Objectives: Few studies examined the association between deterioration of masticatory ability assessed by objective marker and physical function. Therefore, we examined the association between salivary flow rate which is one of the objective and surrogate marker of masticatory ability and lower Timed Up & Go (TUG) performance which is one of major measurement of physical function among aging Japanese. Methods: This cross-sectional study enrolled 464 Japanese aged 60e84 years old. Participants chewed tasteless and odorless gum for 5 min, calculated stimulated salivary flow rate (g/min) during all chews.The 3 m TUG was conducted, and 75th percentile value (6.8 s for men and 7.0 s for women) or higher was defined as lower TUG performance. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine the association between stimulated salivary flow rate and lower TUG performance. Results: We found that the stimulated salivary flow rate tended to be negatively associated with the TUG time. We also observed significant negative association between stimulated salivary flow rate and lower TUG performance; the multivariable-adjusted OR (95% confidence interval, CIs) of lower TUG performance for the highest quartile of stimulated salivary flow rate compared with the lowest quartile was0.34 (0.16e0.69, P for trend ¼ 0.02). Further adjusting for BMI, the association was attenuated but remaind significant; the OR (95% CIs) in highest quartile was 0.37 (0.18e0.76, P for trend ¼ 0.04). Conclusions Higher stimulated salivary flow, which means well masticatory ability, was inversely associated with lower TUG performance in the aging Japanese population.

History of Mongolian medicine could be traced back to 2000 years ago. Mongolian traditional medicine has been built over many years. We traveled Mongolia to visit a hospital and a private clinic where traditional Mongolian medicine is in practice, and visited National University of Medical Sciences. In this paper, we report the current status of traditional medicine in Mongolia. We visited Mongolian National University of Medical Sciences and conversed with the president, vicepresident, and director of the traditional medical department. We visited a clinic where Mongolian traditional medicine is performed and a hospital where mainly traditional therapies and practical development are carried out. In the hospital, they mainly provide acupuncture and moxibustion treatment, cupping therapy, herbal therapy, and thermotherapy. It cannot be denied that moxibustion treatment came from Mongolia, because it is also said that ‘the north' in “Huangdi Neijing Suwen” chapter 12 means Mongolia. However, as there is a background once traditional medicine has been kept away from the national health care system, it is difficult to find a specific medical practice for Mongolian medicine as far as we have viewed the present status of medical practice in Mongolia. Considering that the cultural exchange with Japan is being carried out in many other fields, we expect that a number of new facts will come to light in the near future.

In hemodialysis, an adsorbent is used to remove phosphorus from the blood.Because phosphorus adsorbents contain iron, they may cause iron excess, and appropriate management is thus required.In recent years, the use of sucroferric oxyhydroxide (SO), which has become available, is said to be associated with lower iron absorption and is less likely to cause iron excess, as compared with conventional ferric citrate hydrate (FCH). However, in clinical trials of SO conducted in Japan, serum ferritin (Ft) and transferrin saturation (TSAT) tended to increase, and this may cause iron excess similar to FCH. Therefore, we report here on the phosphorus adsorption effect and the influence on iron-related benefit of SO.Among 12 patients, iron-related abnormalities were observed in 3 patients and adverse events such as diarrhea and nausea were observed in 7 patients.In 8 patients who continued taking SO for up to 24 weeks, serum phosphorus (P) decreased, Ft and TSAT increased, Hb, Fe, Ca did not change significantly, and the dose of erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESA) decreased. The rate of change of Ft was greater in 5 patients with iron deficiency than in 3 patients with non-ferrous deficiency. SO administration tended to decrease P and improve iron deficiency.In addition, there was a decrease in the dose of ESA, suggesting the possibility of contributing to pharmaceutical cost reduction.Conversely, in patients with iron deficiency, iron-related abnormalities were observed in 3 patients, and about half had adverse events with subjective symptoms 4 weeks after the start of treatment with SO.Therefore, the administration of SO takes into account the effects on iron-related values as well as FCH, it is thus considered important to adjust the dose of SO or ESA depending on the condition while monitoring clinical laboratory values and adverse events from the beginning of administration.