-year medical students so that they would understand the basis of bioethics thinking and acquire the basic capacity to solve patients' clinical problems. The course consists of 14 school hours, of which 11 were for group discussion of 2 clinical cases and 3 were for whole-class lectures on various ethical issues. Identical, short ethics tests were given on the first and last days of the course. The acceptance level was evaluated on the basis of the score of the second test, reports submitted after group discussions, and class attendance. The scores of the second test correlated with the results of reports of the second clinical case but not with those of the first clinical case. Logistic regression analysis indicated that factors contributing to the acceptance level were the scores of the second test and the attendance rate, which was an independent contributing factor. Furthermore, the scores of the second test, but not of the first test, correlated with the acceptance level. These results indicate that this ethics course is useful for increasing students' thinking about ethical issues.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of short-term immobilization on the maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) force. The first dorsal interosseus (FDI) of 10 healthy male adults was immobilized for 1 week using casting tape. Atrophy of the muscle was estimated from a cross sectional view of magnetic resonance images (MRI) . To clarify the factors of a peripheral neuromuscular system contributing to the change in the MVC force, twitch force at rest was measured. The contribution of central factors was estimated from a voluntary activation (VA) index, which was obtained by the twitch interpolation method.
The MRI showed no significant changes in the cross sectional area. The MVC force declined after immobilization (p<0.01), and recovered after 1 week from the termination of immobilization (p<0.01) . Both the twitch force at rest and the VA at MVC declined after immobilization (p<0.01), and recovered after 1 week (p<0.05) .
The results indicate that the temporary decline of the MVC force was not accompanied by atrophy of the muscle. Furthermore the decline of the MVC was caused both by the deterioration of peripheral and central functions in the neuromuscular system. Possible factors in the peripheral and central neuromuscular systems affected by the immobilization were discussed.