OBJECTIVES: As clinics that treat patients with osteoporosis do not usually have central dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), bone density is often measured with radial DXA. However, no long-term evidence exists for radius bone density outcomes following treatment with once-weekly teriparatide in actual medical treatment. METHODS: We evaluated changes in bone density at 6-, 12-, and 18-month intervals using radial DXA in patients treated with once-weekly teriparatide for more than 6 months. RESULTS: A significant increase in bone mineral density (BMD) was observed at the 1/3 and 1/10 radius sites 12 months after the initiation of once-weekly teriparatide. We also observed that the rate of change in BMD was greater at the distal 1/10 radius than at the 1/3 radius. CONCLUSIONS: Considering these points, the effect of once-weekly teriparatide therapy can be observed at the radius. In clinics that do not have central DXA, but instead have radial DXA, these findings can help to evaluate the effect of once-weekly teriparatide treatment on osteoporosis.
Absorptiometry, Photon ; Bone Density ; Densitometry ; Humans ; Osteoporosis ; Radius ; Teriparatide

A 25-question “Nationwide Kampo Web Test” was conducted to evaluate the basic knowledge and diagnostic ability of Kampo among medical professionals nationwide. We analyzed the scores of all 608 examinees (241 doctors, 257 pharmacists, 77 others, 12 acupuncturists, 10 nurses, and 11 dentists) and evaluated the test quality. The performance of all examinees was 67.7 ± 16.9 points (mean score ± standard deviation). Among the doctors, the mean score of Kampo medicine specialists (83.8 ± 8.7 points) was significantly higher than that of non-specialists (65.3 ± 16.3 points) (p<0.0001). The performance of doctors who prescribed 20 or more Kampo medicines (78.4 ± 11.5 points) was significantly higher than that of other doctors (p<0.0001). Among the 25 questions, the difficulty levels of 13, 8, and 4 were easy, moderate, and hard (correct answer rates: 70% or more, 40-70%, and less than 40%), respectively. The ability of 13 questions (52%) to distinguish between good and poor performers was extremely high (discrimination index of 0.5 or higher). Collectively, these results supported the good performance of our test, suggesting that it is a highly practical learning achievement evaluation system that could utilize information and communication technology and is expected to be used in future lifelong learning in the field of Kampo medicine.

BACKGROUND: Studies on the adverse effects of Asian dust (AD) on respiratory function in children are scarce. The objective of this study was to examine the association between AD and respiratory function by measuring peak expiratory flow rates (PEFRs) in asthmatic children. METHODS: The study was carried out from March to May from 2014 through 2016. One hundred ten children with bronchial asthma were recruited from four hospitals in the Goto Islands and south Nagasaki area in Nagasaki prefecture. The parents were asked to record their children's PEFRs every morning/evening and clinical symptoms in an asthma diary. AD was assessed from light detection and ranging data, and a linear mixed-effects model was used to estimate the effects of AD on daily PEFR. Time-stratified case-crossover analyses were performed to examine the association between AD and asthma attacks defined by reduction levels in PEFR. RESULTS: AD was detected on 11 days in the Goto Islands, and on 23 days in the south Nagasaki area. After adjusting for age, sex, temperature, and daily oxidants, we found a consistent association between AD and a 1.1% to 1.7% decrease in PEFR in the mornings and a 0.7% to 1.3% decrease in the evenings at a lag of 0 to 5 days. AD was not associated with the number of asthma attacks, respiratory symptoms, or other symptoms at any lag days examined. CONCLUSIONS Exposure to AD was associated with reduced PEFR, although the effects were not large enough to induce clinically apparent symptoms, in clinically well-controlled asthmatic children.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of fan therapy for the relief of dyspnea in patients with chronic progressive disease. Methods: A systematic electronic database search of all available articles published before October 23, 2019 was conducted using Ichushi-Web of the Japan Medical Abstract Society databases, CENTRAL, EMBASE, and MEDLINE. In addition, a hand-search for updates was performed using PubMed on June 30, 2020 and December 7, 2021. The inclusion criteria were: 1) any RCTs comparing the effect of fan therapy with any other intervention, and 2) patients aged ≥18 years. Exclusion criteria were: 1) duplicate references, and 2) conference presentations. Results: We identified 110 studies, of which 10 met our criteria for inclusion. Finally, five studies were used in the meta-analysis. Fan therapy significantly improved dyspnea in patients with chronic progressive disease compared to control groups with a standardized mean difference of −1.43 (95% confidence interval: −2.70 to −0.17, I2=94%, p<0.0001). Conclusion: Fan therapy was found to be effective in reducing dyspnea in chronic progressive disease.