With household digital compact wrist blood pressure monitors, blood pressure was measured in hemiplegic patients who were receiving kinesitherapy.
During the training program routinely worked out by physical therapists, most patients had shown elevated levels of both systolic and diastolic blood pressure. There were some patients whose blood pressure went up so high as to call doctors' attention.
As changes in blood pressure are affected by various factors, we cannot say at once that doing exercise alone adds to blood pressure. Nonetheless, by using a household blood pressure monitor, it would be easy to know the extent to which blood pressure rises in accordance with the amount of exercise, so that it would be possible to make patients and their family aware of the importance of blood pressure readings. We thought it possible to obtain an index of the amount of exercise at home.

BackgroundIn Japan, the demand for emergency transportation for people with heat-related illness has recently increased. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between incidents of heat-related illness and the daily maximum temperature.

MethodsThe daily maximum temperatures in Japan's 11 districts over the past 10 years were classified into four categories, with cutoff points at the 50, 75, 95, and higher than 95percentiles. We then conducted a logistic regression analysis of emergency transportation demand in each temperature category by age group, using the 50percentile as the reference category for each area.

ResultsThere were 42,931 cases of emergency transportation due to heat-related diseases during the study period. Classified by age, 12.5%, 43.4%, and 44.1% of cases involved children, adults, and elderly people, respectively. The analysis showed that the number of cases of emergency transportation for people with heat-related diseases (per 100,000 people; corresponding to a 1.0°C increase in the daily maximum temperature) was 0.016-0.106 among children (24.9-169.9 children required emergency transportation for heat-related diseases), from 0.013 to 0.059 among adults (19.8-98.2 adults required emergency transportation), and from 0.045 to 0.159 among elderly persons (30.0-145.4 elderly people required emergency transportation). The risk was highest for elderly persons, followed by children and finally adults. Cases of emergency transportation due to heat-related illness increased by 2.4-8.9 times when the daily maximum temperature was approximately 1.5°C above the mean daily maximum temperature. In fact, the daily maximum temperature had a larger effect than the daily relative humidity level on emergency transportation for people with heat-related diseases.

ConclusionPublic health organizations and health-care services should support elderly people and children, two high-risk groups for heat-related diseases.

Purpose: Owing to the increasing mortality rate in Japan, basic nursing education on the end-of-life care is essential. This study determined the educational learning outcomes of the angel care practice that involves angel makeup based on the reflective descriptions of nursing students. Methods: About 87 students enrolled in the “Seminar in Adult Nursing Practice (Nursing at the End-of-Life: Angel Care)” course at Iwate Medical University School of Nursing in June 2021 consented to participate in the present study. After experiencing the roles of patient, family member, and nurse in the angel care practice, the participants reflected on the care they provided to the patients and their families. Their descriptions on the practice sheets were analyzed to determine the learning outcomes of the angel care practice. Results: “Awareness of the importance of angel care,” “understanding angel care through practice,” and “motivation and concerns as a nurse” were the learning outcomes of the angel care practice for nursing students. Conclusion: The practice that incorporates angel care along with lectures provides nursing students with an opportunity to learn ways to maintain their patient’s dignity.