"Brain fog" is a symptom of long COVID. Brain fog is suspected to be a neurocognitive dysfunction; however, the underlying pathology remains to be elucidated. To provide better medical care for patients with "brain fog", we collaborated with a hospital outpatient department that specializes in the assessment and treatment of cognitive impairment. For the establishment of the collaborative system, we devised a questionnaire for "brain fog" based on medical reports, internet resources, and clinical experiments to be used as a screening tool. The questionnaire was used to calculate a "brain fog score" (BFS). A BFS of more than 5 points was established as the criterion for patient referral. The present retrospective evaluation suggests that BFS is useful for predicting prognosis and prioritizing patients within limited outpatient appointment slots.

[Introduction] The domestic market for medical devices is expected to increase steadily against the backdrop of growing medical needs due to the aging population. This will create more business opportunities for medical device manufacturers. However, clarity regarding the domestic market for the medical device category "acupuncture and moxibustion apparatus" is poor, and information is lacking for companies to use when considering implementing new business development strategies.[Materials and Methods] Data from the "Statistics of Production by Pharmaceutical Industry" for the last five years (2019-2023) were used as the information source, and medical devices categorized as "acupuncture and moxibustion apparatus" were analyzed.[Results] The average domestic market size (production value + import value - export value) for acupuncture and moxibustion devices over the past five years was 7,141,948,800 JPY (95% confidence interval: 6,095,584,238-8,112,805,362), and the average annual growth rate was -4.29%. In terms of the average annual growth rate by generic name, "home-use affixed contact grains" (12.8%) had the largest growth rate; "warm moxibustion devices" (9.3%) and "non-invasive home-use acupuncture and moxibustion devices" (5.7%) showed positive growth; while "reusable acupuncture needles" (-1.3%), sterilized needles" (-5.8%), and "non-active contact needles" (-23.8%) showed negative growth.[Conclusion] Among devices in the category "acupuncture and moxibustion devices", "home-use affixed contact grains", "warm moxibustion devices", and "non-invasive home-use acupuncture and moxibustion devices" showed positive growth over the past five years. Thus, these are the medical device categories for which new business development can be expected.

Prolonged cough in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is not only uncomfortable for patients, but also prolongs the length of stay in an isolation facility. This results in delays in patients' return to their daily life. Therefore, the prompt treatment of cough is important. In this report, we used Japanese traditional (Kampo) medicine, chikujountanto for the treatment of cases with residual cough, airway secretions, slight fever, anxiety, and insomnia, several days after the onset of coronavirus. From October 2020 to September 2021, we prescribed chikujountanto for thirty-three COVID-19 patients with prolonged cough in an isolation facility. Seven patients (6 women and 1 man with ages ranging 37-70 years) were treated with no other medication. Comorbid symptoms included slight fever, sputum, sore throat, nasal discharge, headache, anxiety/insomnia, and taste/olfactory disorders. The start date of treatment ranged from 9 to 21 days after the onset of COVID-19, and the time until cough and comorbid symptoms improved to values less than NRS 2 or less, was 2 to 6 days after treatment. Three patients had persistent cough and needed to switch to other medication. In COVID-19, chikujountanto may be useful for coughing during the period when the peak of the viral proliferative phase has passed but airway inflammation is still present.