Purpose: To report a case of successful treatment using gabapentin against hot flashes due to LH-RH agonist in a patient with advanced prostate cancer. Case summary: A male patient in his seventies with advanced prostate cancer had hot flashes due to LH-RH agonist therapy. The patient began to notice hot flashes within a few months after starting hormone treatment. Oral gabapentin was administered at a starting dose of 400mg/day and was gradually escalated to 1,200mg/day. Within 7 days of administration, the patient achieved a partial improvement of his symptoms. After 17 days of gabapentin therapy, the hot flashes significantly improved. While the patient was taking a maintenance dose of 1,200mg/day, he remained to be asymptomatic. Conclusion: There are only a few reports (none in Japan) that show effectiveness of gabapentin against hot flashes due to hormone treatment in male patients with prostate cancer. Although the mechanism of the hot flash-relieving effect of gabapentin is not fully understood, this case report indicates that gabapentin may help treating patients suffering from intractable hot flashes. Palliat Care Res 2009; 4(2): 334-338

The decoctions of unprocessed aconite root (uzu) were prepared with the tap water samples collected in Tianjin and Shanghai in China, and the contents of alkaloids in the decoctions were compared to those prepared with purified water or with tap water collected in Niigata, Japan. The contents of aconitine-type diester alkaloids (ADA) in the decoctions prepared with tap water collected in China were significantly lower than those with purified water or tap water in Niigata. It was speculated that this difference appeared by buffering effect of bicarbonic anion in tap water in China to decline pH of the decoction. When uzu was decocted with glycyrrhiza, ginger, or jujube, the contents of ADA in the decoctions exhibited the tendency to have higher levels than those prepared using unprocessed aconite root singly, and also this tendency was observed more remarkably when the decoctions were prepared with tap water collected in China. It was suggested that even the decocting period was fixed, unexpected change of the contents of ADAs might be induced by the differences in the properties of water used for decoction or the crude drugs decocted with aconite root. The physicians in the era when “Songban Shanghanlun” had established may have adjusted the contents of ADA in the decoction by carefully choosing the crude drugs combined to aconite root.

BACKGROUND: To examine changes in psychological distress prevalence among pregnant women in Miyagi Prefecture, which was directly affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami, and compare it with the other, less damaged areas of Japan. METHODS: This study was conducted in conjunction with the Japan Environment and Children`s Study. We examined 76,152 pregnant women including 8270 in Miyagi Regional Center and 67,882 in 13 other regional centers from the all-birth fixed data of the Japan Environment and Children's Study. We then compared the prevalence and risk of distress in women in Miyagi Regional Center and women in the 13 regional centers for 3 years after the disaster. RESULTS: Women in the Miyagi Regional Center suffered more psychological distress than those in the 13 regional centers: OR 1.38 (95% CI, 1.03-1.87) to 1.92 (95% CI, 1.42-2.60). Additionally, women in the inland area had a consistently higher prevalence of psychological distress compared to those from the 13 regional centers: OR 1.67 (95% CI, 1.18-2.38) to 2.19 (95% CI, 1.60-2.99). CONCLUSIONS The lack of pre-disaster data in the Japan Environment and Children's Study made it impossible to compare the incidence of psychological distress before and after the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. However, 3 years after the Great East Japan Earthquake, the prevalence of pregnant women with psychological distress did not improve in Miyagi Regional Center. Further, the prevalence of mental illness in inland areas was consistently higher than that in the 13 regional centers after the disaster.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Disasters ; Earthquakes ; Female ; Humans ; Japan/epidemiology* ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Complications/psychology* ; Pregnant Women/psychology* ; Prevalence ; Psychological Distress ; Tsunamis ; Young Adult