OBJECTIVETo determine the effects of a 12-week qigong and aerobic exercise program on the physical well-being of relatively healthy elderly Japanese women.

METHODSIn the first study, 72 elderly Japanese women who were relatively healthy and naive to qigong completed the 12-week qigong and aerobic exercise program. Physical function, body composition, and abdominal fat were evaluated. In the second study, we examined the effects of qigong alone on physical function. Twenty-nine participants in each of two groups (divided according to their residences) underwent a 12-week program: qigong and aerobic exercise (residents in Yura Town) or qigong exercise alone (residents in Mihama Town).

RESULTSIn the first study, physical function including lung capacity, trunk bending, normal walking for 30 m, and rising from a supine position significantly improved after the 12-week program. In addition, body fat diminished significantly during the program. In the second study, both exercise programs ("qigong and aerobic" and "qigong alone") similarly increased walking speed (normal and maximum walking) and rising speed.

CONCLUSIONSThe findings of this exploratory study demonstrated that a 12-week qigong and aerobic exercise program was associated with improvements in physical function and a reduction in body fat. The qigong exercise program alone positively influenced physical function. The qigong program appears to be an appealing means of improving the physical health of elderly persons.

OBJECTIVETo investigate cardiovascular responses to orthostatic stress in patients with cerebrovascular accidents (CVA).

METHODSTwelve male patients with CVA, 11 healthy elderly and 12 healthy young males participated in the present study. The CVA patients had suffered stroke with hemiplegia at least 11 months prior to the study, their medical conditions were stable, and no subjects were taking medications affecting the cardiovascular system. Heart rate (HR) was determined using RR intervals from the ECG. Stroke volume (SV) was estimated by an impedance method, and cardiac output (CO) was calculated by multiplying SV by HR. Blood pressure (BP) was determined by the auscultatory method. SV, HR, CO and BP were measured every 2 min before and during 7 min of 60-degree head-up tilt (HUT).

RESULTSSV decreased and HR increased immediately after starting HUT in all groups. CO in healthy elderly and young subjects immediately decreased during HUT also, and the decrease was sustained throughout the head-up period. However, CO in CVA patients remained constant throughout the experiment. HUT immediately decreased SBP in all groups and the magnitude of initial SBP reduction in CVA patients was greater than that in the other groups.

CONCLUSIONSWe identified an initial reduction of BP during HUT in CVA patients and the recovery of BP by 3 min of head-up tilt. We emphasize that adjustment to orthostatic stress in CVA patients should be practiced by HUT, as our findings showed that CVA patients maintained physiological orthostatic tolerance except for the initial fall in BP.

Background: Extraction of the mandibular third molar, the most frequent and important surgical procedure in the clinical practice of oral surgery, is associated with the risk of injury of the lingual nerve. Neuropathy of the lingual nerve poses diagnostic challenges regarding the transient or permanent nature of the injury. No consensus or criteria have been established regarding the diagnosis of lingual nerve neuropathy. We applied both Tinel’s test and clinical neurosensory testing together, which can be easily used at the bedside in the early stages of injury. Therefore, we propose a new method to differentiate between lesions with the ability to heal spontaneously and those that cannot heal without surgery. Results: Thirty-three patients (29 women,  4 men; mean age, 35.5 years) were included in this study. For all patients, the median interval between nerve injury and initial examination was 1.6 months and that between nerve injury and the second examination before determining the need for surgical management was 4.5 months. The patients wereassigned to either group A or B. The spontaneous healing group (group A, n = 10) revealed a tendency for recoverywithin 6 months after tooth extraction. In this group, although there were individual differences in the degree of recovery, a remarkable tendency for recovery was observed based on clinical neurosensory testing in all cases. None of the patients were diagnosed with allodynia. In seven cases, the Tinel test result was negative at the first inspection,and in three cases, the result changed to negative at the second inspection. Conversely, in group B(n = 23), no recov-ery trend was observed with regard to clinical neurosensory testing, and nine patients had allodynia. Further, the Tinel test result was positive for all patients in both examinations. Conclusions Our findings indicate that in case of transient lingual nerve paralysis, clinical neurosensory testing findings deteriorate immediately after tooth extraction and gradually recover, while Tinel’s test shows a negative result.Using Tinel’s test and clinical neurosensory testing together enabled early and easy identification of the severity of the lingual nerve disorder and of lesions that would heal spontaneously without surgical management.