Background & Purpose : For cancer patients and survivors, some rehabilitation seems to be required in order for them to function properly and to maintain their ADL and QOL. To improve outcomes, the subject of cancer rehabilitation in our hospital, one of Japan's regional centers for cancer treatment, was examined. Methods:Our section met 246 patients who were admitted to our hospital for cancer treatment from April, 2008 to March, 2010. We assessed their age, cancer origin, disability, the term between admission, operation and consultation, the period of hospitalization and rehabilitation, and the outcome. Results:Most patients had some deficits due to their cancer, which included neurological defects, bone and joint troubles, especially bone metastasis, or dysphasia. “Disuse syndrome” was found in 101 patients who had been lying in bed without these deficits. Owing to their treatment, 139 patients were discharged home with some functional inconvenience. Their length of stay in our hospital was suggested to be shortened by early consultation with our section (R=0.84). Despite their efforts, 90 patients died. They enrolled in some program for an average of 56.4±6.3 days, and continued their rehabilitation for 7.6±1.2 days on average before their deaths. Conclusion:Patients who are suffering from cancer need rehabilitation in all stages of their disease, which are preventive, restorative, supportive and palliative. Both in a hospital setting and in community-based medicine, a better rehabilitation system is required for most cancer patients, not only the survivors, especially those falling into “disuse syndrome” unnecessarily, but also terminally ill patients.

In this study, 10 healthy students were subjected to experiments. They bathed in plain hot spring water and hot spring water with 2% Togol mud at 39°C for 10min at an interval of 1 week. No difference in the change rates of pulse rate and blood pressure was observed between the two types of bathing. Forehead and oral temperatures decreased slightly after bathing in plain hot spring water. However, after bathing in hot spring water with Togol mud, the forehead temperature tended to be higher than that before bathing while the oral temperature increased significantly after bathing. Skin surface temperatures on the chest wall, left instep, and right forearm increased significantly after both types of bathing. Changes in the skin temperature after bathing in hot spring water with Togol mud tended to be greater than those after bathing in plain hot spring water. Eight out of 10 students felt warmer after bathing in hot spring water with Togol mud. These findings suggest that bathing in hot spring water with Togol mud is useful for medical care.