Background: Bruxism has been widely discussed. The concepts of normobruxism and pathobruxism have recently been proposed. Severe pain in the masticatory muscles, which may be caused by pathobruxism, needs to be addressed. However, a clear causal relationship between bruxism and chronic pain in the masticatory muscles has not been elucidated. In addition, the effects of clenching and grinding on the body and their differences remain unclear. In particular, no studies have examined the effects of bruxism-like jaw movements on the peripheral tissues of the masticatory muscles and the autonomic nervous system.This study aimed to investigate the effects of bruxism on the masseter muscles and autonomic nervous system and to examine the differences between clenching and grinding. Methods: A total of 18 healthy volunteers, including 8 men (age: 31.3 ± 2.9 years) and 10 women (age: 28.9 ± 3.2 years) who had consented to participate in the study. We experimentally instructed them to clench and grind; measured the dynamic changes in oxygenation, electromyography, and heart rate variability (HRV); and assessed the subjective degree of fatigue. Results: Oxygenation, clenching, and tissue oxygen saturation (StO 2 ) and oxyhemoglobin (OxHb) levels decreased, whereas deoxygenated hemoglobin (dOxHb) levels increased. No change in grinding occurred; however, significant differences in muscle usage and subjective fatigue were observed between clenching and grinding. No significant differences were identified in HRV. Conclusions Tissue oxygenation differed significantly between clenching and grinding. Clenching resulted in a significant ischemic state, which rapidly recovered after clenching stopped. Grinding did not affect tissue oxygenation.

PURPOSE: It has been reported that the Pulse Contour Cardiac Output (PiCCO) is very useful mainly in the field of intensive care and treatment to grasp the pathophysiological conditions of pulmonary edema because of its capability of obtaining data such as Pulmonary Vascular Permeability Index (PVPI) and Extra Vascular Lung Water (EVLW). Furthermore, a high degree of usability of various markers has been reported for better understanding of the pathological conditions in cases with septicemia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The correlation between the cardiorespiratory status based upon the PiCCO monitor (EVLW and PVPI) and inflammatory markers including C reactive protein, procalcitonin (PC), and Endotoxin Activity Assay (EAA) were evaluated in 11 severe cases that required treatment with a respirator in an intensive care unit. RESULTS: The EAA values were significantly higher in patients with abnormal EVLW at 0.46+/-0.20 compared to the normal EVLW group at 0.21+/-0.19 (p=0.0064). In a similar fashion, patients with abnormal PVPI values tended to have higher PC levels at 18.9+/-21.8 compared to normal PVPI cases at 2.4+/-2.2 (p=0.0676). On the other hand, PVPI was significantly higher in the abnormal EAA group at 3.55+/-0.48 in comparison with the normal EAA group at 1.99+/-0.68 (p=0.0029). The abnormal EAA group tended to have higher PVPI values than the normal EAA group. CONCLUSION: The EAA is a measurement method designed to estimate the activity of endotoxins in the whole blood. Our results suggest that the EAA value, which had the greatest correlation with lung disorders diagnosed by the PiCCO monitoring, reflects inflammatory reactions predominantly in the lungs.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Cardiac Output/physiology ; Endotoxins/*blood ; Female ; Humans ; Lung Injury/*blood/*diagnosis/physiopathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pulmonary Edema/blood/*diagnosis/physiopathology

1)The Keio ACLS Popularizing and Promoting Association (KAPPA) is an official student organization that promotes advanced life support techniques.
2)KAPPA has provided 29 advanced cardiac life support courses, including 20 official ICLS (immediate cardiac life support) courses of the Japanese Association for Acute Medicine, which have trained 314 ICLS providers and 61 ICLS instructors during the past 8 years.
3)Peer–led training among students to maintain the quality of the courses has contributed to the activities of KAPPA.

Regular physical activity has been regarded as a possible means to minimize the adverse physiological changes associated with aging, as well as to contribute to mental health and well-being in later life. To encourage increased participation in exercise among elderly people, and to emphasize the value of exercise in geriatric health care, this article provides an overview of the effects of primary care based physical activity on healthy aging. It is clear from the number of recently published papers on this topic that daily participation in 30 minutes or more of moderate physical activity should be recommended for elderly people. The results of physical activity interventions focusing on balance and resistance training in both home- and group-based exercises suggest that it is possible to improve physical functions and to prevent falls and disabilities in daily living. Multiple-element interventions (e. g., advice, as well as strategies to increase self-efficacy and motivation, and to eliminate barriers to participation), tailored to individual activity preferences, are likely to be more successful than more prescriptive single-focus interventions. A home-based physical therapy program can successfully enhance the independence of the frail elderly in community dwellings.