Introduction : This study aimed to clarify the relationship between the presence of someone to care for and the subjective QOL (quality of life) of local elderly people.
Methods : Data for 7,728 residents aged 65 and above was obtained from the everyday life sphere needs survey implemented by the government of Nanto City, Toyama Prefecture, between May to July, 2014. Multiple logistic regression analysis was conducted to evaluate the relationship between two sets of variables : first, the presence (or absence) of “something to live for”, “sense of fulfillment”, and “self-esteem” as indicators of the respondents'subjective QOL ; and second, a set of explanatory variables (common to all models) including the presence of someone to care for, indicators of the personal attributes, health, and life style of the respondents.
Results : The presence of someone to care for was positively related to the presence of “something to live for,” “sense of fulfillment,” and “self-esteem,” which were indicators of subjective QOL, even after several indicators of personal attributes, health, and life style were accounted for.
Conclusion : Promoting mutual help in local areas has a positive significance for those elderly who take care of others, as well as for those who accept care. The results also suggest the social importance of being the recipient of care in the elderly.

Low-grade epilepsy-associated tumors (LEAT) are brain tumors that should be differentiated as a cause of symptomatic epilepsy in children. The most common initial symptom is epileptic seizure, particularly focal seizures. We present a case of LEAT in which an infant presented to our department with convulsive-like seizures that were observed from approximately 3 months of age. At the first visit, growth and development, including head circumference, were appropriate for age. The seizures were atypical, but ictal video electroencephalography showed abnormal waves indicative of left hemispheric epilepsy. The patient subsequently presented with somnolence and poor feeding, and a sudden increase in head circumference and hydrocephalus were observed. Thus, the patient was urgently admitted to the neurosurgery department of our hospital. Brain MRI showed a suspected brain tumor and elective craniotomy was performed. No epileptic seizures were observed postoperatively. When focal epileptic seizures are observed in infancy, a brain tumor should also be considered as a differential diagnosis, and further examination may be warranted.