The purpose of educating patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) is to facilitate their understanding of the disease and treatment, as well as to motivate the patients to improve their lifestyle. We recently assessed whether the results of psychological tests to investigate the mental status of DM patients were useful in obtaining a better outcome of education. The subjects were 75 DM out patients who were receiving treatment at out hospital (age range : 15-85 years, mean age : 66 years). The psychological tests were performed during a diabetic seminar held on February 26, 2002, using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D Scale) and the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situation (CISS).On the CES-D scales, 20 points or higher scores were marked by 16 patients (21.3%), indicating a strong tendency to depression among DM patients. Assessment by the CISS showed a higher score on the task-oriented coping scale (T scale) than on the other scales (p<0.05), suggesting that DM patients are well-oriented towards the continuation of treatment. The CES-D Scale score tended to be higher in patients with an uncontrolled HbA1C (≥8%) (p<0.05), suggesting that a persistent depressed status is associated with poor glycemic control. The results of these psychological tests appeared to be useful in working out a more effective educational program for DM patients.
Dermatomyositis ; Psychological Tests ; Scale <3> ; 2-Chloroethyl 2-(4-1,1-dimethylethyl) phenoxy-1 methylethyl ester ; seconds

In Kampo medicine, a tongue examination, whereby the shape and color of the tongue is observed, is thought to reveal the constitution and condition of the patient. In Japan, numerous books on this tongue examination have been published. However, tongue findings are expressed differently in these books, and a standard description for such findings has yet to be established. A standard description would be useful when examining the tongue, and when educating students of Kampo medicine. We therefore compared how tongue colors and shapes were expressed in the Japanese literature on tongue examinations (12 publications).
Using these results, we have arrived at a standardized description for tongue findings in accordance with Kampo specialists of tongue diagnoses at many facilities. In the process, we focused on easily recognizable findings that can be noted with short clinical examination times, and that can also be understood by beginners.

  Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a bone destructive autoimmune disease. Many patients with RA recognize fluctuations of their joint synovitis according to changes of air pressure, but the correlations between them have never been addressed in large-scale association studies. To address this point we recruited large-scale assessments of RA activity in a Japanese population, and performed an association analysis. Here, a total of 23,064 assessments of RA activity from 2,131 patients were obtained from the KURAMA (Kyoto University Rheumatoid Arthritis Management Alliance) database. Detailed correlations between air pressure and joint swelling or tenderness were analyzed separately for each of the 326 patients with more than 20 assessments to regulate intra-patient correlations. Association studies were also performed for seven consecutive days to identify the strongest correlations. Standardized multiple linear regression analysis was performed to evaluate independent influences from other meteorological factors. As a result, components of composite measures for RA disease activity revealed suggestive negative associations with air pressure. The 326 patients displayed significant negative mean correlations between air pressure and swellings or the sum of swellings and tenderness (p=0.00068 and 0.00011, respectively). Among the seven consecutive days, the most significant mean negative correlations were observed for air pressure three days before evaluations of RA synovitis (p=1.7x10-7, 0.00027, and 8.3x10-8, for swellings, tenderness and the sum of them, respectively). Standardized multiple linear regression analysis revealed these associations were independent from humidity and temperature. Our findings suggest that air pressure is inversely associated with synovitis in patients with RA.