In this report, I trace the life of Prof. Hidetsurumaru Ishikawa who laid the foundation for the present successful development of acupuncture and moxibustion and pursued medical practice based on scientific evidence.
Prof. Ishikawa was born in Toyama Prefecture. After graduation from Tokyo Imperial University, he moved to Kyoto Imperial University to work in Prof. Amaya’s laboratory.
For 4 years starting from 1908, he studied in Europe, mainly under Prof. M. Verworn at Gottingen University, but also briefly visited Prof. I. Pavlov in Petersburg and Prof. E. Starling and Prof. C. Sherrington in England. He learned much about the newest science at that time, and these experiences served as a backbone for his later scientific research.
After returning to Kyoto Imperial University as a professor of physiology, he developed the physiological sciences in Japan. Along with the progression of modern physiology, he came to recognize the need of a scientific approach to traditional medicine, especially acupuncture, as well as a psycho-physiological approach to analyzing human biological conditions.
In the field of neurophysiology, he is famous for a sensational debate against Prof. Kato, who was one of his favorite disciples, about the conduction of electric impulses in anesthetized nerve cells:decrement or decrementless?
After his retirement from Kyoto Imperial University in 1944, Prof. Ishikawa went to Tsu City as the head of Mie Prefectural Medical College, the predecessor of Mie University Faculty of Medicine and opened the department of acupuncture in the university hospital the following year. During the postwar occupation of Japan, the General Headquarters of the Allied Powers (GHQ) decided to prohibit Japanese traditional medicine, because at that time, the general condition of acupuncture and moxibustion therapy in Japan was far below Western standards.
Learning of the prohibition order, Prof. Ishikawa visited the GHQ over and over again to explain with his own data the scientific basis of acupuncture and to demonstrate the benefits of acupuncture to the GHQ medical officers. Probably due to accumulated strain, in 1949 Prof. Ishikawa had a stroke during a faculty meeting and died about 2 weeks later. Prof. Ishikawa was succeeded by his apprentice, Prof. Kyugo Sasagawa of Kyoto University, who organized the Japan Society of Acupuncture. The first conference was held at Kyoto University in 1953, and the society has been continuously developing to its present successful status.

Objectives: To examine in two tests the potential of kaki (persimmon) extract-containing diet (KE diet) to reduce malodorous volatile sulfur compounds (VSC), such as hydrogen sulfide (H₂S), methyl mercaptan (CH₃SH) and dimethyl sulfide (CH₃SCH₃), as well as on subjective fecal odor on healthy adults.
Methods: In the first test, 11 subjects were given garlic-containing soup. For a period of time, they were given a single dose of KE diet (150 mg as kaki extract) with water, and only water for the rest of the study period. Two hours after the administration, oral gas samples were collected from individual subjects and analyzed for VSC. In the second test, 14 subjects were given a single dose of KE diet for 7 days. Fecal samples were collected from individual subjects before and after the 7-day KE diet intervention. Levels of VSC were determined and the magnitude of subjective fecal odor was estimated based on ratings in the self-administered questionnaire.
Results: Levels of CH₃SCH₃ in oral gas were significantly lowered when subjects were on a KE diet. On the other hand, although decreases in the level of any VSC in feces before and after the 7-day KE diet intake did not reach a statistical significance, subjective fecal odor significantly improved by the KE diet intake.
Conclusion: KE diet appears to have a beneficial effect on VSC-associated oral malodor and subjective fecal odor.

Secretory immunoglobulin A (s-IgA) in saliva constitutes the first-line barrier to the entry of pathogens into the body, implying its critical role in mucosal immunity.To examine the effect of a shark liver oil (SLO)-containing diet on salivary s-IgA concentration in healthy male and female adults, 42 subjects were assigned to either placebo or 6 weeks of a 2,400 mg SLO-containing diet (1,500 mg as SLO) and assessed in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel group trial.Salivary s-IgA concentration significantly increased at week 6 in the SLO group (P = 0.033), but not in the placebo group.Moreover, there was a significant difference between groups in the magnitude of change from baseline to week 6.No intervention-related adverse event or abnormal changes of laboratory test parameters were observed throughout the study period.In conclusion, an SLO-containing diet increases salivary s-IgA in healthy adults.

Infants with complete atrioventricular canal (CAVC) and severe congestive heart failure, not responding to medical managements, presents a difficult management problem. Between December, 1980, and August, 1987, 16 infants with CAVC presenting severe congestive heart failure underwent pulmonary artery banding. Average age at operation was 1.7 months (0.5 to 4) and average weight was 3.5kg (2.5∼4.9). Only four patients were older than 3 months of age at operation. Pre-operative cardiac catheterization and echocardiogram demonstrated that seven patients had mild to severe left atrioventricular valve regurgitation. Hospital death occurred in one patient (6%) due to rupture of the pulmonary artery. Of three late deaths, one patient had congestive heart failure, and one patient complicated with partial obstruction of right pulmonary artery died suddenly of an upper respiratory infection 11 months after rebanding. Survivors have been followed 18 to 94 months and all patients are growing at an increased rate postoperatively. In five patients of 12 long-term survivors who have undergone cardiac catheterization 37 to 83 months after the operation, pulmonary/systemic systolic pressure ratio (PP/PS) were 0.2∼0.42 (average 0.28). It is concluded that the pulmonary artery banding in infants with CAVC can be performed with low operative and late mortality and can provide good relief of symptoms and allow normal growth and development. It should be emphasized that early surgical palliation is mandatory to prevent the development of pulmonary hypertension and pulmonary emphysematous change.

OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to examine the effects of front-line chemotherapy on overall survival (OS) and postrecurrence survival (PRS) of patients with recurrent ovarian cancer, when stratifying the histologic type. METHODS: Five hundred and seventy-four patients with recurrent ovarian cancer with sufficient clinical information, including front-line chemotherapy, were analyzed. The pathologic slides were evaluated by central pathologic review. The patients were divided into two groups: group A (n=261), who underwent taxane plus platinum, and group B (n=313), who underwent conventional platinum-based chemotherapy without taxanes. RESULTS: The median age was 54 years (range, 14 to 89 years). Group A had significantly better median OS (45.0 months vs. 30.3 months, p<0.001) and PRS (23.0 months vs. 13.0 months, p<0.001) compared to group B. The OS and PRS were similar between the groups in patients with clear cell or mucinous histology. In contrast, among patients with non-clear cell, non-mucinous histologies, the OS and PRS of group A were significantly better than those of group B (OS, p<0.001; PRS, p<0.001). Multivariable analyses revealed that, among patients with non-clear cell, non-mucinous histologies, chemotherapy including taxane and platinum was an independent predictor of favorable survival outcomes. Conversely, in patients with clear cell or mucinous histology, taxane-including platinum-based combination chemotherapy did not improve the OS and PRS compared to a conventional platinum-based regimen which did not include taxanes. CONCLUSION: Since the emergence of taxane plus platinum, the prognosis of patients with recurrent ovarian cancer has improved. However, we here demonstrate that this improvement is limited to patients with non-clear cell, non-mucinous histologies.
Drug Therapy ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Humans ; Mucins ; Ovarian Neoplasms* ; Platinum* ; Prognosis ; Taxoids