The purpose of this study was to eliminate factors of accidents during Japanese style bathing of the elderly.
We investigated the age-related changes in cardiovascular and thermoregulatory function in response to the bathing at 40°C. We measured the blood pressure and the heart rate using an automatic spygmomanometer, the skin blood flow at the forearm using laser Doppler flowmetry, the tympanic temperature using a thermistor, and the sweat rate at dorsum manus using the ventilated capsule method during bathing at 40°C for 20min in 10 aged (73.5±8.4, mean±SD) and 10 young subjects (19.8±1.8).
Aged subjects failed to maintain a stable blood pressure during the immersion in the bathtub. While the heart rate during the bathing significantly changed in the young subjects, no change was observed in the aged subjects. Skin blood flow, tympanic temperature, and sweat rate increased during the bathing for both in the aged and the young subjects, though with smaller changes among aged subjects.
These findings suggest that the adaptability of cardiovascular and thermoregulatory functions to heating and hydrostatic pressure during Japanese style bathing decreases with age.

Purpose: The research is aimed at the evaluation of management of pain in elderly cancer patients receiving home-based care. Methods: A questionnaire of 29 questions was developed and 323 home-care physicians were invited to answer the questionnaire with an online system from January 19 to 25 2011. According to answers from the general physicians, we compared the differences of answers about managements of cancer pain between two groups (>75 years old cancer patients with or without cognitive disorder) by Pearson's chi-square test. Results: In a the question “Are patients able to appropriately express their cancer pain?”, the ratio of physicians' answers was different;, positive answers in the patients' group with cognitive disorder was significantly lower than those without cognitive disorder (p=0.0043). In other questions “Do physicians feel difficulty of assessment of analgesic effect of opioids?” and “Do physicians feel difficulty of dose-selection and adjustment of opioids?”, positive answers in patients' group with cognitive disorder were more dominant than those without cognitive disorder (p<0.0001 each). Further, in the question “Do physicians feel cancer pain management is well-done?”, positive answers were significantly lower in patients with cognitive disorder than those without cognitive disorder (p<0.0001). Conclusion: With the analyses of the answers from the physicians, we found that physicians felt difficulty of both the assessment of pain and analgesic effect of opioids in patients with cognitive disorder. It should be required for the physicians to improve pain management, especially to the patients with cognitive disorder.

Since bibliographic items had an error, it corrects as follows.

p.158, upper right of a page
(Error) Palliative Care Research 2012; 8(1): 158-67
(Correct) Palliative Care Research 2013; 8(1): 158-67

p.158, center of a page
(Error) Palliat Care Res 2012; 8(1): 158-67
(Correct) Palliat Care Res 2013; 8(1): 158-67

p.164, center of a page
(Error) Palliat Care Res 2012; 8(1): 158-67
(Correct) Palliat Care Res 2013; 8(1): 158-67

The purpose of this study was to clarify the effects of ingesting spa water on electrogastrography and heart rate variability in humans. The subjects were eight youths (average age 22.3 years old). We measured three and six circles per minute (cpm) power of electrogastrography (EGG), the high-frequency (HF: 0.15-0.4Hz) components, and the ratio of low-frequency (LF: 0.04-0.15Hz) components to HF components in heart rate variability (HRV) during 90 minutes. We also assessed the taste of water, pain or abnormalities in the stomach by questionnaire. The subjects ingested the spa water or purified water after thirty minutes, and ingested no water on a different day. The six cpm power of EGG, presumably reflecting instestinal activity, was significantly increased with spa water ingestion. The three cpm power of EGG, presumably reflecting stomach activity, did not change under any conditions. The HF components in HRV, presumably reflecting cardiac parasympathetic activity, tended to increase with ingestion of spa water. The ratio of LF to HF components in HRV, presumably reflecting cardiac sympathetic activity, significantly decreased with ingestion of spa and purified water. There was no difference in the answers of the questionnaire. These findings suggest that spa water ingestion activates instestinal activity, increasing parasympathetic nerve activity and suppressing sympathetic nerve activity in humans.

OBJECTIVE: Rikkunshito, an herbal medicine, is widely prescribed in Japan for the treatment of anorexia and functional dyspepsia, and has been reported to recover reductions in food intake caused by cisplatin. We investigated whether rikkunshito could improve chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) and anorexia in patients treated with cisplatin. METHODS: Patients with uterine cervical or corpus cancer who were to receive cisplatin (50 mg/m² day 1) and paclitaxel (135 mg/m² day 0) as first-line chemotherapy were randomly assigned to the rikkunshito group receiving oral administration on days 0–13 with standard antiemetics, or the control group receiving antiemetics only. The primary endpoint was the rate of complete control (CC: no emesis, no rescue medication, and no significant nausea) in the overall phase (0–120 hours). Two-tailed p<0.20 was considered significant in the planned analysis. RESULTS: The CC rate in the overall phase was significantly higher in the rikkunshito group than in the control group (57.9% vs. 35.3%, p=0.175), as were the secondary endpoints: the CC rate in the delayed phase (24–120 hours), and the complete response (CR) rates (no emesis and no rescue medication) in the overall and delayed phases (63.2% vs. 35.3%, p=0.095; 84.2% vs. 52.9%, p=0.042; 84.2% vs. 52.9%, p=0.042, respectively), and time to treatment failure (p=0.059). Appetite assessed by visual analogue scale (VAS) appeared to be superior in the rikkunshito group from day 2 through day 6. CONCLUSION: Rikkunshito provided additive effect for the prevention of CINV and anorexia.
Administration, Oral ; Anorexia* ; Antiemetics ; Appetite ; Cisplatin* ; Drug Therapy ; Dyspepsia ; Eating ; Herbal Medicine* ; Humans ; Japan ; Nausea* ; Paclitaxel* ; Time-to-Treatment ; Vomiting*

  The purpose of this study was to clarify the effects of ingesting chloridquellen and bicarbonate spring waters on electrogastrography and heart rate variability in humans. The subjects were ten young adults (average age 21.9 years old). Three and six cycles per minute (cpm) frequency of electrogastrography (EGG) were measured, as well as the high-frequency (HF: 0.15-0.40Hz) components, and the ratio of low-frequency (LF: 0.04-0.15Hz) components to HF components in heart rate variability (HRV) during 90 minutes. The taste of the water and pain or abnormalities in the stomach were also assessed by having the subjects answer a questionnaire. The subjects ingested the spa water or purified water and were asked to respond to the questionnaire after thirty minutes, and they also ingested no water on a different day and were questioned. The EGG-6 cpm frequency, presumably reflecting intestinal activity, did not change under any conditions. The EGG-3 cpm frequency, presumably reflecting stomach activity, significantly increased with bicarbonate spring waters immediately after ingestion and decreased after 30 min. Additionally, the 3 cpm frequency significantly increased with ingestion of purified water over the course of 30 min. The HF components in HRV, presumably reflecting cardiac parasympathetic activity, did not change under any conditions. The ratio of LF to HF components in HRV, presumably reflecting cardiac sympathetic activity, significantly increased with ingestion of purified water immediately and after 15 min, and bicarbonate spring waters after 30 min. There was a difference between ingestion of chloridquellen and purified water in the answers concerning the taste of the water in the questionnaire. These findings suggest that the constituent parts of chloridquellen water and other factors activate stomach and autonomic nervous activities in humans.