We made researches into various factors underling the loneliness of the elderly, based on interviews conducted in july 1995 with old people living alone in Hiroshima City. Loneliness was assessed by LSO, and as related factors, such items as period of living alone, self-assessment on solitude, lifestyle, self-rated health status, competence for daily work, social support network, morale, self-esteem, depression, and subjective symptoms of stress were examined.
We made multiregression analysis using loneliness as a dependent variable and other factors as independent varibles. The results were as followed.
The loneliness of old people living alone was significantly correlated with self-esteem and instrumental support.

Rikkunshito is comprised of 8 crude drugs and is used for the treatment of gastrointestinal dysfunctions such as anorexia and heavy stomach feeling. These symptoms are often caused by delay in gastric emptying. Cisplatin is a representative cancer chemotherapeutic drug with severe adverse effects such as anorexia and nausea, that gives rise to a delay in gastric emptying. However, it is still unknown whether rikkunshito has effects on improving the delayed gastric emptying induced by cisplatin. In the present study, we examined the effects of rikkunshito (an Atractylodis rhizoma-containing formula) on cisplatin-induced delay in gastric emptying in the rat. Rikkunshito improved this. Among the crude drugs that comprise rikkunshito, Atractylodis rhizoma, Ginseng radix, Poria and Aurantii nobilis pericarpium individually improved the delay in gastric emptying, suggesting that they all contribute to the action of rikkunshito. Moreover, the effects of these 4 crude drugs in combinations were also examined, and as a result, tended to be stronger when Atractylodis rhizoma was included. On the other hand, when Atractylodis rhizoma was excluded from rikkunshito, the effects were weaker. Meanwhile, atractylenolide III, a specific chemical constituent of Atractylodis rhizoma, improved delay in gastric emptying in a manner similar to that of rikkunshito with Atractylodis rhizoma. These results, taken together, suggest that Atractylodis rhizoma likely contributes greatly to the improving effect of rikkunshito on cisplatin-induced delay in gastric emptying.

A 75-year-old woman underwent endovascular stent-grafting for a descending thoracic aortic aneurysm, followed by video-assisted thoracoscopic right upper lobectomy for concomitant lung cancer in a later procedure. Two custom-made endovascular spiral Z stents covered with woven Dacron (DuPont Co., Wilmington, DE, USA) were delivered via the femoral artery under local anesthesia using pull-through technique. Intraoperative angiograms showed successful exclusion of the aneurysm without any endoleakage. Conventional surgical treatments for both diseases in this patient would have required bilateral thoracotomy either in a simultaneous or staged fashion and entail risks of postoperative pulmonary dysfunction and progression of the cancer. Endovascular stent-grafting offered potential superior operative results and quality of postoperative life in this patient with concomitant descending thoracic aortic aneurysm and cancer of the right lung.

Phthalides and ligustilide in Senkyu extract and limonene and fravonoids in Chimpi extract have been reported to have strong vasodilation effects.
In the present study the circulatory effects of Senkyu and Chimpi extract (crude drug extract) were studied as bath agent in 40.0°C bath water (Senkyu ext. 224mg and Chimpi ext. 272mg/2001). Thirteen healthy men (36.2±5.8 years old) took a bath at 40.0°C for 10 min with and without (only with flavor and dye) crude drug extract and the circulatory effects were followed for 30 min after bathing.
Heart rate and cardiac output were increased equally by 10 min bathing either with or without crude drug extract. Although systolic blood pressure was slightly increased during bathing, diastolic blood pressure and total peripheral resistance were significantly decreased during and after bathing with and without crude drug extract. Forehead skin blood flow and sublingual temperature were significantly increased during bathing, and remained at higher level for 10-30 min after bathing with crude drug extract. Venous blood pO₂ and pH were significantly increased and pCO₂ was decreased equally with and without crude drug extract. Plasma NE was significantly increased by bathing with crude drug extract.
Bath agent with Senkyu and Chimpi extract are considered favorable as bath agent to keep high skin blood flow and sublingual temperature probably due to its vasodilating effects.

We report a 5-year-old girl with a diagnosis of an anomalous origin of the left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery with an intramural aortic route. The left coronary artery entered the aortic wall running parallel to the aorta. With the aid of cardiopulmonary bypass, she underwent establishment of two coronary artery systems by intraaortic reconstruction (unroofing and anastomosis). Her postoperative course was uneventful. Postoperative cineangiogram demonstrated patency and prograde flow in the new coronary systems.

Endemic areas of human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) have been reported in Japan as well as tropical Africa, Central and South America and Melanesia. The existence of two subgroups, i.e., the transcontinental and Japanese subgroups, was reported in Japan. In the present study, we provide data on the ratio of the two subgroups in each endemic area and infection foci and examine the distribution of HTLV-1 in Japan and neighboring areas. A 657 bp fragment of env region of HTLV-1 proviral genome was successfully amplified for 183 HTLV-1 positive DNA samples. The subgroup determination was done by RFLP reactions using endonucleases HpaI and HinfI. The northern part of mainland Kyushu, represented by Hirado and Kumamoto, was monopolized by the Japanese subgroup, while the transcontinental subgroup ranged from 20 to 35% in the Pacific coast areas of Shikoku (Kochi), the Ryukyu Archipelago (Kakeroma and Okinawa) and Taiwan. An interesting finding in the present study is the presence of the transcontinental subgroup in Kochi, suggesting the endemicity of the transcontinental subgroup along the Kuroshio Current.

We conducted phylogenetic analyses and an estimation of coalescence times for East Asian strains of HTLV-1. Phylogenetic analyses showed that the following three lineages exist in Japan: “JPN”, primarily comprising Japanese isolates; “EAS”, comprising Japanese and two Chinese isolates, of which one originated from Chengdu and the other from Fujian; and “GLB1”, comprising isolates from various locations worldwide, including a few Japanese isolates. It was estimated that the JPN and EAS lineages originated as independent lineages approximately 3,900 and 6,000 years ago, respectively. Based on archaeological findings, the “Out of Sunda” hypothesis was recently proposed to clarify the source of the Jomon (early neolithic) cultures of Japan. According to this hypothesis, it is suggested that the arrival of neolithic people in Japan began approximately 10,000 years ago, with a second wave of immigrants arriving between 6,000 and 4,000 years ago, peaking at around 4,000 years ago. Estimated coalescence times of the EAS and JPN lineages place the origins of these lineages within this 6,000–4,000 year period, suggesting that HTLV-1 was introduced to Japan by neolithic immigrants, not Paleo-Mongoloids. Moreover, our data suggest that the other minor lineage, GLB1, may have been introduced to Japan by Africans accompanying European traders several centuries ago, during or after “The Age of Discovery.” Thus, the results of this study greatly increase our understanding of the origins and current distribution of HTLV-1 lineages in Japan and provide further insights into the ethno-epidemiology of HTLV-1.

PURPOSE: To evaluate whether hydrodistention with fulguration of Hunner lesions (HD/FUL) plus maintenance dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) therapy prolongs the recurrence-free time in patients with Hunner type interstitial cystitis (IC).METHODS: The study enrolled patients with Hunner type IC who required repeat HD/FUL due to recurrence of IC symptoms after the first HD/FUL at our institution. All patients received a second HD/FUL plus maintenance DMSO therapy. The maintenance DMSO therapy was performed every 2 weeks for a total of 8 instillations, and then once every 4 weeks thereafter. The recurrencefree time from HD/FUL to therapeutic failure was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. The recurrence-free time between the first HD/FUL and second HD/FUL plus maintenance DMSO therapy was statistically compared using the log-rank test.RESULTS: A total of 21 patients (mean age, 66.3±10.8 years) with Hunner type IC were evaluated. The recurrence-free time for the second HD/FUL plus maintenance DMSO therapy was significantly longer than that for the first HD/FUL (P<0.0001). The median recurrence-free time for the first HD/FUL was 10.1 months, while that for the second HD/FUL plus maintenance DMSO therapy has yet to be reached. The recurrence-free rate for the first HD/FUL was 81.0% at 6 months, 38.1% at 1 year, 9.5% at 2 years, and 4.8% at 3 years. In contrast, the rate for the second HD/FUL plus maintenance DMSO therapy was 100% at 6 months, 94.7% at 1 year, 82.6% at 2 years, and 82.6% at 3 years. There were no significant differences in efficacy between the first and second HD/FUL.CONCLUSIONS: HD/FUL plus maintenance DMSO therapy clearly prolongs the recurrence-free time compared with HD/FUL alone in Hunner type IC.
Cystitis, Interstitial ; Dimethyl Sulfoxide ; Humans ; Methods ; Pilot Projects ; Recurrence