This report deals with the response of heart rate, blood pressure and respiratory rate when the subjects of different ages and sexes worked on a bicycle ergometer. The subjects were 126 healthy persons of both sexes. They consisted of 8 groups : prepuberty male (N=15) and female (N=16), puberty male (N=20) and female (N=18), young adult male (N=15) and female (N=16), middle aged male (N=17) and female (N=9) . All subjects tried pedalling exercise with 3 kinds of loads, i.e., 5kgm/kg/min, 10kgm/kg/min and 12.5 kgm/kg/min for 6 minutes.
Heart rate was calculated from chest lead ECG and respiratory rate was measured by the thermistor method continuously recorded before, during and after exercise. Blood pressure was measured by Riva Rocci sphygmomanometer before exercise, at the early stage of recovery and in 10 minutes after exercise.
The results of this study are summarized as follows
1) In both sexes the heart rate decreased with age in resting status and exponentially increased during moderate and heavier exercise. A linear relationship was found between the work load and the exercise heart rate.
In males the heart rate during light exercise was high in the prepuberty and the puberty, low in the young adult and the middle aged. But the heart rate during heavy exercise in the middle aged was extremely high. The heart rate in females was higher than that in males when the same work load was given in both sexes. The rising phase of heart rate in prepuberty was the earliest of 4 age groups.
2) The systolic blood pressure and the pulse pressure in resting status increased with age. As for the blood pressure during exercise, it was low in the youth and high in the middle aged. The blood pressure after exercise in the middle aged males was the highest of 4 groups. Generally in all females the systolic blood pressure and the pulse pressure increased with work load, but the former levelled off during heavy exercise.
3) The respiratory rate during exercise increased rapidly, but when the exercise was stopped, the increased respiratory rate returned rapidly to the resting level. As for the respiratory rate, in both sexes it decreased with age from the prepuberty to the middle aged in resting status and during exercise. The sex difference of the respiratory rate during heavy exercise was large.
4) In the youth the correlation coefficient between the heart rate and the blood pressure was high. Therefore, it was suggested that the heart rate was important in adaptation to exercise.

The purpose of this study was to clarify the effects of amino acid supplementation on mental and physical stress during severe exercise. 20 male college students were assigned to amino acid treated group (group AA) and placebo treated group (group P), each containing 10 subjects, and performed 1600 m-run relay for 24 hours. Each subjects of AA group received 1 g of amino acid powder, containing 34% of branched-chain amino acid (BCAA), after each work bout. The score of rating of perceived exertion (RPE) and category rate of pain scale (CPS) for each work bout were recorded. Scoring of profile of mood states (POMS) was performed and blood samples were drawn at pre-, mid-, and post-session. Total running distance was similar in both groups. In group AA, compared with group P, (1) total score of RPE and CPS through 25 work bouts and plasma cortisol concentration (C) at post- was significantly lower, and (2) molar ratio of plasma free testosterone concentration (FTS) to C (FTS/C) at mid- was significantly greater. In group P alone, plasma BCAA concentration, FTS, FTS/C, and POMS score about ‘tension-anxiety’, ‘anger-hostility’ and ‘vigor’ decreased significantly over time. Our data suggest that BCAA administration during severe exercise may diminish mental or physical stress, inhibit FTS/C decrease and be effective in maintaining aggressive mentality.

In Japanese traditional medicine, “ganmenshin” (facial diagnosis), which means assessment of a patient's health based on the color of his/her face, is frequently used in a clinical setting. However, little scientific evidence is available to substantiate such diagnoses. In the present study, we investigated the relationship between skin color and patient's health status to ascertain the clinical usefulness of the “ganmenshin” technique. We evaluated the color of the cheeks and forearms of 30 healthy study participants and also administered questionnaires to determine their health. A correlation was observed between skin color and work efficiency and the inkyo (yin-fluid deficiency) scores in all subjects. In male subjects, skin color was correlated with their bodymass index (BMI), self-rated health status, work efficiency, and suitai (fluid stagnation) scores. In female subjects, skin color was correlated with the patient's age, work efficiency, and inkyo scores. These results suggest that “ganmenshin” may be clinically useful because of the correlation between skin color and the health of patients.

[Objective]It was recently accepted that skin problems are aggravated in women who are stressed or neglect their health. For such conditions, acupuncture for the purpose of beautification and health improvement attracts attention, thus expanding the science of acupuncture into an entirely new field called "Beauty (Cosmetic) Acupuncture."
Here, we investigated the beauty efficacy of acupuncture and acupressure on healthy women.
[Methods]Fourteen healthy women (mean age, 43.0 ± 8.1 years) who had noticeable skin roughness were randomly divided into 2 groups:acupuncture group (n = 7) and acupressure group (n = 7). Both groups received their respective treatments twice a week for 4 weeks.
Measurements for the subjective evaluation were based on self-rated health (SRH) and subjective physical and mental fatigue, which were assessed using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), the Nowlis mood checklist, and a questionnaire about skin condition. Measurements for the objective evaluation were the melanin index of the skin;the Hb index;the HbO2 index; 3D measurement of the face, determined from range images;wrinkle-area ratio, determined from replicas, corneocyte surface area, and skin color (L*, a*, b*);and facial impression rating.
[Results]The acupuncture group showed a significant improvement in subjective measurement of skin condition (wrinkle, slack, and total condition) in addition to a slight decrease in wrinkle-area ratio, as determined by image analysis. The acupressure group showed a significant improvement in subjective measurement of skin condition (quantity of sebum secretion) and Nowlis mood checklist score, in addition to marginally significant improvement in skin color (L*, b*), HbO2 index, and amount of melanin in the skin.
[Conclusion]Acupuncture and acupressure may bring about morphological changes in facial skin and improvement in skin color, respectively. We conclude that acupuncture and acupressure have different effects on skin condition.

Since it is supposed that the number of patients with dementia will increase as populations age in the near future, it is important to prevent dementia. In the present study, we examined whether acupuncture and life style improvements are able to enhance cognitive function.
The subjects who worry about being forgetful were recruited and divided at random into two groups ; a group receiving acupuncture with transcutaneous electrical acupuncture-point stimulation (TEAS) and im provements in life style (20 subjects ; group A) and a group undergoing improvements in life style alone (20 subjects ; group B) for 12 weeks. The results showed that the cognitive functions assessed via a Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised, sleep time, and sleep efficiency were improved in all subjects included in groups A and B after the interventions. There were significant pre-to post-intervention differences in MMSE and sleep efficiency in group A only. It was found that these interven tions increased NK cells, NK activity and B cell numbers, and decreased T cell and helper T cell numbers.Thus, acupuncture and improvement of life style could enhance cognitive function and may be useful for the prevention of dementia.