Purpose
Half body bathing is popular among young women as well as elderly people. As a matter of fact, it is reported that half body bathing has a smaller burden than whole-body bathing from the point of physical influence. To clarify the relation between bathing habitude and health maintenance, that is, as an approach to general understanding the physiological effects by repeating bathing stimuli, the physiological changes by continuing half body bathing were studied.
Methods
Half body bathing was repeated for 4 weeks in healthy female subjects (N=10, age: 30.1±4.8, height: 160.4±6.1cm, weight: 55.6±7.0kg, body mass index: 20.9±1.6kg/m², mean±SD).
Bathing was performed for 30 minutes and 3times a week, with a level of epigastrium without immersing arms. Changes of blood flow and energy expenditure were measured during bathing at 0W and 4W.
Results and Discussion
By continuing bathing, blood flow increased more rapidly and higher during bathing, in addition, resting energy expenditure increased by 200kcal/day with a significant difference.
From these findings, it is assumed that repeated half-body bathing enhances the increase of blood flow through repeating thermal stimuli, which leads to elevated basal metabolism.

The purpose of the present study was to determine the change in total excess volume of CO₂output (CO₂excess) due to bicarbonate buffering of lactic acid produced during exercise and change in swimming performance following resistance training for 8 weeks in competitive swimmers. Ten healthy university competitive swimmers were assigned to either a resistance training and swimming training group (COMBINE: N=5) or a swimming training only group (SWIM: N=5) . Muscle mass was measured using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) . CO₂excess and blood lactate concentration were measured during incremental exercise on a cycle ergometer and swimming performance was measured during competition. COMBINE showed a significantly higher percentage change in muscle mass (11.1±4.5%) than SWIM (3.5±2.5%) . The percentage change in CO₂excess, CO₂excess per body weight (CO₂excess/BW) and CO₂excess/BW per blood lactate accumulation (CO₂excess/BW/ΔLa) during exercise was significantly higher in COMBINE (107.3±60.1, 102.6±56.8, 59.1±37.7%, respectively) than in SWIM (42.5±10.0, 42.9±10.4, 13.4±22.4%, respectively) . The percentage change in swimming performance was significantly higher in COMBINE (2.2±1.8%) than in SWIM (-2.0±3.6%) . A negative correlation between percentage change of muscle mass and percentage change of CO₂excess/BW/ ΔLa (SWIM: r=-0.993, P<0.01, COMBINE: r=-0.744, P>0.05) was found. It was suggested that combined swim and resistance training resulted in greater increases in the bicarbonate buffering system (CO₂excess/BW/ΔLa) . However, increases in muscle mass may have subsequently caused a relative decrease in the contribution of the bicarbonate buffering system.

A 29-year-old female with aortic regurgitation associated with aortitis syndrome and severe stenosis of bilateral carotid arteries was reported. She had no symptom of brain ischemia, although an aortogram revealed complete occlusion of the left common carotid artery and the left subclavian artery, and severe stenosis of the right common carotid artery. The intracranial major arteries were perfused totally by the right vertebral artery via collaterals. The transcranial Doppler method and perfusion cintigraphy revealed normal cerebral perfusion. Therefore, we performed conventional aortic valve replacement without reconstruction of carotid arteries. During cardiopulmonary bypass, the mean systemic blood pressure was kept higher than 60mmHg under moderate-hypothermic (tympanic temperature: 25°C) pulsatile perfusion with monitoring of the left middle cerebral artery flow velocity. The patient did not develop any cerebral complications during or after the operation.

In 2013, we prescribed daiuzusen for 3 patients with intractable pain; pain from complex regional pain syndrome, colic pain of unknown origin after an abdominal operation, and colic pain from advanced colon cancer and ileus. A dose of daiuzusen (containing uzu 0.5-2 g) quickly relieved their pain in several minutes. Another common symptom was “cold” in their bowel or extremities when they were feeling pain. Aconite levels in drugs and patients' serum after taking daiuzusen were analyzed by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Daiuzusen per 1 g of uzu contained aconitine 1.28 μg, mesaconitine 2.31 μg, and hypaconitine 92.89 μg, while jesaconitine was not detected; this was about 5 to 35 times the level of tsumyakushigyakuto per 1 g of uzu. Serum concentrations of hypaconitine peaked in the study at 1.11 ng/mL after about an hour of taking daiuzusen (1 g of uzu). We posit that the immediate effect after taking daiuzusen was due to transmucosal absorption of uzu components. However serum hypaconitine, which we are now able to monitor, is at least one practical way of indicating the use of uzu or bushi containing prescriptions.

We experienced a case of polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) which responded to Kampo medicine. A 53-year-old female patient first complained of stiffness and pain in the neck. Myalgia was severe and gradually eypanded to both shoulders and both upper extremities. Body weight decreased, and the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) was greater than 100mm/hour. Because her condition tended to improve when treated with prednisolone 10mg/day, she was diagnosed as having PMR. Her condition was well controlled until the dose of prednisolone decreased. Myalgia then recurred, and the ESR increased to 83mm/hour. The patient visited our outpatient department for treatment with Kampo therapy. Two months after treatment with Sairei-to plus Yokuinin-to, all signs and symptoms disappeared other than the stiff neck. Her body weight showed a tendency to increase. Six months after she first visited us, prednisolone was decreased and then stopped. Her condition still remains well controlled with this Kampo therapy alone. She has no clinical signs and symptoms, and the ESR has improved to 16mm/hour.

In 1984 a 42-year-old female complaining of general malaise and loss of strength in the proximal muscles of the limbs came to the 2nd Department of Internal Medicine for an examination. From her high CPK value, electromyogram, muscle biopsy, etc., she was diagnosed as having polymyositis. Initially she responded well to steroids, but a year later the condition recurred. Treatment with various methods such as the immunosuppressants methotrexate and azathioprine, steroid pulse therapy and plasma replacement were tried without success. In September 1991, the patient's CPK value remained abnormal at about 800mU/ml. According to the Oriental Medical viewpoint, the condition was diagnosed as Kidney yin Deficiency. Rokumi-gan was therefore administered daily (7.5g/day) for a period of 80 days. The CPK value was brought down to the vicinity of 200mU/ml, and the feeling of general malaise and lack of strength in the proximal muscles of the limbs was improved. However, due to the persistence of edema in the lower limbs, the Kampo formula was changed from Rokumigan to Chorei-to, also administered at a dosage of 7.5g/day. This reduced the edema and normalized the CPK value to the 100mU/ml range. During this period, steroid administration was maintained with prednisolone (30mg/day). At present, with the improvement in the CPK value, steroid administration is gradually being reduced.

Twenty-two patients with chronic glomerulonephritis were treated with Sairei-to (7.5g/day), either alone or in combination with camostat mesilate (600mg/day), to determine the efficacy and adverse effects of these regimens. Although there was significant improvement in proteinuria (p<0.05) after 8 weeks of treatment with Sairei-to alone, this was not longlasting. Combination therapy resulted in sustained significant improvement (p<0.03; there were two dropouts). No adverse effects were seen with either regimen. The results suggest that combination therapy using Sairei-to and camostat mesilate may be a safe and efficacious method of treatment for patients with chronic glomerulonephritis.

This study investigated the desire and its reasons for weight loss, the prevalence of disordered eating patterns and menstrual status, by using written questionnaires and Eating Attitude Test-26 (EAT-26), in Japanese female athletes (n=1000) and nonathletic controls (n=593) . Athletes were divided into the following 6 categories : technical (n=84), endurance I (n=84) and II (n=76), aesthetic (n=120), ball-game (n=447), and power sports (n=189) . Endurance I consisted of athletes competing in sports where leanness were considered important, while endurance II consisted of athletes competing in sports where leanness is less important. In each category, about four fifths of the athletes wanted to reduce their present weight. As to the reasons for weight loss, the athletes, especially those in the categories of endurance I (79%), power (52%) and aesthetic (34%) sports, reported that they prefer to be thin for improving their athletic performance. The prevalence of disordered eating patterns estimated by EAT-26 was significantly higher (P<0.05) in the athletes of endurance I (20%) and aesthetic (12%) groups than in the nonathletic controls (3 %) . In the athletes of these two sporting event categories, higher rates of amenorrhea (endurance I 20% and aesthetic 7 % vs. nonathlets 1 %) were found to be accompanied by lower values of obesity index and BMI. These data indicate a significantly higher prevalence of disordered eating patterns and menstrual dysfunction in the athletes involved in sports where leanness is emphasized, and a close relationship among undernutrition, low body weight and menstrual dysfunction.