An experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of bathing in artificial CO₂ spa water (CO₂ 260ppm, at 38°C for 10 minutes) on the autonomic nervous system of man in comparison with those of bathing in plain water. The heart rate, coefficient of variation of R-R intervals of ECG (CV_RR), blood pressure, and pulse wave were measured, and dynamic autonomic nervous function tests as described by Nishijo et al. were performed on eight gealthy volunteers (female).
The results obtained showed that the heart rate and height of pulse wave increased and blood pressure decreased during bathing both in artificial CO₂ spa water and plain water. However, the systolic blood pressure increased after bathing in plain water but did not increase after bathing in artificial CO₂ spa water. Though CV_RR decreased during and after bathing in plain water, it did not decrease after bathing in artificial CO₂ spa water. Furthermore, the related degree of sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous functions increased after bathing in artificial CO₂ spa water (as measured after 40 minutes and 50 minutes). These results suggest that bathing in artificial CO₂ spa water can enhance the functions of the autonomic nervous system.

Poor circulation is considered to be a cause of stiff shoulders, but there have been no studies on deep hemodynamics and the subjective estimation/palpation of stiff shoulders. We evaluated the relationship between deep hemodynamics and the degree of the subjective estimation/palpation of stiff shoulders by near-infrared spectrophotometry.
The subjects were 146 patients who visited our center and 23 healthy volunteers. Deep hemodynamics (tissue oxygen saturation: StO₂, total hemoglobin concentration: total Hb) was measured in the scapular region of the bilateral shoulders using a deep hemodynamics measurement system (PSA-IIIN, Biomedical Science), and its relationship with the severity of the subjective estimation of stiff shoulders (5-grade rating) and that of palpation (4-grade rating) was evaluated. Deep hemodynamic values were affected by the body mass index (BMI) that is highly correlated with subcutaneous fat thickness. Therefore, analysis was performed in 70 patients and 8 healthy volunteers with BMI of 20-24 that does not affect hemodynamic values. Compared with the healthy volunteers, patients who reported marked shoulder stiffness showed a significant decrease in total Hb, and that who reported shoulder stiffness showed a significant decrease in StO₂. On the other hand, compared with the healthy volunteers, patients with marked shoulder stiffness observed by palpation showed significant decreases in both StO₂ and total Hb; the decreases were more marked with more marked stiffness. These results suggested that deep hemodynamics is a diagnostic parameter of stiff shoulders.

We had previously reported a close association between pathological response and the maximum tumor standardized uptake value (SUVmax) measured by 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography prior to chemotherapy in estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer. We hypothesized that glucose hypermetabolism by luminal B tumors may result in chemotherapy responsiveness. Using a single-gene expression assay, TargetPrint(R) (Agendia) and a 70-gene expression classifier, MammaPrint(R) (Agendia), we divided 20 patients with ER-positive primary breast cancer into luminal A and luminal B subtypes and compared the tumor SUVmax value between the two groups. A significantly higher SUVmax was measured for luminal B tumors (n=10; mean+/-SD, 7.6+/-5.6) than for luminal A tumors (n=10; mean+/-SD, 2.6+/-1.2; p=0.01). Glucose hypermetabolism could help predict intrinsic subtyping and chemotherapy responsiveness as a supplement to ER, progesterone receptor, HER2, and Ki-67 histochemical scores.
Breast ; Breast Neoplasms ; Estrogens ; Glucose ; Humans ; Phenobarbital ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; Receptors, Progesterone

Use of benzodiazepine (BZD) receptor agonists for delirious or elderly patients has occasionally been found as a result of inappropriate instructions for insomnia or restlessness, according to research of the dementia and delirium support team (DDST), which manages instructions on admission and during hospital rounds. We believe that one reason for this is the lack of hospital guidelines for managing insomnia and restlessness. When changing electronic medical record vendors, we took the opportunity to establish proper drug usage instructions. The percentage of available instructions for insomnia and restlessness at the time of admission and the prescribed medications were surveyed and compared before and after the vendor change. The prescription rate for insomnia was 88.6% (1,779/2,007) before and 91.9% (1,902/2,069) after the change, showing a significant increase. The prescription rate of benzodiazepine receptor agonist use was 47.7% (848/1,779) before and 41.6% (792/1,902) after the change, showing a significant decrease. The prescription rate for restlessness was 71.2% (1,429/2,007) before and 85.6% (1,771/2,069) after the change, showing a significant increase. The recommended drug usage instructions affected prescriptions for insomnia and restlessness at admission and prescriptions of BZD receptor agonist usage at admission. Our findings seem to suggest that setting drug usage instructions for insomnia and restlessness when changing the electronic medical record vendor will be useful for promoting proper medication use.