[Purpose] Electrical acupuncture at the pudendal nerve was employed to treat perineal discomfort in two patients with chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CPPS), and the effectiveness was evaluated using a visual analogue scale (VAS).
[Methods] The patients were 67 and 65 years of age, respectively, when they were referred to the Meiji College of Oriental Medicine because of ineffective medical management of CPPS. Acupuncture at the BL-33 (Zhongliao) point and electrical acupuncture at the pudendal nerve were applied to treat symptoms of CPPS. Pain, discomfort, lower urinary tract symptoms and quality of life were evaluated using the National Institutes of Health Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index, the International Prostate Symptom Score and a Visual Analogue Scale.
[Results] Acupuncture at BL-33 was not effective in improving the perineal discomfort of CPPS. However, the symptom was improved dramatically after electrical acupuncture to the pudendal nerve, and the effectiveness was demonstrated by VAS.
[Conclusions] Electrical acupuncture at the pudendal nerve may be effective in the treatment of pudendal discomfort due to CPPS. VAS was useful in evaluating improvements in pudendal discomfort.

[Objective]To evaluate the effects of acupuncture treatment for refractory urinary urgency and incontinence after radical prostatectomy.
[Methods]Three patients who had urinary urgency and/or urinary incontinence four months after radical prostatectomy received acupuncture at the BL33(Zhongliao) point. Acupuncture was performed once per week for four weeks. Symptoms were assessed by the International Prostate Symptom Score, IPSS QOL index for subjective evaluation and Frequency-Volume chart for objective evaluation.
[Results]After acupuncture treatment, urinary urgency and urge incontinence were improved, however stress urinary incontinence persisted. The scores for IPSS and IPSS QOL index were improved. Frequency-Volume charts showed that voided volume was increased and frequency of urination decreased after acupuncture treatment.
[Conclusions]Acupuncture at the BL33point might be a useful treatment option for urinary urgency and urge incontinence after radical prostatectomy.

Shear wave (SW) dispersion imaging is a newly developed imaging technology for assessing the dispersion slope of SWs, which is related to tissue viscosity in diffuse liver disease. Our preclinical and preliminary clinical studies have shown that SW speed is more useful than dispersion slope for predicting the degree of fibrosis and that dispersion slope is more useful than SW speed for predicting the degree of necroinflammation. Thus, dispersion slope, which reflects viscosity, may provide additional pathophysiological insight into diffuse liver disease.

Accidental tolls during bathig in Japanese subjects were analyzed in collaboration with Japanese Association for Acute Medicine. We sent out questionnaires to 212 medical emergency centers all over Japan to know the number of ambulance runs, outcomes of the patients, if they performed autopsy or postmortem imaging. Total number of victims was 782. More number of accidents occurred in elderly people and in winter season. Autopsies or postmortem imaging was rarely performed. To know the underlying causes of accidental death relating with bathing, autopsy and/or postmortem imaging should be done on more cases.

BACKGROUND: Predicting adverse health events and implementing preventative measures are a necessary challenge. It is important for healthcare planners and policymakers to allocate the limited resource to high-risk persons. Prediction is also important for older individuals, their family members, and clinicians to prepare mentally and financially. The aim of this study is to develop a prediction model for within 11-year dependent status requiring long-term nursing care or death in older adults for each sex. METHODS: We carried out age-specified cohort study of community dwellers in Nisshin City, Japan. The older adults aged 64 years who underwent medical check-up between 1996 and 2000 were included in the study. The primary outcome was the incidence of the psychophysically dependent status or death or by the end of the year of age 75 years. Univariable logistic regression analyses were performed to assess the associations between candidate predictors and the outcome. Using the variables with p-values less than 0.1, multivariable logistic regression analyses were then performed with backward stepwise elimination to determine the final predictors for the model. RESULTS: Of the 1525 female participants at baseline, 105 had an incidence of the study outcome. The final prediction model consisted of 15 variables, and the c-statistics for predicting the outcome was 0.763 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.714-0.813). Of the 1548 male participants at baseline, 211 had incidence of the study outcome. The final prediction model consisted of 16 variables, and the c-statistics for predicting the outcome was 0.735 (95% CI 0.699-0.771). CONCLUSIONS We developed a prediction model for older adults to forecast 11-year incidence of dependent status requiring nursing care or death in each sex. The predictability was fair, but we could not evaluate the external validity of this model. It could be of some help for healthcare planners, policy makers, clinicians, older individuals, and their family members to weigh the priority of support.
Aged ; Cohort Studies ; Female ; Geriatric Assessment/statistics & numerical data* ; Humans ; Independent Living/statistics & numerical data* ; Japan ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Nursing Homes/statistics & numerical data* ; Risk Assessment ; Risk Factors