Five type II diabetic patients (2 males and 3 females, 61-74 years of age) were immersed in cold-spring water (13°C) for 15min, twice or 3 times a day for consecutive 12 days at Kan-no-Jigoku spa in Japan.
In all of the patients, both systolic and diastolic blood pressures rose, and pulse rate increased during the acute cold exposure. This circulatory response to cold-water immersion tended to decrease after 12 days' serial immersions. After each immersion, blood glucose levels are lowered in all of the patients, suggesting the enhanced uptake of glucose by the tissue. After the 12 days' cure, 2 patients with relatively lower severity of diabetes showed improved glucose tolerance estimated by 50g oral glucose tolerance tests. No significant improvement of insulin secretion was observed in 25g intravenous glucose tolerance tests in the present study. Among 3 patients whose urinary output of glucose was measured daily, 2 patients showed gradually decreased urinary glucose and one showed almost no glucosuria throughout the 12 days' cure.
These results indicate that cold-water immersion stimulates the utilization of glucose as seen in exercise and that repeated cold-water immersions, if performed carefully, could be a regimen for diabetic patients.

Direct observation of the intravascular atherosclerotic change provides many diagnostic information and supports successful vascular surgery. Angioscopic inspections were performed in the 23 patients who underwent laser angioplasty for the peripheral arteries and 7 patients with aorto-coronary bypass surgery in this study. Useful images could be obtained in 19 (83%) of 23 observations in the peripheral arteries, and the successful rates of angioscopic observation were influenced by the diameter and the degree of kinking of each vessel. On the other hand, intraoperative observation of coronary artery with angioscope could be performed easily in all cases. From these findings, intraoperative application of angioscopy was considered to be useful procedure for the cardiovascular surgery.

We analyzed the student self-assessment on education in cardiology using a questionnaire.
Subjects: Ninety-six 5th-year students at Saga Medical School who have completed the lectures and bedside teaching were evaluated.
Methods: A questionnaire survey of 14 topics in cardiology was performed at the finish of 3 weeks of bedside teachings. Self-assessment was categorized into 4 grades; 1) completely understood (3 points), 2) almost completely understood (2 points), 3) could be understood (1 point), and 4) could not be understood (0 point). Self-assessment scores were calculated for each topic in cardiology.
Results: Questionnaires were returned by 88 students (91.7%). Self-assessment scores were high for myocardial infarction, angina pectoris, and electrocardiogram reading. Scores were low for primary care, vascular diseases, and pericardial disease. Self-assessment scores did not significantly correlate with the length of lectures but did correlate with the number of admitted patients (r= 0.93) and scores on achievement tests (r= 0.43) in each topic.
Conclusions: Because students observed many patients with myocardial infarction and angina pectoris during bedside teaching, the self-assessment scores were high. Bedside teaching is important for medical students to understand topics in cardiology.

We implemented a questionnaire survey targeting mothers who are in child care and had participated in consultations regarding drugs and diseases. We examined the future roles of community pharmacists by exploring the mothers’ concerns and, anxieties about child cares and their backgrounds, and their expectations for profession of community pharmacist. Mothers have listed anxiety and concerns of child care about “dermatitis such as rash and atopic eczema”; “food allergies”; “infectious diseases such as measles, chicken pox, and mumps”; and “side effects of vaccination”. In addition, most of them indicated their own concerns and anxiety about “solutions to children’s illnesses.” Despite their anxieties and concerns, however, approximately 60% of the mothers have never consulted with community pharmacists. Among them, approximately a half of them indicated the following three reasons why they have never consulted with pharmacists: “I have nothing to talk about,”, “I do not know what I should talk about,”, and “I was not sure if it was alright to talk about my concerns.”. From these results, we concluded that community pharmacists in the future should improve their communication skills and inform their availability to consult about medicine and disease to local residents.