The effect of acupuncture-moxibustion treatment in the control of malignant neoplasm pain was examined in 157 (36%) of 434 cases in our clinic over a 16 year period (1966-1981).
In these cases, gastric cancer (36 of 157 cases: 23%) was the largest in number, followed by uterine cancer, and lung cancer. Many of the patients treated also complained of mental changes such as sleeplessness or anxiety.
Several kinds of acupuncture and moxibustion were applied to these cases, and marked improvement was found in 14-26% of them. These treatments were more effective in the cases after radical operations than in those cases deemed inoperable due to metastasis.
10 cases (6%) were aggravated by acupuncture, though none were severe.
The side effects by acupuncture such as slight aggravation of the pain were observe in 10 cases (6%), though none were severe.

We have been studying the effect of preadministration of D-phenylalanin (DPA) on acupuncture analgesia for various types of pain. DPA is thought to suppress the activity of carboxypeptidase, which discomposes endorphins. In this double-blind placebo-controled study, clinical effectiveness of acupuncture with DPA preadministration in relieving chronic low back pain was examined.
DPA (4g) or placebo (lactose: 4g) was orally administered to thirty out patients with chronic low back or lower extremity pain 30 minutes before acupuncture treatment. A half of the patients were given placebo in the first session and DPA in the second one, and the other half were given DPA firstly and placebo secondly.
The patients were asked to rate their pain after treatment in comparison with pre-treatment condition. Successful pain relief was obtained in 60% of the patients given DPA prior to acupuncture and in 33.4% of those given placebo. Although it is said that there is a great individual variation in response to acupuncture therapy, this result demonstrates that preadministration of D-phenylalanin enhances analgesic effect of acupuncture therapy.

Background : This study was performed to evaluate surgical outcomes after cardiovascular surgery (including urgent surgery) in patients 85 or older. Methods : A retrospective analysis was performed on 39 patients (mean age, 86.3 years ; age range, 85-90 years) who underwent total arch replacement (n=4), ascending aorta replacement (n=4), descending aorta replacement (n=1), aortic valve replacement (AVR ; n=13), mitral valve replacement or valvuloplasty (n=3), coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG ; n=9), CABG+AVR (n=4), tumor resection (n=1) between June 2008 and December 2012 at Dokkyo Medical University Hospital. Results : Six hospital deaths occurred. One patient died due to bleeding from a ruptured descending thoracic aortic aneurysm, and another patient died due to gastrointestinal perforation from non-occlusive mesenteric ischemia (NOMI) after urgent AVR. The other deaths were related to various complications, including lung cancer, cholecystitis, myocardial infarction, and Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, during the postoperative period. Overall 30-day mortality was 2.6%, hospital mortality was 12.8%, duration of hospital stay after surgery was 41.3 days, duration of intensive care unit (ICU) stay was 3.8 days and ventilator time was 49.1 h. Twenty patients underwent elective surgery, and 19 patients underwent urgent surgery. The two groups had similar preoperative characteristics, except for the number of patients with aortic disease. No significant difference was evident in hospital mortality (26.3% vs. 5%, p=0.065) or 30-day mortality (0% vs. 5.3%, p=0.3) when comparing the two groups. However, the duration of hospital stay (58.9 days vs. 27.5 days, p=0.049), ICU stay (6.74 days vs. 1.05 days, p=0.002) and ventilator time (89.9 h vs. 8.2 h, p=0.006) was significantly longer in the urgent surgery group than in the elective surgery group. Fourteen patients (70%) in the elective surgery group and four patients (21.1%) in the urgent surgery group were able to be discharged from the hospital to their homes within 30 days after surgery. These data demonstrated that cardiovascular surgery in patients 85 years of age or older was associated with satisfactory outcomes, and outcomes associated with elective surgery were even better than those associated with urgent surgery. Conclusions : Therefore, advanced age does not represent a contraindication of conventional cardiovascular surgery. Rather, the decision for surgery should take the patient's preoperative condition, the severity of concurrent medical disease, the wishes of the patient, and the predicted functional outcomes into account.

OBJECTIVESTo use the evaluation of a specific brain function obtained by optical topography. This system uses a non invasive method to measure brain function unlike other major systems.

METHODSTwelve optical fibers were attached to the subject's head. Hemodynamic changes in the motor cortex were measured during finger tapping before and after alcohol intake for eachALDH2 genotype.

RESULTSDifferent hemodynamic changes in the motor cortex were observed among, theALDH2 genotypes.

CONCLUSIONSOptical topography is a useful tool for evaluating specific brain functions. Further research is needed on the relations between various environmental factors and brain functions by optical topography.

OBJECTIVESTo examine the relationship between lifestyles and psychosomatic symptoms in children, we conducted a self-administered questionnaire survey of elementary school students and junior high school students in Japan.

METHODSWe designed an original questionnaire to investigate the lifestyles and psychosomatic symptoms of children. In 1997, responses to the questionnaires were elicited from public elementary school fourth grade students (then aged 9-10) and public junior high school seventh grade students (then aged 12-13). The survey was repeated annually for three years as the students advanced through school.

RESULTSFor both boys and girls, each cross-sectional analysis revealed a strong relationship between lifestyle behaviors and psychosomatic symptoms. Psychosomatic, symptoms scores varied according to daily hours of sleep, eating of breakfast, having strong likes and dislikes of food, bowel habits, and daily hours of television watching. Both boys and girls with "good" lifestyle, behaviors evaluated by the HPI (Health Practice Index) showed lower scores for psychosomatic symptoms.

CONCLUSIONSThese findings show that the lifestyle behaviors of children are significantly associated with psychosomatic symptoms and suggest that poor lifestyle behaviors are likely to increase physical and psychological health risks.

OBJECTIVETo examine changes in the Body Mass Index (BMI) and in the prevalence of obesity among male Japanese workers after five years.

DESIGNFollow-up study, based on data from annual health checkups performed at workplaces.

SUBJECTS AND METHODSWe had access to the data for a total of 63,951 male workers aged 20 through 54 years in 1992 who were examined in both 1992 and 1997. In quinquennial cohorts, we compared the findings for mean BMI and the prevalence of obesity in 1992 with the findings in 1997.

RESULTSBetween 1992 and 1997, in all cohorts the mean BMI increased significantly. For each adjacent cohort pair the mean BMI value in 1997 was significantly higher than in 1992. In 1992, 21.3% of all subjects were obese, increasing by 3.4% after five years to 24.7% in 1997. In the younger 1968-1972 and 1963-1967 cohorts the prevalence of obesity increased by 6.3% during five years. The significant increase in the obesity prevalence was observed from 1992 to 1997 for each age-adjusted cohort.

CONCLUSIONSThese results suggest a substantial increase in obesity among male Japanese workers. The notable increase in the prevalence of obesity among young male adults and the general trend toward widespread obesity during five years signal an increasing risk of lifestyle-related diseases.